At the end of an avenue of golden poplars, across the historic one lane bridge spanning the Snowy River, sits a warm red brick building bathing in the low autumn sunlight. The Dalgety Hotel, which is as iconic a landmark as the river that flows past its footings. Equally fond to the mountain people as stories of brumbies and whirling snowstorms and the biggest trout that got away, told over an evening round of schnapps in front of a crackling log fire.
Published June 2026, words and photos Lisa Hogben
Dalgety locals who believe that it “hasn’t happened unless you hear about it at the pub.” So when it came up for sale recently, they were worried that this architectural celebrity of the area, would fall into the hands of one of the corporate giants of brewing in Australia and be cannibalised for its pokies licenses. So when young couple and long-term residents of the tight knit Dalgety community Tegan Young and Scott Craig, purchased this grand old dame of a pub, a collective sigh of relief echoed around the streets of the historic township. For the community it was the best possible outcome.
Meet Tegan Young: One of Australia's youngest female hotel licensees
At thirty years old, Tegan is one of the youngest female hotel owners and licensees in Australia. She jokingly quips, “I don’t think a lot of thirty-year-olds own a pub, but I’m sure a lot of them wished they did”. As a matter of fact, her path to ownership was anything but accidental. Young grew up in the hospitality industry that services the nearby snow resorts of Thredbo and Perisher. Her parents met as ski instructors during the 1980’s and subsequently travelled the world forging careers in catering and restaurant management. Father Stephen Young went from managing Stilwell Lodge in Charlottes Pass, to running the legendary burger kiosk at the bottom of the Eyre lift at Perisher. While her mother Jane Clark directed the Red Door Roastery in Jindabyne. Celebrated for the best coffee in the region. Tegan worked across both businesses, and as a result, she has a solid understanding of what it takes to make hospitality, hospitable.
Dalgety: One of NSW's most historic alpine towns
In order to understand what makes the Dalgety Hotel so special, it helps to know the town itself. Dalgety, once the Captain’s pick of the fourth Prime Minister George Reid to be the Capital of Australia. Is the last of the original towns on the banks of the Snowy River in the NSW alpine areas. From time immemorial the area was a place where Ngarigo people held ceremony. With the first colonial settlement made in 1832 and the establishment of a Catholic school in 1874. The famed Dalgety Bridge, built to replace a punt that operated to cross the Snowy River, was erected in 1888 and was shortly followed by the Dalgety Hotel in 1889.
A front bar unchanged for Over a hundred years
In the comfortable autumnal sunlight, The Dalgety Hotel glows like the remaining jewel of Victorian colonial construction that it is. Complete with a front bar that has not changed in well over a hundred years. As the river flows past, the laconic local clientele line the pubs ample verandas to enjoy a beer in the sunshine. Murmuring about that young fella Charlie Rogerson, from Snowy Mountains Stockman Contracting that is working with those brumbies. Andd how the price of wool might vary over the next few months. It is, in essence, slow living at its finest.
Bringing back old-school country pub hospitality
Acknowledging the task ahead of herself and her partner Scott in guiding the hotel into a new era. Young says “It’s hard work. It’s not going to be easy. Dealing with the public can be like dealing with toddlers sometimes. I don’t stop. There is always something to do or a problem to fix”. Nevertheless, she remains undaunted. “There is no way I could have taken this on without the wisdom of Mum and Dad.”
It is the ethos of such a connected country community that Young is particularly interested in reestablishing. To that end she is focused on creating an authentic country experience in the wood fire warmed nooks, cosy rooms for overnight stays and of course the obligatory ghost. Who appears as friendly as the blue dog who sits on the outside stairs that lead to the bar.
Young says “It’s about bringing back the old school hospitality that you used to get at country pubs. It’s not boutiquey, it’s not trying to be something that it’s not. It’s a classic old country pub with a country mentality. And people can feel welcome no matter where they come from. In fact, I feel like a lot of country pubs have lost that charm.”
Jane Clark's Kitchen: Next-Level Food at a Classic Country Pub
On one hand many town pubs have struggled to meet the demands of modern city customers and have scant patronage from remote living farmers. On the other hand, Young maintains there should be “no expectation that you have to look like this or you have to wear this or you have to buy an $80 steak” , And that the Dalgety Hotel is accessible for everyone. Coupled with that accessability is some seriously good food. With the kitchen being steered by Jane Clark, a talented cook whose food is “next level” according to Craig Hunt, master blacksmith and proprietor of the Kerrabee Forging and Farriery Service. There is no doubt that the newest and youngest owners of The Dalgety Hotel have a distinct advantage in their acquisition.
The Dalgety Hotel: An undiscovered gem in the NSW Snowy Mountains
And while the pub may be like an undiscovered gold nugget in an area that has become impossibly commercial over the last ten years. Yet the very real attractions The Dalgety Hotel holds for so many mountain people will hopefully never change. In the long run, that’s exactly the point.
