(Adrian) Daily Telegram Special Writer
Just more than a quarter-century after Hervey Bliss founded the village that bears his name, a merchant in town built a house that eventually made Blissfield a fine-dining destination point for the entire region. And this year, the restaurant that the house eventually became — the Hathaway House — marks its 50th anniversary.
The Hathaway House was built in 1851 by David Carpenter, a New York state native who, seeking his fortune, came first to Toledo and then to Blissfield, where he opened a dry-goods store. Carpenter wanted “the finest home between Toledo and Buffalo,” and the Greek Revival house he had built had 18 rooms, including two parlors, three kitchens and five bedrooms.
After Carpenter’s death in 1891, the house first became the home and medical practice of Dr. George Lamley. When Lamley died, his wife, Bertine, traded homes with George and Prudence Hathaway. Prudence died in 1959, leaving the building vacant for two years until it was converted into a restaurant.
Enter the Weeber family
Arthur Sr., known as Buck, and Allison Weeber bought the Hathaway House in 1963 and, with their children, operated it until sons Art — the oldest son — and Mike assumed ownership in the 1970s. Mike handled the food side of the business while Art, with his accounting degree from Michigan State University, was the business manager.
The family’s love for history was what drew them to the building, which has been designated both a Michigan and a national historic site, in the first place.
“We probably wouldn’t be here if we didn’t have a passion for history, and the entrepreneurial spirit to take a place and make it work,” Art said.
The Hathaway House developed a regional reputation and “became a destination restaurant,” Art said. And with the exception of a 2-and-a-half year period in the 2000s when it was under different ownership, the establishment has been owned and operated by the Weeber family.
As the years passed, a new generation got into the business, with Art and his wife, Mary, running the place along with their children. The home’s former carriage house, which the family first turned into a gift shop that Mary managed before taking on the operation of the Hathaway House, became a restaurant too — the Main Street Stable and Tavern — that is now 30 years old.
While Art and Mary are still very much a part of the operation, the restaurant and the Stable are managed by Aimee Weeber and Mary’s brother Ron Sulier, and several other members of the family are involved in one way or another as well.
“There’s nothing crazier than the restaurant world,” said Aimee, who worked at the business when she was younger before going away to school in Chicago and France. She was living in Chicago when, in 1997, she decided to come home and began managing the Stable. “It’s everything in one business. … Nothing else (is) so dynamic. There’s nothing like working in restaurants.”
“Every day is a new experience,” added Sulier, who worked at the restaurant through high school, left and returned in 1994. “You never know what you’re walking into.”
The staff at the Hathaway House and the Stable is well accustomed to dealing with what Aimee called
“the intense and the unpredictable.” This could be anything from the challenges of operating two historic buildings in which things often break, to the occasional surprise like the time a bus full of diners showed up unexpectedly. But in the latter case, “they never even knew we didn’t have a reservation for them,” Weeber said. “There’s an art to it.”
And many people in the area have learned the art of good service from the Weeber family. One of them is Lindsey Taylor, who started working as a server at the Stable 13 years ago, right out of high school, and has seen her role expand.
“I love being here,” she said. “I love the staff and the customers. I feel honestly, like part of the family. [The Weebers] watched me grow up, and I saw them grow up. You learn a lot of life lessons here.”
It used to be that the staffs of the Hathaway House and the Stable were completely separate, but today there is a great amount of cross-training, and employees often start out at the Stable and work their way up to the Hathaway House if they are interested in learning the fine-dining business.
But that brings up another of the Hathaway House’s challenges.
“Fine dining is not as popular as it once was,” Aimee said. “That way of life has really died out.” In response, “we just keep trying to get creative, and we keep reinventing ourselves.”
Among other things, that has meant meeting a growing demand for Michigan-made products including the Michigan craft beers available at the Stable, developing an eclectic
wine list for the Hathaway House, doing a vast amount of catering for everything from weddings and special events to the Old Road Dinner train that runs out of Blissfield and creating new events for patrons.
One of these newer offerings is a casual dining night, every Thursday. The staff wears casual attire, and a limited menu featuring local fare — with nothing costing more than $15 — is served.
“It’s just a rowdier kind of atmosphere,” Aimee said. “It’s laid-back and fun. And it makes the Hathaway House more approachable.”
Above all, she said, the family wants people to know that if they choose the Hathaway House, they will find it a welcoming place.
“People who have never dined here may find the place intimidating, but it’s not,” she said. “We are the furthest thing from exclusive.”
