Buxton Inn reopening to guests April 1, kitchen rebuild starting this spring

The historic Buxton Inn is preparing to reopen this spring after a fire destroyed the inn's kitchen last year.

General Manager Jennifer Valenzuela said the inn, which has been closed since the Oct. 25 blaze, will reopen April 1 for overnight stays.

It has taken longer than expected for the kitchen rebuild to start as ownership waits on insurance and permitting, Valenzuela said. But in the meantime, she added, that ownership has made upgrades to guest rooms, most which are in adjacent buildings that were unharmed by the fire. Renovations to 16 rooms include replacing tubs with walk-in showers, adding new bathroom vanities, replacing furnishings and repainting, she said.

"The main goal here for us is to always be improving, to always make improvements to increase the longevity of the inn," she said. "That's our goal, overall and always, and I really am proud that we are kind of able to take those lemons and make lemonade through these kind of last handful of months where we just kind of felt paralyzed."

Valenzuela said the Buxton is the oldest continually operating inn and tavern in Ohio, having operated since 1812.

"This is the first time it's been completely closed, as we know, since 1812," she said.

She said all the renovations her family did after purchasing the Buxton in 2014 were completed while it remained open, which was challenging.

"It really gave us an opportunity to kind of do what should have been done in the beginning, which was like a complete redo and a complete clean out; opposed to hurry up and try to get something done because we need to continue to operate," she said.

The inn is nearly ready to welcome overnight guests, but construction will be ongoing during the weekdays as the kitchen is rebuilt starting in early April. It's unclear how long it will take to complete the kitchen rebuild, Valenzuela said.

The remodeled kitchen will be expanded about 8 feet to the west and interior walls will be removed to make the space more open, Valenzuela said, adding that restrooms off the dining space in the Garden Room will also be expanded.

She said they've demoed the remains of the kitchen — taking it down to the studs — before continuing with the rebuild.

The majority of the inn was spared in the October fire, which was caused by an electrical issue in the attic above the kitchen. There was no fire damage to the original 1812 structure, but dining areas of the restaurant had extensive water and smoke damage, Valenzuela said. She said the damage was an over $1 million insurance claim.

The progress to reopen the inn has been slow, Valenzuela said, with much of it being out of ownership's control. She said her family's company, which owns numerous other properties, has dealt with minor fires before but nothing this extensive.

In October Valenzuela was hopeful the inn would reopen the Monday before Thanksgiving, but there were complications removing damaged insulation and the damper system used to regulate airflow and a couple furnaces were destroyed, she said.

She said the main house of the inn didn't have heat or water until after Thanksgiving.

"If you would have told me the day of the fire that this would have been what would have happened I would have never believed it," she said.

Renovations and cleaning will continue leading up to reopening. All the carpeting in the main house will be replaced in the weeks to come, Valenzuela said. During a recent afternoon, inn staff members are washing floors, wiping down tables and other surfaces and rearranging furniture.

"We've been trying … to make good use of the time and be as productive as we can," Valenzuela said

mdevito@gannett.com

740-607-2175

Twitter: @MariaDeVito13

This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Buxton Inn reopening to guests April 1, kitchen rebuilding this spring