Louie's Old Mill In Hatboro Closes Abruptly

HATBORO, PA — Louie's Old Mill, the historic, 292-year-old mill turned restaurant, has shut its doors have just over a year of business.

Located inside the oldest building in Hatboro, dating to 1774, and sitting along the banks of Pennypack Creek, the renovated mill opened to much fanfare in the summer of 2016. However, the business was not able to make enough money to remain open.

"We made a lot of mistakes and left our future to others while being absentee owners, which I realize is never a good idea in any business," owner Lynda Clauser wrote in a note announcing the closing on the restaurant's Facebook page.

The 120-room restaurant's last day of opening was on New Year's Eve.

The building originally operated as a grain mill in the 18th and 19th centuries before becoming a machine shop for milling parts, before eventually being converted to a tea room and then a restaurant in the 1900s. After Hatboro residents Clauser and her husband, Jim Case, purchased the 5,500 square foot structure in 2013, they began working to restore the property, which previously flooded in September of 2011.

The new owners stripped the structure down to its original "bones," removing all of the dry wall and woodwork on the main floor. They left the square columns throughout the building. They also left the original yellow pine beams intact, and retained the additional steel support added through the years. While all of the hardwood floors were refinished on the second and third floors, Clauser and Case peeled the first floor down to the original stone, stucco and concrete.

As time went on, the focus shifted from merely restoring a local landmark to bringing it back to its former glory.

"It was never our intention as a construction company to run a restaurant as we invested in the old mill property, but a series of events and people that led us in that direction," Clauser wrote. "It was deteriorating over the years it had been closed, and being a resident of Hatboro I thought we could restore and save the building and make it a viable part of Hatboro again."

A nationwide search for a chef lead them to Louie Zweifach, 48, a native New Yorker who was Chef/Owner of The Meatball Room in Boca Raton, Florida. Zweifach helped them design a menu based around "rustic" cuisine.

"It once again was the site for celebration, from showers to rehearsal dinners, to weddings and milestone birthday parties," Clauser wrote. "The way it was meant to be."

Clauser said that those who had scheduled parties and events at the restaurant would be contacted by owners over the coming days.

The mill is among the oldest standing grist mills in the state, according to owners.

For those with questions regarding commitments made with the restaurant, call 215-675-6455.

Photo courtesy Tim Schultz, Bright House Photography and Virtual Tours