Stanton family renovating 140-year-old Nyngan Hotel into boutique accommodation, restaurant, pub

Experienced renovator Emily Stanton and her builder husband James Stanton purchased the two-storey ex-pub from a shearing contractor who had been residing in the hotel and offering accommodation there for workers for the past 30 years.

Mrs Stanton used to drive past the old Nyngan Hotel every day, but didn't notice the building's potential as a boutique accommodation venue until she stepped inside.

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Mrs Stanton is a manager at the Nyngan Riverside Tourist Park and she and her husband have undertaken a number of property projects in the town over the years.

In 2020, they built a new car wash and laundromat, and more recently, renovated an old "falling to bits" pharmacy building into boutique accommodation known as 87 Pangee Street, which is now rented-out on Booking.com and AirBnB.

Mrs Stanton said the demand for accommodation in Nyngan is "huge". Her riverside park usually has "100 per cent occupancy", "a mix of travel and workers".

"Over the summer a lot of water-skiers come here to the park to go water-skiing. Outside of that it is people travelling through here for the weekend to see family or for an event - it might be a race meet or someone's engagement party or wedding," Mrs Stanton told the Daily Liberal.

Many workers requiring accommodation are in the area for water storage dam project, as well as traffic control and repair projects after floods hit the town in October 2022.

Mrs Stanton said she had been looking for a new project to work on that would use her experience in the accommodation industry and "love of old buildings" and her husband's building knowledge.

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"I literally drove around going what am I going to do next?" she said.

"It's very drab from the outside. They pulled the grand verandah off it and they have a tie-rod awning on it now ... not very nice ...

"When we first went inside we were blown away by how good the bones of the building were for its age. It's structurally-solid."

Work has begun to restore the facade and the interior on the building, which they will call The Nyngan. The biggest challenge will be meeting the council's fire safety requirements. The next-biggest challenge will be plumbing, through the double-brick.

"We have to build about eight bathrooms where they previously weren't - there was no plumbing, water or waste to each location," Mrs Stanton said.

An exciting find inside was the old, original Tooth and Co brewing painted sign which used to hang on the front of the pub.

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"The old owner has given us that and it's been sent to be restored," Mrs Stanton said.

When they pulled up the floorboards, there were lots of old matchboxes and cigarette boxes, and old pennies that had fallen through the gaps in the boards - all of which will be displayed in showcases when the building is complete.

The accommodation will be boutique and upmarket, and there will be 15 rooms. Stage one, which is the upstairs units and one downstairs unit, will be complete by December, with accommodation expected to open in January.

Stage two is to build an additional unit downstairs, and to renovate the pub, the grand dining area and install a commercial kitchen. The pub and dining areas will likely be contracted out to hospitality businesses and Mrs Stanton would like to see a venue where people could have parties and events, as well as a cocktail bar.

It was important to keep the pub and restaurant to offer something for the locals to enjoy.

"I want the locals to come back into the building that has been locked up for so long, and I want them to be able to see and experience what it's like. I want them to come down and go into the cellar," she said.

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"That's a big thing for me, the whole pub section. I want the locals to see it and use it."

She said Nyngan needed this type of venue.

"That's what's lacking, a nice restaurant, a nice bar, somewhere to have functions. We don't have anything like that - we've only got clubs. That is something I'm passionate about, trying to bring that back to Nyngan," Mrs Stanton said.