Comeback planned for landmark Lakes Region restaurant

MOULTONBOROUGH The Woodshed Restaurant, a Lakes Region landmark that burned to the ground last Thanksgiving, is coming back in the form of an 1810 barn that will be moved to the site.

And the 40 employees who lost their jobs might find their jobs again when the new Woodshed is completed next year at this time, said Stephen Bradley, a real estate broker from Wellesley, Mass.

Bradleys father-in-law, G. Arnold Haynes, a real estate broker and businessman also from Wellesley, is the new owner. Haynes ate at the restaurant frequently. When he heard it burned, it really broke his heart, Bradley said. He was devastated. And then we found out it was for sale, and it seemed a perfect fit.

The former 2,000-square-foot restaurant was once a 19th-century farmhouse. It opened as the Woodshed in 1979.

We need to find someone to run the restaurant for us, an operator, Bradley said. We want to bring back the Woodshed as much as possible. I would think we would be looking for employees who already know how to work there, too.

The barn, from an undisclosed New Hampshire site, is going to be moved to the property at 128 Lee Road over the next year, he said. We felt we needed a barn to bring back the feel of the old place, so we went out and got one that was built in 1810, Bradley said. Were not announcing where its from yet or any of our other building plans; all we can say is that it will very much resemble and feel like the Woodshed.

Ward DElia of Samyn-DElia Architects P.A. in Ashland will be the lead architect, DElias office confirmed.

Haynes plans to start construction before Thanksgiving on the new restaurant, which he hopes to call the Woodshed or something similar, Bradley said.

The whole thing will likely take a year to build, he said. Theres a lot to do there because of the fire.

Fire investigators said the Thanksgiving blaze started just before 9 p.m. on Nov. 28, an hour after the last employee left. No cause was determined, in great part because the building burned so completely, investigators said.

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Comeback planned for landmark Lakes Region restaurant