Josiah Smith Tavern & Old Library Project – Weston, Massachusetts

Running restaurants is a family business for the Webber Group, recently selected to operate the proposed restaurant in the Josiah Smith Tavern by Weston’s Board of Selectmen. Josh and Jed Webber co-own and share the management of four critically-acclaimed businesses, each with its own history and character: the Gibbet Hill Grill, located on an operating farm in Groton, MA; the Barn at Gibbet Hill, located in a second restored barn adjacent to the Grill; the Scarlet Oak Tavern, based in a 250-year-old colonial home on Hingham’s historic Main Street; and Fireside Catering.  Not only do the Webber brothers have extensive experience operating suburban restaurants, they also have longstanding ties to Weston.  Their grandmother, aunt and uncle were teachers at Cambridge School of Weston, and their father attended the school along with various aunts, uncles and cousins.  Their grandfather served as Chair of the school’s Board of Trustees and their Uncle Ron still serves as a trustee of the school.

Josh and Jed share responsibilities for overall management of the businesses; Jed’s wife, Asia, focuses on design and sister Kate is the wine director and sommelier.  The brothers both have business backgrounds. They both earned MBAs at University of Virginia’s Darden School and worked in management consulting and investment banking before entering the restaurant business. They collaborated on the renovation of the historic buildings that now house their restaurants. Each is the father of three young children.  Josh and his wife Beth and family reside in Hamilton; Jed and Asia and family live in Cambridge.

Both the Gibbet Hill Grill and Scarlet Oaks Tavern have received high praise from restaurant critics of  several local newspapers, the latter receiving the 2008 Boston Magazine Best of Boston Award for Comfort Food (South). The Gibbet Hill Grill was awarded the Platinum Plate award from TV Diner and both restaurants have received the Wine Spectator’s Award of Excellence each year since opening.  A review in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette was headlined, “Gibbet Hill Grill does everything just right”,  praising the ambiance of the setting in two rehabilitated barns, the food, the service and the price, awarding the restaurant four stars—their highest rating.

Community outreach is a hallmark of the Webbers restaurant operations, and commitment to community is the first of the Group’s core values. According to the brothers, “Our goal is to positively impact that community through our actions.” Among those actions have been “green initiatives”, including bottle recycling, local sourcing of produce, meats and seafood, and the use of “green” cleaning agents.  In each community the Webber Group supports local charities as well as the Chef’s Collaborative, a national non-profit dedicated to helping restaurants source local products.  In recent years they have hosted an event for the Groton Senior Society at which they cater a free Thanksgiving Dinner serving 300 such dinners. This spirit of community connectedness is central to Josh and Jed’s vision for the Josiah Smith Tavern.  “We want the Tavern to be a social center of the community”, said Josh.“We have found in our other restaurants that the weekday crowd tends to be folks from town using the restaurant as a gathering and meeting place, and we hope the same will happen in Weston.”

The Webbers change their menus seasonally to reflect the changes in local produce. Their menus highlight the local farms producing these items. Starting this year much of their own produce has been grown on two acres of their land in Groton. They are eager to add Land Sake produce to their menus.

Weston will indeed be lucky to be the local site of yet another historically informed restaurant conversion by the Webber Group.  However, the final step of this process requires positive vote by the townspeople at a special Town Meeting to be held on November 30 at 7:30 PM.  All residents are encouraged to attend.

During the next two months, Jed and Josh Webber will be working with town committees to insure that their vision for the restaurant and community spaces in the old tavern conform to local codes and to the requirements of Historic New England, which has a 500-year preservation easement on both the interior and exterior of the tavern. They want to share their vision with Weston families and hear their ideas.  To this end, they will be attending neighborhood gatherings and community meetings. Anyone wishing to host a coffee or attend one is encouraged to contact Connie Fulenwider, Outreach Coordinator, at 781-891-1145.  Other opportunities to meet the Webbers will be a League of Women Voters Coffee on Saturday, October 31 at 11 AM and a community open house, “A Taste of the Tavern” on Sunday, November 15.  Both of these events will be held at the Josiah Smith Tavern Barn.

At this moment the Town of Weston, the Weston Historical Society and Historic New England’s backs are up against a wall. They are forced to find a way for the Josiah Smith Tavern and its neighbor the Old Library to survive. These buildings at the heart of our town center need a life and a purpose. They need to grow up and support themselves or they will quietly fall apart, clapboard by clapboard and brick by brick.

On Sunday, May 3 from 5 to 7 p.m., the Josiah Smith Tavern and Old Library Committee will host an open house called “Taste of the Tavern” complete with refreshments, charts, maps, parking studies, and people to explain them, in the Josiah Smith Tavern’s Barn. Everyone is invited. All members of the committee will be on hand to answer your questions – no question is too insignificant.

Our Josiah Smith Tavern, built in 1757, was a tavern for townspeople and weary travelers until it was sold in 1838. After several more owners, the Jones sisters deeded the tavern to SPNEA, now Historic New England, in 1950. Historic New England sold it back to the town in 1983 but retained the right to administer deed restrictions, in other words control over the historical accountability of future renovations.

Committee members, made official in 2003, have been investigating every possible way to breathe life into these buildings, from apartments to art studios. The committee’s most surprising and viable plan turns out to be turning the tavern back into a tavern.

The plan: An experienced restauranteur would lease the building, run a profitable inexpensive good restaurant, and pay the bills. Renovations would be paid for by Community Preservation Act funds. The Old Library next door is designated to house the Weston Historical Society and Town Archives, as well as the Women’s Community League, all very important to the community. The buildings could then live and thrive.

In order for this project to go forward, the town needs to vote on a liquor license – for the tavern building only. The vote is May 9 in the Town Hall.

The Boston Globe ran an article in early April called “‘Walkability’ growing as a real estate plus,” indicating that having a restaurant in the center of a town adds to the property values of that town. Weston is a “walkable town,” a restaurant in the center would encourage people to gather on a social, informal level, it would bring business to Land Sake’s and town vendors, and it would bring with it a lively sense of community.

Come to “Taste of the Tavern” on Sunday, May 3, ask questions, make up your own mind, and vote on Saturday, May 9.

The Town of Weston has selected the firm of Smith + St. John as Project Managers and Prellwitz Chilinski Associates (PCA) to provide Design services for the renovation and re-use of the historic Josiah Smith Tavern and Old Library.

Planned to open in 2012, the project will reconnect two historic, centrally-located buildings with the day-to-day functions of the community and provide Weston with a casual dining restaurant. The selection of PCA is the latest step in a 5-year planning process, during which the Town solicited input from the Weston community and evaluated new uses for the historic buildings. The Tavern exterior has been renovated and a feasibility study has established the outline of the project. Approval for construction funding will be sought at Town Meeting in November of 2009.

According to Andy Marvel, Chair of the Josiah Smith Tavern / Old Library Committee, “We are excited to be entering the design stage of the project. Retaining Smith + St. John as Project Mangers and PCA as Architects is a big step forward. The Tavern and Old Library buildings have the potential to provide great service to the community through their planned new uses, in addition to their historic value to the town.”

The Old Library, an elegant brick and stone building that has been vacant since 1995, will serve as the new home for the Weston Women’s Community League on the upper level. The lower level will house a Weston History Center, with offices for the Historical Commission, the Historical Society and the Town Archives. The Josiah Smith Tavern will be restored to its original use as a dining and gathering place, serving as a casual family restaurant and function space. A planned 2,500 SF addition will contain a modern kitchen and a new elevator, stairs and restrooms.

“We’re thrilled to be partnering with the Town of Weston on this project,” added Eric Brown of PCA. “As a firm, we’re always looking for ways to enhance communities through design. This project gives us the opportunity to bring two buildings, both of which have tremendous historic value, back in sync with the town’s needs.”

Help the committee and potential restaurant operators know your preferences for the restaurant at the Josiah Smith Tavern.

Please CLICK HERE to answer seven quick questions in this survey.

Thanks so much!

Weston citizens at May 2008 Town Meeting voted in favor of transforming the
Josiah Smith Tavern back to its original function:
a tavern/restaurant. Permission to petition the Massachusetts General Court for a liquor license at the Tavern was voted in as well.  The town also approved the restoration and transformation of the Old Library into a new home for the Women’s Community League and for a Weston History Center.

This website is designed to provide information about the ongoing planning phases for the renewal and reuse of the Josiah Smith Tavern & Old Library in Weston, MA.  The town committee charged with overseeing the planning process to return these historic buildings to active community use has spent this summer identifying tasks for this coming year.  This website is one way the community can easily stay informed and engage in the planning process.

Visit the “May 2008 Town Meeting” page to read a transcript and view the building and landscape schematic designs.  While the town passed the two warrant articles related to this project by a clear majority, there were questions and concerns expressed about the size and scale of the project and the need for the Committee to work closely with the Tavern & Old Library’s immediate neighbors to resolve parking & traffic concerns.  It will be vital during the coming year for the JST/OL Committee to work with as wide a spectrum of the town as possible to complete a compelling plan that is widely and enthusiastically endorsed by the community, both at town meeting next May and in the years to come.

One way the Committee is seeking the town’s input is through this website and the interactivity it can generate by providing information, two-way messaging, online surveys and polls – such as the one included below.  Developing a common vision for the use of these buildings and sharing these ideas with potential restaurant operators, project managers, architects and engineers will only enhance our success in discovering the most effective and efficient design for these proposed centers of community activity.  Please take a moment now to respond to the current survey and to sign up to receive periodic emails with updates on this project (see “Stay Connected” box in sidebar).

The JST/OL Committee will also host a series of community open forums.  Read about these forums and other ways to participate on the Get Involved page of this website. 

We look forward to working together this next year to achieve a plan that will serve Weston for many decades.