BUCKFIELD – This town’s only restaurant is closing.
The Buckfield Inn, a bed and breakfast nestled among the rural town’s few shops on Route 117, is scheduled to close today.
Owner Russell Clark was unavailable Saturday for comment, busy preparing dinner for some of his last guests.
The closure marks the end of a short tenure for Clark, a Lewiston native who bought the bed and breakfast only two years ago. The inn itself, however, has been a fixture here.
“It’s been around as long as I can remember,” said Dwain Clough, a lifelong Buckfield resident who regularly visited.
He was drawn by Clark’s food – the pasta, steaks and appetizers – the company and the atmosphere.
“There are places to get a pizza, but there’s nothing else like it in town,” said Phil McAlister. “It’s too bad to see it go.”
On Saturday evening, the inn appeared busy. Cars parked in the lantern-lit lot outside. White lights sparkled in a fruit tree, and a sign outside led people to a front entrance where customers would step upon giant blocks of granite, relics of the building’s history.
The inn was originally a farmhouse, built in the 1840s.
For decades, however, it’s been a bed and breakfast. In recent years, it has catered to people visiting the Oddfellow Theater, a few doors down and across the street.
When Clark took over the inn, he made room for two dining areas and a lounge. He also obtained the business’ first liquor license.
Before coming to Buckfield, Clark had lived and worked in New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, teaching people about the hotel and restaurant industry.
The inn seemed popular, Clough said. “It was a good place to have a couple of drinks and relax,” he said. “Hopefully, someone buys it and reopens it.”
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