News

For almost 40 years after it was built, women were not allowed to step into the main bar of the Captains Flat Hotel.But they’d peer in the windows in the early evening to see if their husbands were still there after knocking off from work. That was until the publican frosted the glass and they couldn’t see in.<img alt="IMG_2254" class="richtext-image full-width" height="600" src="https://d2t3vhau9g43uy.cloudfront.net/media/images/IMG_2254.width-800.jpg" width="800">Today, the pub is owned by a woman: and she’s on a mission to make the ‘old girl’ a glorious landmark that draws people in from right across the region.Sharanne Witt is starting by re-launching the pub’s restaurant with high quality, old fashioned pub grub five nights a week. She’ll add a cafe for those who prefer a coffee and a pastry to a beer and a packet of salt and vinegar chips.<img alt="IMG_2257" class="richtext-image full-width" height="1066" src="https://d2t3vhau9g43uy.cloudfront.net/media/images/IMG_2257.width-800.jpg" width="800">And then there’s the 20 rooms of accommodation upstairs — perfect for those visiting friends and relatives in the ‘Flat, or coming to the small town (population 473) for a weekend away. (Captains Flat is located just 61km – or 38 minutes – south-east of Canberra.)“But the first thing we’re going to do is get the bar going,” Sharanne laughs.“That’s where the money comes from.”<img alt="IMG_2259" class="richtext-image full-width" height="1066" src="https://d2t3vhau9g43uy.cloudfront.net/media/images/IMG_2259.width-800.jpg" width="800">For Captains Flat-born Sharanne, owning the local pub is “surreal”. It’s also a beautiful tribute to her family’s history in the small former mining town. Sharanne’s grandmother was the cook at the pub for many years in the 1950s, and she and Sharanne’s mum lived at the hotel.“It’s like I’ve come home,” Sharanne says.&quot;I&#x27;ve met people that knew my grandparents, and know my mother. It&#x27;s lovely. There&#x27;s so much nostalgia here.&quot;<img alt="IMG_2261" class="richtext-image full-width" height="1066" src="https://d2t3vhau9g43uy.cloudfront.net/media/images/IMG_2261.width-800.jpg" width="800">Captains Flat Hotel was established in 1938 to help quench the thirst of exhausted men leaving work at the Lake George Mines. At its peak, more than 500 men worked at the mine, which mined lead, silver, zinc and sulphur, as well as copper and gold.The hotel was once home to the longest bar in the southern hemisphere, seating close to 50 men at a time, until (rumour has it) an angry miner who’d been kicked out for disorderly behaviour came back and started cutting up the end of the bar with an axe.<img alt="IMG_2276" class="richtext-image full-width" height="1066" src="https://d2t3vhau9g43uy.cloudfront.net/media/images/IMG_2276.width-800.jpg" width="800">There’s only one female toilet in the entire pub, a confronting reminder that the building was once definitely not a place for women. The accommodation upstairs harks back to life in the 1930s, with shared bathroom facilities, and a beautiful sitting room where people staying at the hotel would gather and chat.&quot;People new to Captains Flat, like teachers, used to stay at the pub and get to know people by the fireplace in the sitting room,&quot; Sharanne says.<img alt="IMG_2278" class="richtext-image full-width" height="1066" src="https://d2t3vhau9g43uy.cloudfront.net/media/images/IMG_2278.width-800.jpg" width="800">Lovingly restored by the owners before Sharanne, many of the pub’s art deco features are still in tact, including light switches, wardrobes, the bathroom sinks in the rooms and the grand old teak staircase.“It’s so beautiful and there’s so much to do out here in the area: barefoot bowls in summer, a heritage walk, a water wheel with a fairy garden near Hoskinstown,” Sharanne says.“And we’ll welcome you at the pub with open arms.”Captains Flat Hotel, located at 51 Foxlow Street, Captains Flat, officially re-opens to the public on Saturday 29 June 2024.Keen to live at Captains Flat? <a href="https://zango.com.au/sale/search/?listing_type=buy&amp;address_suburb=Captains%20Flat,%202623,%20NSW&amp;surrounding=true&amp;order_by=price&amp;property_status_groups=current,underOffer,includePrivate&amp;page=1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">View all homes for sale.</a>

Beers to flow at Captains Flat Hotel this weekend as the pub reopens

If the walls of this one-time pub could talk, they’d tell stories of weary travellers, fully laden stagecoaches and even bushrangers who pulled up a stump at one of the best-known watering holes between Sydney and Melbourne.Opened in 1878, the historic <a href="https://zango.com.au/sale/208-cullerin-road-goulburn-nsw-2580-38289/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Royal Breadalbane Hotel</a> has well and truly stood the test of time.Situated just 12 minutes out of Goulburn, the property has since been converted to a house and recently renovated to an impeccable standard that will last the next 100 years.<a href="https://zango.com.au/agencies/ray-white-rural-canberra-yass/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ray White Rural</a> real estate agent <a href="/agents/george-southwell-2/">George Southwell</a> says once upon a time, the hotel was a famous watering hole for those in Goulburn and Gunning.<img alt="Zango Website_News Articles_Hero &amp; Sub Image8.jpg" class="richtext-image full-width" height="400" src="https://d2t3vhau9g43uy.cloudfront.net/media/images/Zango_Website_News_Articles_Hero__Sub_Image8.width-800.jpg" width="800">The current owner explains that almost everyone in Goulburn has a story to tell about the pub.“Back then, you weren’t allowed to drink on Sundays unless you were a traveller, so people would catch the train from Goulburn, which is only 25 km away.“Then, they’d spend the day at the pub before going home rolling drunk,” he said.If only the walls could talk.<img alt="Zango Website_News Articles_Hero &amp; Sub Image7.jpg" class="richtext-image full-width" height="400" src="https://d2t3vhau9g43uy.cloudfront.net/media/images/Zango_Website_News_Articles_Hero__Sub_Image7_U.width-800.jpg" width="800">Careful renovations from the current owners have seen it re-roofed, re-wired, re-floored and re-plumbed, so there’s hardly anything left for you to see to once you’re in.George explains that these kinds of properties simply don’t appear on the market very often.“It’s not at all the kind of property you can just buy off the shelf, and it’s very much unique enough to be rare,” he said.George says one of the property’s best features is that it offers the best of both worlds.“As there is still one-third of the property left to renovate, it really means the new owner can put their own personal touches on the master wing,” he said.<img alt="Zango Website_News Articles_Hero &amp; Sub Image3.jpg" class="richtext-image full-width" height="400" src="https://d2t3vhau9g43uy.cloudfront.net/media/images/Zango_Website_News_Articles_Hero__Sub_Image3_8.width-800.jpg" width="800">Despite the renovations, the original pressed-tin ceilings remain and the floors have been redone in the traditional style.It boasts an impressive five or six bedrooms, numerous dining and living rooms – not to mention a 2500 capacity wine cellar.One of the six interior fireplaces is an impressive open fireplace near the front door of the home, just near the full-size library.An enormous kitchen has a commercial oven with a gas cooktop, thick marble bench-top and dishwasher.The house is set in sprawling, immaculately kept lawns and mature gardens that provide glorious colour all year round. With abundant hedging, it’s now a private retreat.<img alt="Zango Website_News Articles_Hero &amp; Sub Image6.jpg" class="richtext-image full-width" height="400" src="https://d2t3vhau9g43uy.cloudfront.net/media/images/Zango_Website_News_Articles_Hero__Sub_Image6_X.width-800.jpg" width="800">A gazebo with stunning views across a thousand acres finishes off the outdoor package, making it a beautiful space for alfresco living.As George recommends: “In winter, light the fire and open a bottle of red on the outside covered verandah.”The home would perfectly suit someone who loves both historic homes and gardening.Although, if not your thing, the gardens no longer require much work to maintain.The current owners say they wanted the outside of the house to retain the historical feel that simply cannot be replicated.George says it really is the sort of property that has to be seen to be truly grasped and understood.“One thing a lot of people are unaware of is that the highway between Sydney and Melbourne used to run through the town – which is why the pub was so popular.“Now, Breadalbane is a nice, quiet country town,” he said.With a location that dreams really are made of – two minutes off the Hume Highway, 12 minutes to Goulburn, under an hour to Canberra and two hours to Sydney’s CBD – a BnB or hospitality business like a restaurant is more than do-able.<img alt="Zango Website_News Articles_Hero &amp; Sub Image4.jpg" class="richtext-image full-width" height="400" src="https://d2t3vhau9g43uy.cloudfront.net/media/images/Zango_Website_News_Articles_Hero__Sub_Image4_6.width-800.jpg" width="800">Comfortably sitting on almost 5000 square metres, the property also has subdivision potential (STCA).Or, it can simply be your retreat from the world.To arrange an inspection of the historic <a href="https://zango.com.au/sale/208-cullerin-road-goulburn-nsw-2580-38289/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Royal Breadalbane Hotel</a>, call <a href="/agents/george-southwell-2/">George Southwell</a> on 0429 838 345.Article was originally written and published by <a href="https://the-riotact.com/the-royal-breadalbane-hotel-steeped-in-history-and-now-lovingly-modernised/465159" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The RiotAct.</a>

2 news articles with tag hotel

Beers to flow at Captains Flat Hotel this weekend as the pub reopens

The Royal Breadalbane Hotel: steeped in history and now lovingly modernised