Weston's old post office and general store, built around 1790, sits near Bisceglie-Scribner Park with no regular public use. A group of backers wants to take it apart, rebuild it at the Weston History & Culture Center and turn it into a coffee shop and gift shop.
It has been moved before. It was relocated to its current site at 141 Newtown Turnpike in the 1980s, according to an engineer's report, which says it has served as a post office, a general store and, more recently, a museum. The report calls it "currently derelict."
First Selectwoman Samantha Nestor presented the proposal at the Board of Selectmen's October 1 meeting. "Right now, it is a place that is vandalized," she said. "We don't know that they're teenagers, but people break into it."
The proposal
The written proposal comes from the Friends of the Weston Old Post Office Committee and the Weston History & Culture Center. It calls the building "Weston's oldest commercial building" and says it has been town-owned for decades, in a spot with limited access and no regular public use.
Under the plan, the building would be rebuilt on the History & Culture Center's campus as a coffee shop, local artisan gift shop and gathering place, modeled on Greiser's Coffee & Market in Easton. An independent operator would run the shop, not the center. The center's board has authorized a feasibility study and will vote on whether to go ahead once it is done. The proposal says Rich Rudolph, the developer of 176 Weston Road, is supportive and is helping with a commercial feasibility analysis.
The backers say they will "assume all costs and responsibilities for design, rebuild, and adaptive reuse." They are asking three things of the town:
- Give the building to the History & Culture Center, sell it for $1, or lend it permanently, in a form to be confirmed by the town attorney.
- Consider paying to dismantle it, estimated at about $50,000, and to restore the current site, at a cost not yet known, possibly from existing reserve funds.
- Allow informal talks with Planning and Zoning, the Historic District Commission and the Aspetuck Health District.
What the engineer found
A structural evaluation by the engineering firm DeStefano & Chamberlain, dated July 31, 2026, says the building is "in poor condition." Its timbers "have experienced considerable decay and insect damage," the report says, and moving the building in one piece "is not a realistic expectation." It recommends taking it apart and reassembling it at the new site. The full extent of the damage will not be known until then, the report warns, and the project budget should carry a contingency.
The report discusses two possible uses: a commercial development in Weston center, or a museum exhibit at the History & Culture Center. It says that as part of a commercial development the building would have to meet current building code, while as a museum exhibit more of the original building could be preserved.
What Nestor said
Nestor spoke in favor of the proposal. "I think it's something everybody can get behind," she said. She said there had also been talk of moving the building to 176 Weston Road: "But moving this, which is a town asset, to anything that's other than a museum is not really comfortable for me."
She said any transfer would need voters' approval. "Whatever we do will require a special town meeting, and the town will have to vote on whether we move this asset to the History and Culture Center," she said. Whether it would be a loan, a lease, a gift or a $1 sale has not been decided. "We have to find out legally what's required."
She said the town would have "skin in the game," but that the project "will be primarily driven from private donations." Whether any town money would come through the capital budget or a special appropriation was discussed but not decided.
There are no security cameras at the site, town officials said, and the board was told the police chief would be consulted.
"Their process is in the very early stages," Nestor said. No vote was taken on October 1.