HOTEL GOSFORD – A moment in time, ANUA
Article written by the Australian National University Archives, June 2022
As we head into the weekend, we’re off on a road trip to the sunny Central Coast of New South Wales for our latest venture into the Tooth & Co archives, to Hotel Gosford.
Hotel Gosford was built in 1926 by brewing company Reschs Ltd for £45,000, with a further £7,000 spent on furnishings. The hotel’s design was produced by Sydney-based architectural firm Robertson & Marks, a prestigious firm that was established in 1892 and produced the designs for many notable buildings in Sydney including the famous Bondi Pavilion, AWA Building and Tower and the Trocadero. The hotel was constructed by notable building firm Hutcherson Bros, who worked on a number of well-known buildings including AMA House in the CBD and the the Australian Atomic Energy Commission in Coogee.
Hotel Gosford opened on 25 March 1926 with the event attended by “leading district citizens and Sydney visitors”. The building stood three storeys high and offered thirty bedrooms elaborately fitted with “hot and cold water and electric conveniences throughout” (SMH 26 Mar 1926).
The hotel was described as “one of the finest and most modern hotels outside the metropolis” (Labor Daily 22 Mar 1926) and “Gosford’s finest building” (Gosford Times & Wyong District Advocate 25 Mar 1926).
The first licensee was not a local, but a North Queenslander by the name of Mr H.F. Rowe, who had extensive experience operating tourist hotels.
The hotel was entered from Erina St, where visitors could find the casual ground floor dining room which accommodated 50 diners. The ground floor also housed a reception hall, lounge bar, main bar and offices with “panelled walls, tessellated floors and bevelled glass doors” (Gosford Times & Wyong District Advocate 25 Mar 1926). The first floor included a reading room, writing room and general sitting room as well as bedrooms and a dining room for boarders. Notable inclusions were the Queensland Maple and Oregon polished woodwork, fireplaces, electric fans and electric elevators.
No matter how you arrived, you would have the convenience of either stabling for your horses or a garage for your motor vehicle.
The hotel was described as being “scrupulously clean”, in part due to the fact that all refuse from the hotel was “consumed in its own incinerator” which at the same time helped to maintain the hot water supply. Plus a 1000 gallon tank on the top of the building was installed and designed so that it would never empty or overflow.
One of the earliest functions at the hotel was held in honour of General Granville Ryrie (later Sir Granville Ryrie), who amongst many other achievements, was a member of the NSW Parliament and commander of the 2nd Light Horse Brigade during WWI. Granville was in Gosford to open the Brisbane Water Club and the luncheon that was held on the 1 May 1926 featured “perfect service and catering” with a special menu of “Suvla Bay Oysters”, “Bream a la Pozieres”, “Sandbag Pudding”, “Anzac Wafers” and “Dugout Coffee”.
The hotel still trades today on the corner of Erina and Mann Streets in Gosford.
These photos were taken by commercial photographer extraordinaire Douglass Baglin, who photographed many of Tooth’s hotels. The photos were discovered recently within some Tooth & Co files in our archives, along with similar photos from a number of Sydney and Newcastle area hotels. They will be digitised and uploaded to the ANU Open Research website later in the year.