The North Adelaide property at 47 Archer St used to be a pub but has been transformed into a home. Supplied: Clique Creative.
If it’s history you’re after, you’ll find it in spades in this North Adelaide home – once a favoured spot of young revellers in its former life as the Dover Castle hotel on Archer St.
Louise Guthleben and Simon Williams bought the home at 47 Archer St 10-and-a-half years ago, attracted by its location, history and grand scale.
“It came on the market on a Friday afternoon and we bought it on the Monday,” Ms Guthleben says.
“We just fell in love with it immediately.
“The thing that mattered most to us was the location – here we can be seated at Adelaide Oval within an eight-minute walk.
“I love to walk everywhere, my husband works in the city and walks there every day.
“Those parks out the front – I walk everyday and I go out the front door and I never know which direction I’m going to head.
MORE NEWS
Why you might be struggling to find a new home
Enjoy life’s simple pleasures in this quiet beach shack
Why so many househunters wanted this 1950s home
The owners bought it more than a decade ago. Supplied: Jonathan Kissock.
It used to be the Dover Castle hotel. Supplied: Jonathan Kissock.
It has three bedrooms and two bathrooms. Supplied: Jonathan Kissock.
“O’Connell St has two great supermarkets, there are two great pharmacies nearby, I walk to the library and the post office – it’s such a great location.”
Naturally, a home of this age, particularly one that used to be a pub, comes with a few stories.
“I love the history of it,” Ms Guthleben says.
“It was built in 1850 and it just grew in pieces over the years.
“The last major reno – prior to it being converted to homes and divided – was in 1911 by architect Kenneth Milne who did the Adelaide Oval scoreboard, and he did a lot of pubs.
“The irony is, I don’t drink.
“My cousins used to drink here and Simon had been here, but every time you tell someone you live in the old Dover Castle hotel, people tell you fantastic stories about these epic nights here.
“Also, because I’m a music teacher, when you read that Bon Scott used to play in our parlour, it’s amazing to me.”
Despite many older homes feeling dark or cold, the couple say theirs is anything but.
“This house is incredibly light, the sun just streams through and it has huge ceilings so it feels doubly spacious,” Ms Guthleben says.
“And the rooms are huge – the master bathroom was originally one of the then pub’s eight upstairs bedrooms, so it’s massive.
“The beer windows were added in the 70s.
“I first thought ‘how am I going to be able to live with these windows’, but the colours they fill the room with is incredible.”
The cellar often attracts guests. Supplied: Jonathan Kissock.
The property even has the old windows still. Supplied: Jonathan Kissock.
The couple have made some changes to the home, but have left it largely alone.
“We re-did some of the structural timber work and re-did the kitchen,” Ms Guthleben says.
“I wanted an Arts and Crafts style kitchen because the ceiling in the main living room is classic Arts and Crafts style, and I’d visited a lot of those homes in the UK, and it ended up being a really functional kitchen with plenty of storage.
“We haven’t really done anything substantial to the property aside from that because nothing needed fixing because the home is so solid, with no cracks, and nothing ever needed fixing.”
The home – set over two levels – has three bedrooms, a spacious open-plan kitchen, dining and living area, a courtyard and a spacious and versatile cellar.
“The cellar is amazing and people gravitate towards that,” Mrs Guthleben says.
“If we have people over to stay and have too many people for bedrooms, they just sleep in the cellar.”
The couple say they’ve loved the home, which could be perfect for a family, or those looking for a convenient lock-up-and-leave lifestyle.
“We don’t really own this home, we’re just holding on to it and looking after it for this moment in history,” Ms Guthleben says.
“We feel like we’re custodians and we are so lucky, honoured and privileged to have lived here in such a fascinating place.”
The post North Adelaide’s former Dover Castle hotel hits the market as a historic character home appeared first on realestate.com.au.