A Family Home & Creative Refuge

In 1975, the hotel began a new chapter, no longer a place of trade, but a home, and a gathering point for a circle of artists.

As the hotel’s commercial life wound down through the twentieth century, it might easily have fallen into disrepair. Instead, in 1975, it entered a new chapter as a family home. Artist Mere Keating and photographer Robin White made the building their home, raising their daughters within its timber walls and wide verandas.

Their presence drew a wider circle of artists, writers, and friends to the valley, the hotel becoming, in its own quiet way, a creative refuge far from the city. Visitors have described the pull of the place: its stillness, its light, and the sense of history held in its rooms.

Stewardship Today

The family’s connection to the land and building has shaped its character ever since, and continues today. Recognising the responsibility of caring for a building of this age and history, the property is now in the process of being placed into a family trust, a step intended to formally protect and restore the hotel for future generations, beyond any one family’s tenure.

Over the years, many visitors and neighbours have expressed a wish to help care for the hotel. With the trust taking shape, and the roof in urgent need of repair, that support can now be put to direct use.