Richie Hughes learned to tend bar at the Buxton Inn on his 21st birthday. He worked there from 2002 to 2012, when Orville and Audrey Orr owned the inn. This fall he's back as the bar manager. "I'm so glad it is being preserved," he told The Reporting Project, Denison University's nonprofit newsroom, the week before the inn's reopening gala.
Hughes's return fits the year. Several of Granville's best-known businesses got new owners in 2026, and each deal was built to keep the name, the building and much of the staff in place. Two of them reopened on East Broadway two days apart in late September. Residents will find the changes inside, and each business is changing at its own pace.
A Sale Built Around Keeping the Inn an Inn
The Buxton went on the market in September 2024 at just under $4.7 million for the 1812 inn and four nearby houses. The owners said they wanted to sell all five buildings together, though they'd consider selling them separately if they had to. In February 2026 they cut the price to $2,795,000. Broker Brandon Hess said the cut drew at least four interested parties.
The buyer was New England Development Company of Worthington. It's the family firm that once owned the Worthington Inn. Hess said seller Robert Schilling and the buyers had been talking for six months, and they closed "on a handshake," which he called "one family business to another." He also said it mattered to Schilling "to make sure the inn continued as the inn for the village." Village Manager Herb Koehler called the Buxton "one of our keystone attractions."
So the sale kept the block together. The inn has 25 guest rooms, and only three are in the original building at 313 E. Broadway. The other 22 are in the four historic houses at the corner of Broadway and S. Pearl Street. If the five buildings had been sold one by one, the inn would have lost most of its rooms.
What Six Months of Restoration Looks Like
New owner Kevin Showe closed in March and started on the details. The 1812 building now has copper gutters and downspouts, plus a copper roof over the solarium dining area. The crews ran into problems. One of the houses needed a new roof because its slate was crumbling. The basin around the largest fountain had to be rebuilt. Delivery delays held up the windows that will enclose several balconies and some equipment for the basement tavern.
The courtyard connecting the five buildings gets the most attention. Showe says its large black fountain is now the biggest historical fountain in central Ohio. Amelia Sterling is an interior designer with Kevin Reiner Design who worked on the inn. She said the hard part was keeping the building's historic character while adding to it: "You're dealing with antique woods and all of these things and it's like, how can I tap into that in the right way?"
On Wednesday, Sept. 23, the inn held its "Grand Reawakening." Two hundred guests paid $200 each, and all of the money went to the Granville Historical Society. Gov. Mike DeWine and Fran DeWine cut the ribbon. Historical Society actors in costume told the history of the inn and its past owners. Mayor Melissa Hartfield grew up a block from the inn and still lives nearby. She spoke to Showe directly from the porch:
"When you drive by here at nighttime, (you can see that) you have put such a warmth back into these buildings, it's just unimaginable."
DeWine thanked "every owner going back for over 200 years who's contributed to this."
What You Can and Can't Do at the Buxton Right Now
The gala was a one-night, ticketed event. Here's where things stand in early October:
- Overnight stays: open. The inn is taking room reservations. Showe said all the rooms have been full on weekends for the past six months, mostly with tourists and Denison parents. Contractors don't work on weekends, which made that schedule possible.
- Restaurant: not open yet. The inn's dining page says the restaurant isn't open and that opening dates, menus, hours and reservations will be posted once they're set.
- Basement tavern: still being built. Menus for the tavern and dining room were still in progress after the gala.
- Chef: not announced. In September, Showe was still looking for a chef to bring fine dining to the inn, and the current dining page doesn't name one.
Showe has said he wants the Buxton to complement the Granville Inn, which sits directly across E. Broadway. If you're booking rooms for visitors now, the Buxton works for lodging. For dinner, you'll have to plan around the restaurant until it opens.
Two Days Later, a Few Doors West
Kussmaul's sale was set up much like the Buxton's. In February 2026 the business went on the market for $350,000 with its inventory. The real estate wasn't part of the deal. Jamie Jolly and her daughter Jordan bought the shop. They reopened it with a Re-Grand Opening on Friday, Sept. 25, 2026, two days after the Buxton gala.
The Jollys say the shop closed for only a few weeks while it changed hands. They kept the name on purpose. "The Kussmaul name has been part of Broadway for almost 40 years," their FAQ says. "What's changing is what's inside — not what it's called." The store has been on that corner since 1987.
What's inside has changed a lot. The old gallery and framing business is now Kussmaul Curated Home + Gifts. It carries tabletop pieces, seasonal decor, jewelry, baby gifts and handbags. Vietri and Nora Fleming are in rotation, and Mosser glass comes in a growing range of colors. So the corner at 140 E. Broadway has the same sign and different shelves. Holiday shopping is only weeks away, which makes this a good time to stop in.
On South Main, the Same Kind of Handoff
The spring grocery change worked the same way. Ross' Granville Market at 484 S. Main closed May 7. The Saltzman family reopened the store as Lucky's Market Granville on May 22. Lucky's kept many of the store's familiar products and employees, plus the Ross family's slaw and ham salad recipes. It also expanded produce and alcohol and added grab-and-go meats, cheeses, sandwiches and salads. Today the store is open daily from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., and its liquor agency is open daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Steve Tschertan is the store director.
Out on River Road, Palumbo's Italian Market looks like it may follow the same pattern. Last December, founders Cindy and Paul Palumbo planned to turn the business over to longtime employee and co-owner Kate Wilkinson by the end of 2025. Wilkinson said she didn't plan to change the menus or recipes. We haven't found any public confirmation that the handoff has closed.
Your Granville Calendar Through Thanksgiving
The restaurant openings are still unscheduled, but the rest of the fall calendar is set:
- Saturdays through Oct. 31: The Granville Farmers Market's outdoor season continues at Raccoon Valley Park, 1225 River Road. Starting in November, a winter market runs most Saturdays through April 2027 at the United Church of Granville Annex, 119 W. Broadway. The market's calendar notes that the winter market isn't managed by the Chamber.
- Tuesday, Oct. 27, 7–8:30 p.m.: The Great Circle Alliance and Bryn Du host "Life Local: The Land Still Speaks" with artist Marlena Myles at Bryn Du Mansion, 537 Jones Road NE.
- Tuesday, Nov. 10, 7–8:30 p.m.: Herbalist Brandon Elijah Scott presents "Plants as Medicine" in Bryn Du's Life Local series, also at the mansion.
- Wednesday, Nov. 25: The Turkey Trot's Tipsy Trot fundraiser is at Snapshots Lounge, 1329 Weaver Drive. Registration opens at 2 p.m., and live music starts at 3 p.m.
- Thursday, Nov. 26, 9:30 a.m.: St. Luke's Church presents the Granville Turkey Trot 5K, which starts downtown and benefits the Food Pantry Network.
The Turkey Trot starts downtown, near both reopened storefronts on East Broadway. If the Buxton posts its restaurant and tavern hours before then, Thanksgiving weekend may be the first time many residents can sit down inside the restored inn.
The Buxton and Kussmaul show what careful work on a historic building looks like: keep the original materials and the name, and update what's inside. We do that work on homes. At The Nth Degree Team, our in-house design and renovation team helps Granville homeowners preserve original woodwork and period details while updating the rooms they use every day. If you're weighing a project like that, start your home transformation with us.
