🔒New owners plot former Avon Old Farms Inn’s future

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When Nicholas Chabot, his mom and two siblings opened Farmington Gardens, an upscale wedding reception facility in Farmington in 2011, it was a bit of a gamble. They had no clients lined up and no industry experience.

“We just knew we wanted a business with some type of food service,” Chabot said. So far, the gamble seems to have paid off. In fact, Chabot and his family doubled down on their company's future last month by purchasing their second property — for $1.85 million — the former Avon Old Farms Inn, a five-acre historic site at the base of Avon Mountain.

The move is already paying dividends as the new facility — most recently known as the Belle Terrace at Avon Old Farms — has more than 40 events booked through the previous operator, Riverhouse Hospitality, lined up through April of 2016.

“This facility is one that Farmington Gardens will continue to nurture and grow,” said Jim Bucko, managing owner of Riverhouse, which operated the inn for four years. “We look forward to working with Farmington Gardens during this exciting time [of transition].” Chabot said his ownership group has agreed to honor all commitments — including menu items — from previously booked events.

That ability to plan — and predict business expenses with near certainty — is a big part of what attracted Chabot to the event industry in particular.

“You know exactly the staffing and the food you need,” Chabot explained, noting that both of his locations feature events from corporate functions to bar/bat mitzvahs to the company's bread and butter, weddings.

With the average Connecticut wedding costing $34,681 in 2013, according to The Wedding Report, which tracks the industry nationally, the potential profits for facilities like Chabot's can be significant. Connecticut's wedding industry raked in more than $634 million in 2013.

“It's a very competitive industry,” Chabot said, “because there are only 52 Saturdays [the most popular wedding day] in a year.”

And with more than 18,000 weddings a year in the state, Chabot said expanding his company's venues — which have seating capacity from 20-person events to 220-person receptions — is critical.

Chabot's plans for his newest facility — which will be renamed The North House in a nod to Avon's historic name Northington — will include more than just wedding receptions and corporate functions. He said he plans to re-open a restaurant, which was discontinued years ago at the inn.

“We need to renovate that side of the building, including new floors, updates to the kitchen equipment, a new bar,” Chabot said, noting he anticipates more than $200,000 will be invested in the restaurant renovation alone, which is expected to open late fall of 2015 or early 2016.

While Chabot concedes weddings — which can bring in $40,000 to $50,000 in a single day — may provide the biggest profit margins at his newest facility, he thinks a revived restaurant may provide bigger profits overall.

“We expect five years from now that the banquets will generate $2 million a year in revenue,” he said. “The restaurant will likely generate $5 million to $7 million annually.”

The new restaurant will be a high-end American bistro, featuring both typical fare — steak, fish and poultry — as well as a range of more adventurous specials, such as bison and ostrich. And the inn's massive wine cellar will allow Chabot's restaurant to offer more than 1,000 types of vino, he said.

It's not just the Chabot's business that's expanding; his employee numbers are growing as well. He anticipates that he will add up to 30 part- and full-time employees for The North House ballroom functions alone, including its own full-time events coordinator. They'll likely add the same number of employees when the restaurant opens, Chabot said.

He's hoping the restaurant will generate strong revenue to offset the seasonality of the events industry. “That's the biggest challenge with [events-driven] business,” Chabot said. “Between weddings and holiday parties, our events calendar is very busy from April through December, but it slows down in the winter.”

As for future plans, Chabot says he'd like to open another location in the next two to three years in the Glastonbury area with a long-term vision to expand to Fairfield County. For now, he's content to establish his latest venture in Avon.

“I am confident that the demographics are good, the traffic flow [at Avon Mountain] is good,” Chabot said. “And the business will be good.”