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Litchfield Hills · CT
Litchfield Hills Litchfield, Connecticut Darling Hill Vermont
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The exterior of Rifugio Litchfield Hills at 461 Bantam Road

461 Bantam Road · Since 1941

A carpentry shop, given a second life.

For generations, this building was the workshop of Arthur D. Deacon & Son — a family carpentry and contracting business founded in 1941 and run by three generations of Deacons. Custom millwork, historic restoration, and the quiet craftsmanship that built half the town came out of these bays. Their motto was “Quality first — service always.” We think about that a lot.

When we took over the space, we kept everything that mattered: the timber trusses overhead, the volume, the light through the skylights, the block walls that have heard seventy years of saws and stories. The rest we rebuilt slowly — into a clubhouse, a bike shop, a studio, and a place for the town to gather again.

Where it started

A cluttered storage bay tucked under the roof framing, with cinderblock walls, ductwork overhead, and a ladder and rolling carts on the bare concrete floor The vaulted ceiling’s exposed wood roof trusses and skylights, with two vintage pickup trucks parked in the bay below A narrow storage bay with rough wood ceiling beams and cinderblock walls, a red riding mower parked on the concrete floor Another storage bay under the same rough wood ceiling, stacked with old cabinets and furniture waiting to be cleared out A gutted room freshly painted grey, with a picture window, an old desk and office chair, and a bag of supplies left on the floor A folding table skirted in a KC&E Adventures cloth, set up with an espresso machine, grinder, and paper cups, with a bike floor pump leaning against the wall beside it

Raw bays, exposed joists, the first coat of grey — and the first espresso machine on a folding table.

Four people standing on the concrete apron outside the open garage door, several holding coffee cups, the KC&E Adventures coffee table visible just inside

Where it’s going

The neighbors showed up before the doors were finished.

Coffee at the open garage door, first rides from the parking lot, a folding table for a front desk. The building is still becoming what it will be — come watch it happen.

See it today