Belmore House in central Wagga, now known as the Houston hotel, has been snapped up by local business owners Tandarra and Trevor Holden who will leap into the unknown as first time hoteliers.

Described by historians Geoff Burch and Sherry Morris as one "one of the most significant homes ever built in Wagga", the house dates back to the 19th century and the earliest history of the city.

Built in 1868, the house has served as Wagga grammar school for a period in the early 1900s, a private hospital and later apartments, but was originally built as the residence of the founder of The Daily Advertiser, Auber George Jones.

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The building was restored in 2014 and turned into what is now a ten bedroom boutique hotel, the Houston - pronounced How-ston and named after the So-Ho ( South of Houston Street) district of Manhattan.

The Holdens, owners of Precision Signage, were in the market for an investment property when the building came up for sale this year and they came away with a new business and a big challenge.

The purchase of the building comes full circle for the family as they produced the original signage for the Houston back in 2015, and updated the facade with a new sign recently - this time as owners.

"We loved the building," Tandarra said. "We were looking for anything as an investment property and then this popped up."

They took ownership on April 1 and it has been a steep learning curve for the family.

Daughter Lara will eventually run the day to day of the business once the family get their feet under the table.

"Just how full on it is all the time, you can never really turn off ... the phone's always ringing," said Lara.

"Learning all the tricks of the trade and not having that background experience in hotels, we have a lot to learn," Tandarra said.

Originally planned as a gap-year job, Lara likes what she sees of the business so far and, is now considering a career in business like her parents.

It could be a big ask for someone so young, but Tandarra has full faith in her daughter.

"She's very clever," said Tandarra.

The family don't plan on making many changes to the business, which is a niche offering in Wagga as a small boutique accommodation, largely "freshening" things up, to give the place "a new lease on life", Tandarra said.

And despite raising some eyebrows among friends and family with the bold move into the hotel trade, the family have been too busy getting stuck in to dwell on the challenges.

"We just go along for the ride basically," said Tandarra. "Anything is worth a shot."

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