Suspected Arson Fire Causes Extensive Damage To Shuttered Bucks County Inn

NORTHAMPTON TOWNSHIP, PA — A fire appearing to be incendiary in nature caused substantial damage to the shuttered Mill Race Inn Sunday morning at 183 Buck Road.

Fire crews were dispatched to the village of Holland around 8:30 a.m. where they found smoke coming from the rear of the building and a fire in the attic area.

Due to the dilapidated condition of the building, fire crews made an interior attack using hose lines and aerial streams to battle the fire, fire officials said.

(Northampton Township Fire Department)

(Northampton Township Fire Department)

Fire damaged the rear of the shuttered Mill Race Inn Sunday morning. (Jeff Werner/Patch)

Firefighters contained the blaze to the rear portion of the building, which sustained significant damage, fire officials said.

The fire appears to be incendiary in nature, but the cause remains under investigation, Northampton fire officials said.

On Sunday, the Northampton Township Police Department released a photo of two individuals who were seen in the area of Sunday's fire and asked for the public's help in making an identification.

Police in Northampton Township are looking to identify these two individuals who were in the area of the Mill Race fire on Sunday morning.

Anyone with information regarding the fire or can identify the individuals in the photo are asked to contact police at 215-322-6111.

The Northampton Township Fire Department was assisted at the scene by the Lower Southampton Fire Company, the Upper Southampton Fire Company, the Feasterville Fire Company and Newtown Fire Rescue. Lingohocken and Warminster covered Northampton's stations during the call.

A portion of the former Mill Race Inn was scheduled to be restored under redevelopment plans approved by the township in 2025. It was not immediately known how the fire will impact those plans.

Plans call for the construction of a 33 unit age-restricted 55 and older residential condominium complex at the site overlooking Mill Creek. The plan also envisioned the preservation of a portion of the Mill Race, transforming 2,000 square feet of the building into office space at the entrance to the development.

The Mill Race Inn has been shuttered since 1999 when the remnants of Hurricane Floyd caused significant damage to the building. It sustained additional damage in 2001 when a dam broke on Mill Creek as a result of driving rain. Since then, the once popular restaurant and event venue has deteriorated into a “total state of disrepair."

In 2013, the board of supervisors took action to address the decaying property, declaring the 14,000-square-foot building as blighted under the Pennsylvania Urban Redevelopment Law.

The supervisors also voted to engage the services of the Redevelopment Authority of Bucks County (RDA) to “take action” to redevelop the site through the condemnation of the property.

With the property deemed blighted, the RDA and the township moved forward with condemnation proceedings against the property with the goal of having it “rehabilitated, renovated and put back into a functional purpose.”

The then owners of the property challenged the condemnation in the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas in 2015 arguing that the RDA had not followed proper procedures when it proceeded with its condemnation of the property.

The court, after hearing arguments from both sides, rejected the objections made by the owners allowing the condemnation to move forward.

The owners appealed the decision to Commonwealth Court, which upheld the lower court ruling again finding in favor of the RDA.

In February 2017, the RDA put the property up for sale encouraging developers and private investors to come forward with development proposals that would preserve the historic nature of the building.

Following a public bidding process, the supervisors accepted a proposal from a developer which proposed spending more than $2 million restoring the original mill portion of the building and renovating the local landmark into a Mediterranean-style restaurant with seating and event space for between 100 and 150 people.

The developer, however, couldn’t get the economics to work. “It didn’t make sense from a feasibility standpoint," said township supervisor Barry Moore at the time.

Fast forward to 2020. The board of supervisors approved the sale of the property to M.J. Costigan of Yardley, which secured final approval of its plans last year to redevelop the site with age-restricted condominiums.