Old British pub dismantled in 1974 reopens thousands of miles away in California

An old-school Scottish boozer has found a new lease on life in an unexpected place.

A US health firm decided to rebuild the pub in all its glory at its hi-tech headquarters thousands of miles away from the UK – in California.

The Art Nouveau interior of St Mungo Vintners, originally opened in Glasgow, was saved by an antiques dealer after it closed its doors for good in 1974.

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With its dark wood, stained glass and brass fittings, the popular inn was shipped off to the States, where it gathered dust in a warehouse for more than 50 years.

But now thanks to medical app firm GoodRx, the bar has a new lease of life after they transformed it into a "speakeasy" for staff at its headquarters.

California antiques dealer Mitchell Litt said St Mungo Vintners was "beautiful" when he first saw it on Glasgow's Queen Street in the 1970s.

According to the BBC, it was designed by architects MacWhannell & Rogerson and built in 1904 in the style of the Glasgow School.

Mitchell said: "I had no idea at that time who Charles Rennie Mackintosh or that school of architecture was, or anything else of that nature.

"What mostly attracted us was the leaded glass windows, there were quite a few throughout the pub.

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"It was just basically the art nouveau interior and the way the whole thing looked."

On their second or third trip to Glasgow, they visited St Mungo Vintners and decided to buy the pub.

"I forget the price we paid," he said. "I could envision it in a place in Southern California where I was from."

It remained there for almost 50 years until Mitchell's son sent a friend, Doug Hirsch the co-founder of GoodRx, an old newspaper clipping about the pub.

Doug has now transformed the boozer into an old-time speakeasy in a former Santa Monica pen factory.

"I've always been in love with English and Scottish pubs," said Doug Hirsch.

"When I was in college I studied abroad in England and of course, I spent time in Scotland."

The project took nearly two years to complete due to covid delays but he claims his employees love it.

Though some parts of the pub have been adapted for modern use, including part of the bar that was cut and lowered for wheelchair accessibility.

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