Stairwell

The stairwell at the Terminus Hotel rises through the two main storeys of the building, the timber staircase turning at landings between the ground-floor bar and the upstairs accommodation. The treads are hardwood, varnished darker than the floor at the top and bottom landings. The handrail is polished timber set on cast-iron spindles. The wall along the stairwell is wallpapered in the same faded floral print that runs through the upstairs hall. A single sash window above the upper landing admits the southern light, the late-afternoon sun falling across the upper treads. The carpet runner that once covered the stair has been removed; the timber underneath is darker where the runner protected it.

The visible building is the 1917 Tooth and Co. demolition and rebuild, undertaken in response to NSW licensing reform that required hotels to provide accommodation upstairs. The current stairwell dates from that rebuild. Pub patrons used the stair to reach the upstairs rooms; the publican's family and the long-term guests used it as their primary access between floors. The stair stopped carrying its usual foot traffic when the pub closed in 1983. The 2018 restoration kept the staircase as part of the heritage fit-out. The photograph captures the stairwell at one point in the 33-year gap between closure and reopening.