A lifetime working in hospitality including a stint running a dance venue in Beverly Hills, California has taken a significant turn for Tim Chapman.
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The Sydneysider and his wife Natalie have completed the ultimate tree change and started the resurrection of one of Myrtleford's oldest pubs.
The two-storey Myrtleford Hotel, established in the 1880s, underwent a major 10-week makeover before re-opening in mid-December with public bar and beer garden completed ahead of a revamp of the pub's upstairs accommodation in coming months.
Mr Chapman began working at five-star city hotels in the 1980s and then travelled to Canada for four years and onto the US where he operated the Backstage Bar in Beverly Hills.
"There were plenty of nightclubs, but it was pretty much the hang out for the who's who of Beverly Hills," he said.
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In more recent times he has worked in a consultancy role for major venues designing ballrooms and meeting rooms and installing sound, vision and lighting before deciding early last year he wanted a fresh challenge.
The onset of COVID slowed the search which included exploring options in south-east Queensland, NSW coastal towns and Benalla before buying the Myrtleford Hotel freehold late last year.
"It's a big old country pub that used to be five deep around the bar in the 1980s and everyone still remembers those days," he said.
"If I am being honest, it was in a pretty derelict state when we took over, nothing was flowing through the taps properly.
"But it's one of the best built pubs I've seen."
The sports bar including 300-inch screen is proving a hit with the sports-mad locals with meals presently limited to basket finger food.
Boxing Day was one of its busiest trading days to date with the day beginning with big groups including four generations of one family coming into watch the Test cricket followed by a jam-packed dance floor late into the night.
A restaurant is also on the radar along with the conversion of the 24 accommodation rooms to 12 suites key to the long-term goal to further develop the 2000-square-metre venue.
