Updated September 15, 2017 09:03:30

Photo: Michele Cleaver-Wilkinson had run a ballet school in the Pilbara and wanted a beautiful building for her new school. (ABC Radio Perth: Emma Wynne)

Michele Cleaver-Wilkinson and her husband have transformed one of Perth's old rundown pubs into a beautiful ballet school.

The old Newmarket Hotel in South Fremantle stood vacant and derelict for 18 years before the Cleaver-Wilkinsons took a leap of faith and bought it.

"There was no electricity. There was no water. Every window was smashed," Ms Cleaver-Wilkinson said.

"It was all boarded up, front and back, so it was dark and we had to use torches to see what was here.

"There was a big bees nest inside, termites all through the stairs.

"There was graffiti everywhere, walls had been bashed out, fireplaces ripped out."

Photo: The Newmarket Hotel, pictured in 2012. had stood vacant for years and was ransacked by vandals. (Wikimedia commons: gnangarra)

Photo: The old hotel, now renamed Hamilton House, has been restored to its former glory. (ABC Radio Perth: Emma Wynne)

Built in 1912, the Newmarket Hotel loomed over the corner of Rockingham and Cockburn roads and for decades had been popular with men involved in the horse racing industry.

By the late 1990s the pub had closed its doors; the building sat unloved until the Cleaver-Wilkinsons decided to take it on.

"It was a dream and it was a lot of work," Ms Cleaver-Wilkinson said.

"Ian and I worked every minute, every hour that we could possibly find.

"I would often pick him up from work at 4:30 and we would work here until 10:00pm."

It took more than a year and $900,000 before the building was ready to open, and further renovations are likely to continue for years to come.

So why did the couple decide to transform the public bar and hotel rooms into dance studios when they could easily have found a modern building for their school?

Photo: The former front bar now has a barre for ballet lessons. (ABC Radio Perth: Emma Wynne)

"Because if you're passionate about ballet you spend every day there," Ms Cleaver-Wilkinson explained.

"I've worked in community halls in Karratha where I spent six days a week there and if you've got green bricks to look at all day it's soul-destroying.

"I love coming to work here. The kids love coming here. It is just uplifting."

To help with the restoration, the Cleaver-Wilkinsons received a $100,000 grant from the Heritage Council to restore the façade and verandah.

Photo: The Newmarket Hotel in its early days. (Facebook: Fremantle now and then)

And although the local community is pleased to see the building restored to its former glory, the change in its use has caused some confusion.

"I've had people walk in off the street so many times and say, 'Did you know this used to be a pub?'" Ms Cleaver-Wilkinson said.

"If I had a dollar for everyone that told me that ...

"I think people are recognising [now] that it suits a dance school."

Ms Cleaver-Wilkinson said she also suspected her grandfather, who worked as a wharfie in Fremantle, probably drank in the pub once.

Photo: The couple, their five children and friends and neighbours worked for a year to restore the pub. (ABC Radio Perth: Emma Wynne)

The former front bar is now lined with mirrors and barres, and every day students aged from four to 70 come to practise their moves.

"I really like the fact that the premises that was probably very much male-oriented is now very much female-oriented."

Topics: human-interest, people, dance, arts-and-entertainment, history, community-and-society, perth-6000

First posted September 15, 2017 08:00:00