Classic old Beechworth pub, Warden's Hotel, set to be auctioned next month

That hope is fuelled by the owner's passion to see what was once a favourite watering hole of Beechworth relive its former glory.

The classic tiled pub in Ford Street has had several incarnations: as a school camping haunt, a bed and breakfast, a wine bar, and an Asian restaurant, but owner Paul Conroy wants to sell to someone who will appreciate the building's history.

Professor Conroy, who lives in Japan teaching at Shumei University, was in Beechworth yesterday to relive some precious memories.

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The old pub is currently home to an Indian restaurant but that will close in December.

"The Beechworth locals say it could become a wide range of things, from another bed and breakfast to another fancy restaurant but I would love to see it restored back to the classic old pub it was," Prof Conroy said.

"It was known as Warden's Midland Counties Hotel - the story goes it is a replica of a pub built in the British Midlands but I've not been able to confirm that.

"It has a fascinating history - at one point in the 1900s it was used as a honeymoon suite for some of the inmates from the asylum who would get 'married' over the road and then have their 'honeymoon' at the pub before returning to their usual lodgings the next day."

Prof Conroy said his father, also named Paul, bought the pub in the 1970s, turned it into a school camp, then sold it to him in 1994 to "keep it in the family".

Agent Paul Reid, of Nutrien Harcourts Wangaratta, said he had fielded several calls from interested parties from Sydney and Melbourne.

He said the building, with 12 bedrooms, two dining rooms, and three bathrooms with five showers and six toilets, would be ideal for conversion into a bed and breakfast.

"While the current owners have a liquor licence with their restaurant business, the property will not be sold with one," he said. "There's nothing really nearby to compare it with to estimate what sort of price it might go for, but I would guess at upwards of $900,000."

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