The Keeley family had long admired the dodecagon building perched on top of Red Hill.
They would dine at the upstairs restaurant for special occasions, Tracy Keeley said.
Her son Nick, 33, remembers walking up Red Hill Nature Reserve and admiring the view of Canberra below.
"We're a family that really appreciates the local architecture," he said.
"It's really the building that has captured our imagination."
'Following through on a dream'
But it had been owned by the Vidovic family since 1963.
Suddenly, in early 2021, the venue was put on the market.
The Keeley's seized the opportunity to combine their hospitality nous and love of Canberra architecture.
They snapped the building up for $2.25 million.
"We have always loved this building and we hoped that one day we would actually attain [it]," Ms Tracey said.
"It's about following through on a dream."
The interior of the building is being refurbished by Sydney architecture firm ACME.
Lunetta
The Keeley's plan to launch two restaurants later this year.
Upstairs will be a "timeless, international" modern-dining restaurant, Lunetta.
The interiors will be midcentury modernist, with colours inspired by the bushy surrounds.
Downstairs will be Lunetta Trattoria, a more casual wine-slash-cocktail bar with an Italian-inspired menu.
The exterior of the building, including windows designed by Dr Enrico Taglietti in 1981, will remain.
"It's about the food, it's about the company, it's about the occasion but also it's about this beautiful position that the building occupies," Ms Keeley said.
"You get these amazing views over Lake Burley Griffin with all the monuments. Even though it's up on a hill, you're still among Canberra."
'Labour of love'
Ms Keeley was a primary school teacher working at St Bede's in Red Hill before she bought her first hospitality venue, Cafe Momo in Bruce.
More recently she has owned and operated Bookplate, the National Library of Australia's cafe, and runs Pollen, a venue at the Australian Botanical Gardens.
Ms Keeley shares her love of the food industry with her sons, Nick and Matt Keeley, 36.
They are all co-directors of hospitality business Poppy & Maude.
"We put a love into our offerings and they're not a cookie-cutter approach," she said.
"It's [a] labour of love really, to bring something back but also then to reimagine it."
Leaving a legacy
The trio have spent the last two-and-a-half years researching and designing Lunetta.
That included talking to Canberrans about their impressions of the place.
"There's a custodianship towards that iconic place not only in the physical sense, but also in the memories of many Canberrans," Ms Keeley said.
"We really want to capture that beautiful state of soul that relates to those memories."
Ms Keeley told The Canberra Times as early as 2019 that she and her sons were seeking an iconic institution to expand their hospitality business.
The Red Hill building has given them a chance to make a mark, and leave a legacy.
"It's something that holds a special place in a lot of Canberran's hearts and we want to just do it justice," Mr Keeley said.
