Chef Justin Hill was sending out shrimp tacos when The Stable held its soft opening in Blissfield on July 17. Nearly every guest at the tables knew the building. It had been the Main Street Stable, the casual restaurant in the old carriage house behind the Hathaway House, and it closed a few years after its fine-dining neighbor shut down early in the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new operator has never run a restaurant. The Stable belongs to the American Farm Museum and Education Center, a nonprofit set up to show a collection of farm toys. The board treats the kitchen as a fundraiser that serves dinner.
Thirteen Thousand Toys and No Building
Charles and Barbara Burkholder farmed near Onsted. Over 40 years they built a collection of about 13,000 farm toys and 350 pedal tractors. They wanted it shown in a museum that told the story of agriculture. Board member Pete Durbin has said Charles turned down buyers because they would have broken the collection apart. "He said he spent 40 years building it — he didn't want somebody to buy it just for the expensive pieces and sell everything off," Durbin told the Lenawee Voice.
Taking ownership turned out to be easier than finding the collection a home. Here is how it went, according to the Lenawee Voice's June 2025 report and its August 2026 follow-up:
- 2012. The museum officially accepts ownership of the Burkholder collection and has nowhere to put it.
- 2014 and 2015. Barbara and then Charles Burkholder die. Both had served as charter members of the museum board.
- 2017. The board buys the former Home Canning Company site at 400 E. Jefferson St. That's 35 cleared acres from the village of Blissfield, plus 20 adjoining acres from a local family.
- 2025. The Hathaway House sells. The museum agrees to lease it from the new owner and names it the new home of the collection.
- July 2026. The Stable reopens in the carriage house under the museum's ownership.
The Jefferson Street land already earns its keep. The Blissfield school district's FFA program farms it as a land lab. FFA pays for planting and keeps up the crop, and the two groups split the harvest income, 65 percent to FFA and 35 percent to the museum. An 1860s barn, moved there from a farm in Berkey, Ohio, also stands on the property. Board president Melissa Tsuji has explained why a dedicated museum never rose there. "You're looking at millions of dollars in infrastructure, which is really hard to fundraise for," she said.
Why a Museum Took On a Bar
Leasing the Hathaway House fixed the display problem for now. It also gave the board a second building to think about. Once the museum signed the lease, its five-person board began talking about subletting the empty Main Street Stable to a new restaurant that could bring in steady money for the organization.
"The more we discussed it, the more sense it made." That's how Tsuji described the board's thinking to the Lenawee Voice.
The museum is a 501(c)(3), so it formed a separate LLC to run the restaurant. Randy Brenke, the board's chief financial officer, got the work started. The building needed new appliances, a new kitchen fire suppression system and electrical work before it could reopen.
The board hired people who knew the place. Manager Maria Carrico is a Blissfield native and Blissfield High School graduate. She spent almost 18 years as a server and bartender at the Hathaway House and the Main Street Stable. Hill came on as head chef after more than 16 years in the business, much of it at Michigan country clubs. Tsuji has said running a restaurant is nothing the museum would have pictured for itself not long ago. "Wow, what a gift," she said.
What's Through the Back Door
The building is the same, but some of the details aren't. The entrance has moved to the parking lot behind 116 Main St. The décor recalls the old Main Street Stable, and the farm-themed salt and pepper shakers on each table point to the museum behind it.
Before you go, here's what The Stable's website lists for this first phase of service:
- Menu: appetizers, salads, sandwiches, desserts and a full bar. Many dishes use locally sourced and other Michigan products.
- Hours: Wednesday and Thursday 3 to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday 3 to 10 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., closed Monday and Tuesday.
- Seating: reservations only.
- Booking: call 517-682-1515. The restaurant says it doesn't take reservations through social media.
- When to call: the website lists Wednesday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Lenawee Voice's August story listed Tuesday through Friday, so the restaurant's own page is the better guide.
The restaurant plans to expand both its menu and its hours over time. We found no announced changes since the August coverage, so the hours above are the most recent published.
The Mansion Next Door Is Already Working
The toy collection's own opening is less settled. The 2025 plan said the collection would go into the Hathaway House, also known as the David Carpenter House, a Greek Revival mansion at 424 W. Adrian St. built around 1851. Displays would rotate so that only part of the 13,000 pieces is out at once. That spring, the board hoped to open in the mansion by late fall 2025. As of early October 2026, we couldn't find published public hours, admission prices or an opening date for the display. The museum's homepage still describes the museum as being built.
The property is in use anyway. This season the Blissfield DDA has held its farmers market at the American Farm Museum, 424 W. Adrian St., on Thursdays from 3 to 7 p.m. The season ends October 15, which leaves two market days, Thursday, October 8 and Thursday, October 15. The market closes at 7 p.m. and The Stable serves until 9 p.m. on Thursdays, so one evening can cover both ends of the old Weeber-era property. The Weeber family bought the mansion in 1963 and turned it into one of the region's best-known fine-dining rooms, with guests coming from across southeast Michigan and northwest Ohio. "This has a lot of emotional value to a lot of families," Durbin said of the building.
Another 1850s Building on the Same Street
The Hathaway House isn't the only old building on West Adrian Street with a new use this year. A short walk away at 117 W. Adrian St., Kimberly Precour held the grand opening of Sugartown Sweets & Soda Shoppe on July 18, one day after The Stable's soft opening. The interior pairs original features dating to the 1850s with Amish-made counters and cabinetry.
Sugartown follows a similar path, with outside money helping an old space take on new work. Precour won a $25,000 Match on Main grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corp., which reimburses renovation costs. She plans to use it for a candy kitchen where customers can watch her make chocolates, caramel apples and chocolate-dipped strawberries. Everything in the shop is made with cane sugar instead of corn syrup. The Italian-style sodas come from syrup and carbonated water, and the counter seats eight for now. Precour plans to add tables by the front windows.
The Next Two Busy Stretches Downtown
October in Blissfield runs on posable five-foot skeletons. Under the DDA's Skeletons on Parade, residents and businesses registered displays for free by September 30, and business and residential entries compete for separate recognition. The displays stay up all month. That puts them on view during both of the last farmers market Thursdays.
Next comes the Yuletide Weekend, Friday, November 13 through Sunday, November 15. The DDA lists four ticketed events: Breakfast with Santa, the Yule-Love to Run 5K, Yuletide Cheer! and Brunch 'n Bingo. Lower-cost add-ons fill the rest of the weekend, including train rides at $5 per adult with children riding free, a historical driving tour at $5 per car, carriage rides at $5 per person and a PTO craft show at $2 per person. The Welcome Center is at the Village Office, 130 S. Lane St., and a free shuttle runs Saturday. That weekend falls on The Stable's Friday, Saturday and Sunday service days. With seating by reservation only and bookings taken by phone during set midweek hours, a Yuletide dinner means calling the week before.
The number to dial is 517-682-1515, and every booking helps the museum's mission of showing the Burkholders' 13,000 toys in one collection.
A historic building that finds a new use, like the Hathaway House and its carriage house, changes the downtown blocks around it. The Faeth Team follows those changes across Lenawee County so owners know where their property stands. If you own an older home in or near Blissfield and want to know how this year's downtown activity affects its value, get your free home valuation.