Ambermere Inn is situated along the Great Western Highway at Hartley and was built by Pierce Collits in the early 19th century for his son Joseph.

The six acre property was the main coaching stop over for Cobb & Co on route from Sydney to Bathurst, providing a place for travellers to eat and drink.

It originally had 13 outbuildings including its own flour mill, stables and black smith shop.

"It has a connection with Collits Inn at Hartley Vale because Pierce built both of them, when Mount Victoria Pass opened in the 1830's he wanted to capture that passing trade," Ambermere Inn owner Fiona Richardson said.

Since its closure in 1873 the inn has had various roles and even acted as the Hartley court house prior to the one being built in the Hartley Village. The building was purchased by Fiona's family in the 1990's.

"My family purchased the property back in the late 1990's and I moved to Hartley from Mudgee in 2007 to set up the original restaurant, which was just Ambermere restaurant back in 2010," she said.

The original restaurant was for fine dining and more of a food and wine experience, Fiona said.

"It was a lot more upmarket, we decided to close that restaurant in 2018 and do a complete renovation of the place, basically since December up until us reopening on Friday," she said.

Ambermere Inn is set to reopen as a public bar and bistro to recreate the experiences of the inn back in its earlier days.

"It's back to its original roots, it originally was a Cobb & Co Inn and we've taken it back to that," Fiona said.

Along with Ambermere Inn co-owner and chef Megs Black, Fiona has installed a bar in the old original tap room, and a bistro to complement the court yard and verandah outside.

"It is an old building, we want to be sympathetic to it, myself and Megs have done it all ourselves, only used tradesmen to do trims we couldn't do.

"We've ripped up the carpet, painted the walls, pulled down walls, everything, it's been tiring but rewarding," Fiona said.

She said the bistro space was a casual and relaxed dining experience and there was also still a strong following from Sydney and Central West as a food destination.

"I wanted to make it a lot more accessible and appealing to our local market.

"It's a nice spot if you want to just come out for a meal and a drink," she said.

Fiona said the Inn had quite a colourful history and she was pleased to see it back operating in the capacity it was originally built for.

"We don't have the accommodation here but the fact people are coming to eat and drink that's what its purpose was, it's nice to see it's still doing that and we're adding to that history because we're part of it now," she said.

She also said she had come across the souls that inhabit the Inn.

"Before I came here I didn't believe in ghosts but there's definitely a presence in this house," she said.

Read more:

She said the most known presence was Caroline Collits, who was murdered on Mount Victoria Pass when she was 17.

"She was married to William Collits, she's still in this house at the end in the blue room.

"Funnily enough the whole house is painted blue now, but there was always just one blue room, we've been steered in that direction of colour because of her I think," Fiona said.

Fiona said there had been mediums who worked with police on cold cases visit the house and picked up on the presence without knowing the history.

"They've sat in here without me telling them anything and said that there's a woman up that end in this house, and it's like wow," she said.

Chef Megs said she had also come across a few different presences including a man who sits in the bar room.

"We didn't know that was the original tap room but often I see someone sitting in the corner leaning against the window looking out at the highway," she said.

Fiona said there was definitely a few stories to tell but there was no negative energy.

"What we're doing they're [the presences] pretty happy with, occasionally they'll turn the music off or change it," she laughed.

With Ambermere's long and rich history along with its ghost stories, Fiona and Megs were excited to open up the public bar and bistro on Friday, May 24.

"It's going to be a good weekend, we will be open for lunch and dinner Fridays and Saturdays from 12pm to late and Sunday is brunch 10am to 4pm," Fiona said.

She also said the food would play homage to the history of the Inn and what it would have been like back in the day.

"We'll even be using the old chimneys out the back to cook for functions," she said.

Everyone who visits Ambermere over the weekend will receive a complimentary glass of sparkling on arrival to celebrate its opening.

Fiona suggested anyone wanting to experience the bistro to make a booking by calling 0410 667 781.

While you're with us, you can now receive updates straight to your inbox from the Lithgow Mercury. To make sure you're up to date with all the news, sign up here.