An entrepreneurial couple have invested £50,000 to transform the front room of their house into a micro pub.
Andrew and Hazel Smith sold their property in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, and bought a new house in Upton-upon-Severn, Worcestershire, for £385,000 in 2022.
The pair then spent six months transforming the front room of the four-bedroom home into an intimate, 3.5m x 4.2m micro-pub which they named J Maverick and Co.
The tiny space can accommodate just 20 people at a time. It sells craft ales and ciders from local independent breweries in Gloucester, Bewdley, Tenbury Wells and the Wye Valley, as well as Jeremy Clarkson's Hawkstone Cider.
The pub is filled to capacity most evenings, according to its owners.
Hazel, 53, who quit her job to manage the venue, says the cosy front room pub is "the very definition of a public house".
"We bought this house knowing that we could create a beautiful tap room," she said. "I think the charm of the place is that it is so small, it encourages conversation."
Inside, visitors will find just one table for six and a window seat.
"As there's only one table people engage with each other and nobody really spends time on their phones," said Hazel. "The place enjoys a fantastic tourist trade, with wonderful locals and a music scene, the town is such a vibrant place and that's why we wanted to establish it here.
"We get everything from regulars, to tourists to the local rugby club coming here. It is genuinely like having people into your house. We haven't got a big commute to work either."
Hazel, who previously worked in the travel industry, found her calling in the hospitality sector and envisioned the historic property as the perfect opportunity.
She said: “I worked for a corporate travel company and at 53 I just asked myself what I really wanted to do for the rest of my working life - and it wasn't negotiating deals with Air France.
“We just wanted a beautiful little house along a beautiful high street and now we have just that. We have four bedrooms, two of which we rent out, and a living room and a kitchen/diner but the front of the house is devoted entirely to being a pub."
The pair received a rural development loan from the council to help with the set up of the pub.
“We have six taps - four kegs and two casks - as well as around 1,000 cans in the fridge, which is converted from a Victorian bookshelf," she said.
"We have a big cellar too, which you need to keep everything at the right temperature. Its decorated like an old Victorian pub, a lot of real-ale places are very industrial, but that wasn't befitting of such a historic house."
The couple named the pub after their grandson whose middle name is Maverick.
Andrew, who also operates a courier company, said: "We keep being told we're definitely the smallest in the Midlands or the smallest in Worcestershire. I think there may be a smaller one up north in a phone box - but we must be among the smallest in the country as its essentially just our front room."
Customer Michael Dalglish, 55, added: "The ales are great, the owners are great - it's a charming little place and I hope they are here for years to come. I can't imagine there's many pubs in the º£½ÇÊÓƵ smaller than this. It's a bit of a squeeze but it adds to its appeal."
