LOCATION: (upstairs) 118 Military Rd, Neutral Bay NSW 2089
Photography by Anson Smart
The Oaks Hotel was built in the 1930’s, and has now been lovingly restored & cared for over its many years with its grand original details & features. With a purposeful pairing of old and new, it’s revitalisation pays homage to its Art deco origins.
The upstairs rooms of The Oaks was originally the licensee’s flat & his daughters room, Nancy & Kathleen. Today the rooms have a variety of choices for fun & decorative backgrounds with pool tables, ping pong, library room with a manned honesty bar & outdoor terrace with a private station bar.
The design encapsulates the history of the building & travel in the 1920’s & 30’s as it become more accessible to the average bear. It references one of the most exciting design periods in history, Art Deco & the thoughtful pace of train travel. The space is as much about the journey as the destination.
Begin the journey through the ‘backstage’ full of props & theatre in the Trophy Room, kitted out with its very own physic’s tent to tell your future.
Pass the original kitchen transformed into a patterned paper to complement to original wunderlicht tiles in the LEFT ping pong room. The grand hallway is transformed from a transitional room into David Thomas’s (owner) very own private gallery with floor to ceiling artworks collected throughout his years.
A revamped curved bar with its original plaster dome now made all the more glamorous with custom-made copper globe by the talented Melbourne- based makers, Earl Pinto suspended on a pulley system. As the hallway meanders on, choose between ‘arsenic’ coloured walls of Mannix Room all tartan & hunting or the the colourful sisters room for pool across the hall. Glamorous women of the time inspired the oversized murals, the collectable ceramic artist, Clarice Cliff and textile designer, Sonia Delaunay. The wild Art Deco carpet left untouched makes the new pops of bright colours & patterns sing.
If chit chat & cocktails are more your thing, try the new Station Bar, reminiscent of the materials found in a working train station; hand forged zinc bar top with beautiful timber joinery & smithed details that spill out to a plan thick terrace. For lounging around, nestle up by the fire in to the custom curved sofas in The Sitting Room and the Licensees Flat. These rooms are for fun, games & cocktails served from the custom-made manned Honesty bar. This is about discovery, journey & adventure – grab your personalised luggage & come along for the ride – All Aboard!!
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