After almost 20 years of owning the Old Lantern Inn & Barn in Charlotte, Lisa and Roland Gaujac are under contract to sell the popular wedding and event venue to a group of local investors, led by operating partner Solomon Bayer-Pacht. The Gaujacs will continue to operate the Old Lantern Inn, a small bed and breakfast adjacent to the venue property on Greenbush Road.
Bayer-Pacht, who cofounded the Farmers & Foragers food truck in 2015, will operate the 750-person barn as “a year-round space” with indoor and outdoor concerts and festivals, weekly winter food pop-ups in the lounge, and other community events, he said.
The Old Lantern will “go hand-in-hand” with his “separate but mutual” food truck biz, Bayer-Pacht said. Farmers & Foragers will open its Dockside location at the Burlington Harbor Marina as usual on Memorial Day Weekend.
“We can’t really beat that for a food truck in Vermont,” Bayer-Pacht said. “And while it’s great for four months, it’s four months.”
“We looked at so many restaurant spaces” to fill that off-season void, he continued, noting he still might consider that route in the future. After this summer season, the truck’s commercial kitchen will move from a rented space in South Burlington to the Charlotte property.
The Gaujacs have invested heavily in the circa-1960 barn during their ownership, from improving the roof and heating to waging a lengthy legal battle with neighbors over noise, which they won.
“All the unromantic things,” Lisa said.
They introduced Bayer-Pacht to this year’s 23 scheduled wedding couples at an event on April 19. There will be no changes to those events, Bayer-Pacht said. Charlotte’s Backyard Bistro, which became the venue’s catering partner after Roland retired from his chef position three years ago, will continue to play that role.
“If I could have picked a buyer, this would have been everything I dreamed of,” Lisa said. “I’m so thrilled he’s going to take it to the next level.”