Zach Robinson and Stuart Hicks have taken over the Commercial Hotel at Kaniva.

The pair bought the pub in December and have started renovating almost every room of the building.

Mr Robinson said the pub was built in 1927.

“We want to turn it back to what it would have looked like originally,” he said.

The pub boasts a large bar, dinning area and pool room, pressed tin ceilings and a large stained-glass skylight.

It has a residence attached upstairs.

Mr Robinson said the pair decided to move to Kaniva as a compromise.

“Stuart wanted to live in Adelaide but I wanted to stay in Victoria,” he said.

“The pub wasn’t on the market at the time, but we contacted the owners.

“It’s a great old building.”

Mr Robinson has already repainted and plastered multiple rooms and removed a false ceiling in the bar.

The kitchen has also been completely renovated. 

“At the moment we are in the process of interviewing for a chef so we can get the kitchen up and running,” Mr Robinson said.

“We’ve had pressure from residents to start doing meals as soon as possible.”

Mr Robinson said he had big plans for the pub.

“We want to get it up and running and operating at full capacity,” he said.

“It’s a five year plan.

​”We found some old doors out the back that we are putting back in

“We will eventually renovate the bar and open the room up more and we are going to create a beer garden out the back.”

Mr Robinson is doing most of the work himself.

“We are working on it everyday,” he said. 

”We want it to be an old-style pub, but also very welcoming.”

Mr Robinson said the pair enjoyed living at Kaniva.

“We love it – it’s a really friendly place,” he said.