Raise your glass to converted pubs
THIS WEEK: Disused pubs that have been reborn as sparkling homes, including this old local
ACCORDING to t he Campaign for Real Ale, 21 pubs close every week because of increasing business rates, decreasing disposable income and changes in drinking habits. It may be sad for pub-lovers but it’s good news for homeowners, as the buildings can make wonderful homes, with large living rooms and open fireplaces.
Mary and Anthony Hunter bought The Black Bull in Cliffe, a village north of Rochester, Kent, in 2002. ‘We had lived in the neighbouring village, Cliffe Woods, for 17 years, and as our children had grown up we wanted something smaller. Anthony used to drink in the pub before it closed down and we just fell in love with the house and the village,’ says Mary, 66.
When the couple bought the property it had just been converted into two semi-detached houses and looked like an ordinary home inside, although the original facade still remained. ‘It had been done very tastefully, but we wanted to make it more pub- like. Anthony had always wanted to run a pub, although I wasn’t so keen because it would have been such hard work.’
So they installed a stainless-steel bar with stools, optics, drinks cooler and juke box in the living room, put up a large clock over the cooking range in the kitchen and found two old beer barrels for the garden, which they used as tables when they had friends round in the summer. ‘We loved giving parties,’ says Mary, who used to be a PA for a legal firm.
Original features from the old building include the stained glass windows in one of the three bedrooms and the bathroom, the impressive central Victorian fireplace in the living room, the fireplace in the dining room, which Anthony discovered, and another in a bedroom. There are also six cellars, where the beer was stored and where there was a Thai restaurant, which are yet to be converted. ‘It’s a lovely place to live,’ says Mary. ‘The house is in a very friendly village and it’s only ten minutes to the A2.’
The Black Bull hanging sign was designed by the couple’s children as a present on their 60th birthdays.
Sadly, Anthony, who used to work in the print department of a national newspaper, died two years ago.
In addition to the hanging sign, on the side of the house the original Black Bull name remains on the wall, so people occasionally pitch up thinking it is still a pub.
‘One day a young chap knocked on the door, asking if he had a drink, could he use the toilet. My husband, who was very sociable, said yes of course, not realising there were 14 of them – all doing their Duke of Edinburgh award. We let them in two by two!’