From behind the bar at the Gretna Green Hotel, publican Colleen Sharpe couldn’t paint a more idyllic picture of owning a country pub if she tried.
“It’s such a good lifestyle,” she says. “You talk to people all day, and we’ve got such a good clientele, different conversations all day. You laugh and giggle. You come from upstairs, walk downstairs, and you’re at work.”
Mrs Sharpe and her husband Phil “Sharpie” Sharpe bought the pub in Tasmania’s Upper Derwent Valley 16 years ago, moving south from Queensland with their then-eight-year-old daughter Cassie.
When it came up for sale, Mr Sharpe travelled down with a publican mate to check it out and make an offer and called his wife from the bar (after a few drinks) to tell her he’d bought them a pub.
Since then, the clientele – mainly the farmers, bushies and residents of a handful of small towns and hamlets in the area – has become like family.
Read the full article at Commercial Real Estate.
Preview and image courtesy Domain Media.
