Housatonic — Residents and other fans of the village’s former Brick House Pub/Macano Inn will be pleased to know that the place is not dead; it has only been hibernating. The downtown bar, restaurant, and gathering place has been shuttered for the past year and a half, but, as you may have noticed if you have driven by lately, new owners are breathing new life into it, and they are hoping for a mid-December opening date. This past August Great Barrington Selectboard member, electrical contractor, and champion for Housatonic’s revitalization Eric Gabriel purchased the Brick House building and adjacent property, located at 425 Park Street, alongside the Housatonic River, from longtime owner Peter Delgrande. Gabriel is leasing the first-floor bar and restaurant to local chef Krissy Williams. While she is not reopening the Brick House, she is creating a pub, a new establishment named the Common or Garden Pub.
The most recent owner of the Brick House was Mark Caiola, who had originally gone in on it with two partners in 2011, then ran it on his own, then, in the wake of the COVID pandemic closures, locked the doors and walked away. About a year ago, Gabriel started hearing rumors that the closure would be permanent, and, more worrying still, that people were inquiring about turning the building into office space. He started talking to Delgrande about seeing what could be done to save it as a bar/restaurant. “It was making me nervous that it was going to get taken out of its social purpose.” Once they had an agreement, the next step was to find someone who knew something about restaurants. “I love restoring buildings, and I like fixing up parts of Housatonic,” he said, “but I have no desire to actually physically run a bar.” Through mutual friend Bjorn Somlo, Gabriel got connected to Krissy Williams.
No sooner had Gabriel bought the building than the town came knocking. “The day I closed, I went in there and just started cleaning … Cars started pulling up and asking what was going on.” He and his brothers have already filled a 30-foot dumpster and several trailers’ worth of stuff, including three ancient heating systems. Catamount Response is now in there doing a deep clean, which includes shocking the interior with ozone to kill mold and other microorganisms that might have been accumulating. (No up-to-date photos of the property are accompanying this story because no one is allowed on the premises at the moment.)
Williams grew up in Stockbridge and came up cooking at the Stockbridge Golf Club and Nudel, among others. She went back to college at 24, earned a Masters Degree in History in Scotland, and works now at The Prairie Whale. “Restaurants have been a constant in my life, regardless of what direction I feel like I want to move in. This opportunity just seemed to kind of line up at the perfect time.” But operating a restaurant can be a fraught effort in the best of times, to say nothing of today’s difficult climate for hiring steady help. For this reason, Williams is taking a very cautious approach. The menu will start out small, offering standard pub basics, like burgers, served alongside some Scottish classics, like fish and chips and a somewhat less famous item: “It’s an iconic late-night food in Scotland, thick cut french fries, cheese and curry sauce … it’s like poutine but with curry.”
When it comes to service, Williams is taking her cues from pared-down, non-traditional restaurants like Haven and Bistro Box. At Common or Garden, customers will order at a counter and bring their number to their table, rather than be waited on by servers. On the décor side, she is now scanning auction sites for church pew seating and/or comfy couches, to be matched with low tables in the bar. She wants it, “nice and cozy, like it gets people to grab a drink and sit down and chill.” While the bar will have a couple of TVs, the adjacent room will be the place for serious fans, as it will be outfitted with larger screens that will broadcast soccer games played around the world live, along with the usual American sports bar fare. Down the road, once she settles into a manageable rhythm, Williams is envisioning a lively performance and event space. Gabriel is similarly happy to take a wait-and-see approach to growing the footprint of the new business, perhaps turning the second floor into artisan space, and the backyard into a beer garden.
Hours for the Common or Garden Pub will be, at least to start, Wednesday to Sunday for dinner only, with weekend mornings open for game viewing. Williams would like to eventually work up to offering a full traditional Scottish breakfast (scones, blood puddings, back bacon, bangers, eggs, fried tomatoes, baked beans, sliced haggis, mushrooms, toast), but, for now, she is thinking of the “grab and go” style of breakfast sandwiches, like those offered at the Public Market in West Stockbridge. “I don’t want to shoot for the stars and not be able to deliver.” She has front-of-house staff in place and is now hiring for the kitchen.
As for the unfamiliar name, “Common or garden” is a British expression meaning “ordinary,” which, in the case of Williams’ intentions for her new business, can perhaps be interpreted as unpretentious. “It’s not ordinary in a bad way, but ordinary as in a place—in a way—that’s inviting to all people. It’s not trying to be anything besides a welcoming, inviting space.”
That sounds just about right for at least a few longtime patrons of the space. Neighbor Theresa Tatro says, “I like the British pub idea, it elicits images of all in the neighborhood meeting and hanging out there. We need that connection desperately in Housy! We are all in need of something fresh here.”
Tatro’s fond memories of the spot go back 30 years, to the days of the Delgrande’s Macano Inn, or what they then called “The Mac.” “A bunch of us working stiffs would meet there on Fridays after work, discussing motorcycles and freedom. We danced there. The crowds were nuts. Couldn’t move on the dance floor, it was standing room only.”
More recently, Virginia Spiess McGarrity used to bring her family to the Brick House every Wednesday, at least when Nathan Turner was the chef. “We loved going with the kids for a fun and easy night out.” She’s looking forward to having that again.
Another Housatonic native, John Curletti, is “anxiously anticipating the reopening.” He called the locale “a necessary gathering spot for the locals of Housy … A place,” like the bar in “Cheers,” of 1980s sitcom history, “where everybody truly does know your name.”
