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A history of the Hornsby Inn - Claude Fays Hotel, Hornsby
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DetailsClaude Fays Hotel at Hornsby opened 27th November 1967 built on the site of a former private hospital which had been demolished some time before. The was a grassed open space big enough to host a circus in the mid to late 1960s.
The Hotel was named after the original owner and its former namesake Claude Fays Hotel in North Sydney, located opposite North Sydney Oval and now known as The North Sydney Hotel.
William Smith was the original licensee managing the Hotel until March 1971 when Frank Martin took over.
The bars were originally known as the Banquet Bar, the Bird Bar, the Shire Bar, the Whistle Stop and later Sunny Corner. The Whistle Bar has retained its name through to today and is still styled as a railway carriage as it was originally. It also still has its popular drive through bottle shop.
It was said that the Bird Bar (in the basement) was the place to be on a Thursday night in Hornsby through the 1980s.
In the Claude Fays public bar are various caricatures of many of the local Hotel patron regulars, drawn by local artist Mick Joffe. These have hung on the walls for many decades.
In the late 1980s and 90s the Bird Bar was renamed and a busy night club, called Midnight Express, operated in the basement of the Claude Fays Hotel.
This space still exists and is able to be hired out for functions.
Michael Bradshaw was the licensee from 1995 to 2017 and during this period the hotel changed its name. Today it is known as The Hornsby Inn.CreatorNathan TilburyKeywordsHornsby
DetailsClaude Fays Hotel at Hornsby opened 27th November 1967 built on the site of a former private hospital which had been demolished some time before. The was a grassed open space big enough to host a circus in the mid to late 1960s. The Hotel was named after the original owner and its former namesake Claude Fays Hotel in North Sydney, located opposite North Sydney Oval and now known as The North Sydney Hotel.
William Smith was the original licensee managing the Hotel until March 1971 when Frank Martin took over.
The bars were originally known as the Banquet Bar, the Bird Bar, the Shire Bar, the Whistle Stop and later Sunny Corner. The Whistle Bar has retained its name through to today and is still styled as a railway carriage as it was originally. It also still has its popular drive through bottle shop.
It was said that the Bird Bar (in the basement) was the place to be on a Thursday night in Hornsby through the 1980s.
In the Claude Fays public bar are various caricatures of many of the local Hotel patron regulars, drawn by local artist Mick Joffe. These have hung on the walls for many decades.
In the late 1980s and 90s the Bird Bar was renamed and a busy night club, called Midnight Express, operated in the basement of the Claude Fays Hotel.
This space still exists and is able to be hired out for functions.
Michael Bradshaw was the licensee from 1995 to 2017 and during this period the hotel changed its name. Today it is known as The Hornsby Inn.
CreatorNathan TilburyKeywordsHornsbyRelated
CollectionNathan Tilbury
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Nathan Tilbury, A history of the Hornsby Inn - Claude Fays Hotel, Hornsby. Hornsby Shire, accessed 01/04/2026, https://hornsbyshire.recollect.net.au/nodes/view/5656