This 175-year-old pub may look like any other country pub, with a veranda wrapping around the rustic corner building and big painted block letters reading North Kapunda Hotel. But its spooky history has drawn in weary-eyed travellers into it’s wooden doors and rustic bar for years.
After nearly a year of closure, the hotel is getting a rebrand, with the history behind the building being the bones of its restoration.
With a love for old hotels, operations manager Desiree De Brenni, has taken on the challenge of restoring and updating the hotel. “There was and still is a lot of work to do, but stripping back all the layered décor meant that the heritage value is now able to be seen and enjoyed by the public,” she shared.
“These wonderful historic buildings are covered over the years, and it takes time to reveal the beauty of days gone by.”
Desiree said the new team at the hotel have been busy getting to know the local community, piecing together how different bits of history can be shown within the hotel.
“We will continue to work towards the restoration of the hotel and as the hotel ledger shows, many people have occupied the hotel and we won’t be the last,” she said. “We essentially want to participate within in the community, be sustainable and create a venue for all passers by to enjoy.”
They’ve made some changes to the layout, aiming to create a more intimate experience for diners wanting a nice place to grab a bite to eat. Speaking of, the menu isn’t just full of pub-style classics like schnitzel, wedges and steak but a list of local vendors as well.
“We’ve decided to team up with the local food vendors, with deliveries of various cuisines to our door.”
This brings them an extensive menu from a range of different cuisines, including Vietnamese, Chinese, Taiwanese, Indian and Greek.
“Looking at Kapunda, there are quite a few food vendors on the main street. Also, three other hotels, two of which serve traditional hotel food, the other a food van on weekends,” Desiree said. This also means no local business will be put out by the hotel coming back, creating a bit of a win-win situation for the Kapunda hospitality scene.
“Having been in the hotel industry and particularly in country hotels, we have learnt a lot of lessons, it can be difficult at times to run a hotel with all its moving parts.”
A unique feature of the property, located around an hour’s drive from Adelaide, is the few extra spooky stories it comes with, that you wouldn’t regularly see with most pubs – 17 resident ghosts. For centuries, the hotel has been the site of paranormal activity, with suspicious deaths first reported in the late 1800s.
It’s rumoured that multiple murders have occurred in the former upstairs guest wing, where rooms line a long, narrow hallway. This is where the most paranormal sightings are said to occur, during ghost tours run by a separate company.
“We won’t be running any ghost tours, but maybe look at history tours when the space is in better condition.”
“I haven’t yet seen any ghost,” Desiree admitted. But she did take the time to learn about the history of the hotel, which dates back to 1849, when it first opened to the public. At the time, it was just a single-story hotel with a double-story accommodation wing for miners and travellers on what was known as Franklin Street.
The accommodation building is what we see standing today, serving many meals, cold drinks and memories for the locals and travellers. John Bickford served as the first publican of the North Kapunda Arms Hotel, the earliest licensed hotel in Kapunda and a cornerstone of the town’s hospitality history.
While they haven’t finished the huge project just yet, Kapunda is eager to find out what the upgrades will look like. “While the work was taking place, many locals would walk past with a yarn and a huge amount of encouragement for our efforts.”
Earlier in January, the hotel had an official opening, with many locals coming to walk down memory lane in the historic building. This month, the hotel will be open every day, except for Mondays, from 10am until late.
Don’t be scared to drop in and say hi.
Kapunda North Hotel
When: every day, except for Mondays, from 10am until late
Where: 50 Main St, Kapunda SA 5373
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