Our Venue
The Golden Sheaf is an eastern suburbs institution, a community hub for 90 years, where generations have visited, enjoyed a drink and a meal and shared stories.
We are many things at once: a sports pub, brunch venue, live music space, cocktail bar, and late-night dance venue.
Our Art Deco façade opens to an entranceway featuring a gallery of rock memorabilia celebrating our roots in live music.
Whether it’s food, music, great company or live music there is always something happening at the Sheaf, day or night.
Our Story So Far
The heritage-listed Golden Sheaf was built in 1936 in the Art Deco style by architects Provost and Ruwald. It remains one of the best-known surviving interwar pubs in Sydney’s east.
The land was originally occupied by the “Double Bay Grounds,” a tennis venue that hosted the Australasian Championships – the tournament that later became the Australian Open – in 1919. It also staged Davis Cup ties in 1909 and 1919. Today we commemorate this history with displays near the Kiaora Lane entrance.
The Golden Sheaf first opened its doors in March 1936. ‘Decoration’ magazine celebrated the event. “Built upon a site formerly comprising two shops and an old residence, the new Golden Sheaf Hotel throws its doors open to that portion of the New South Head Road between Manning Road and the Double Bay Picture Theatre…
“Retaining its name ‘Golden Sheaf’ from a former licensee across the road, the new building shows a marked atmosphere – unusual in the majority of town hotels – of country freshness and comfort.”
In the 1940s, the Golden Sheaf gained attention for its unusually large outdoor beer garden at a time when open-air drinking areas were still relatively novel in Australia. Contemporary reports described the venue as pioneering a “drive-in” drinking courtyard and one of the country’s biggest beer gardens.
On 25 May 1947 the Daily Telegraph interviewed the hotel’s licensee, Jack Thomas, who was “planning one of the biggest beer gardens in Australia”.
“Mr Thomas said: ‘This garden is only the beginning of something I have planned for years… I want particularly to establish a bright, gaily coloured, happy garden, set among flowers and shrubs.”
Nearly 80 years since that interview, the Golden Sheaf still offers peaceful sanctuary underneath a 90-year-old fairy-lit fig tree.
Over the decades, the Golden Sheaf’s identity shifted with the changing character of Double Bay itself. In the postwar years, Double Bay was known for wealth, fashion, and social prestige, and the Golden Sheaf became a social hub for locals, sporting figures, businesspeople and younger crowds.
By the 1980s and 1990s, the venue had developed a reputation as a thriving party pub, especially popular with university students and Eastern Suburbs nightlife crowds.
Our venue underwent a major transformation in 2009, modernising the interior, upgrading our five bars and adding our upscale rooftop venue and high-end gaming lounge.
As we move towards our centenary, we are proud of our story as an eastern suburbs’ hospitality pioneer, and proud to be part of the wonderful Double Bay community.
What To Expect at The Golden Sheaf
Relax in the spacious Garden Bar, dine at our welcoming bistro, or enjoy a sip at one of the five bars while live bands and DJs provide the soundtrack for the night.
Our multi-level venue offers spaces for all times of the day and night.
Our Back Bar buzzes to the sounds of regular covers bands while our guests enjoy pasta or steaks or our legendary Sunday roast.
Have a flutter in our gaming room, a game of pool in our Public Bar or catch some live sport on our many screens.
We host DJs on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights, bands on Saturday night and acoustics on Sundays.
And don’t forget your fur babies are welcome – the Golden Sheaf has been popular among dog owners for years.
Our Community
Being a cornerstone of the community is what really drives our venue, whether it’s looking after the local Rotary, Double Bay community groups or local tennis and sporting clubs and, each year, our involvement with the City2Surf, the biggest road running event in Sydney held annually with 80,000 participants.
