At its October 1 meeting, the Weston Board of Selectmen discussed moving the Old Post Office and General Store away from its spot beside Bisceglie-Scribner Park. The plan is still very early. The small building dates to about 1790. It would go to the grounds of the Weston History & Culture Center at 104 Weston Road, where an independent operator could run it as a coffee shop, artisan gift shop and gathering place.
That would bring the building back to something close to its first purpose. It would also put it on a campus that already hosts a good share of Weston's October and November calendar. Most of what is happening in town this fall takes place in old barns, a farmhouse campus and the civic complex on Norfield Road. The Old Post Office idea would add one more historic room to that list.
What the Selectmen Actually Discussed
Weston Today's recap of the October 1 session reports that First Selectwoman Samantha Nestor called the plan "very preliminary." According to the recap, the Friends of the Weston Old Post Office Committee and the Weston History & Culture Center brought in experts. Those experts confirmed the building is worth saving and could be restored.
The same report describes the town-owned building as "lately a victim of vandalism." It also says a lot of work remains. Weston Today lists the open items as:
- The legal side of moving a town-owned building
- Cost estimates
- Funding
- Input from the relevant authorities
So far there is no vote, no budget and no timeline. What exists is a direction. Town leaders, a volunteer committee and the town's history center have looked at the building and concluded it should be kept and given a public use.
A Store Built for Sitting Around the Stove
The coffee shop idea has roots in the building's past. The Weston History & Culture Center's history of the Old Post Office says it was first a general store for the area. People bought goods they couldn't produce on the farm, and they could "come and sit by the pot-bellied stove and talk about the weather and other farming or small business tales."
The same page gives the post office side of the story. Several post offices served different parts of Weston between 1750 and 1830. This building became the official Weston Post Office in 1883, and the page notes it carried the Norfield Post Office name until 1846. A back room and an upstairs were added later, and the postmaster's family lived in the building while running both the store and the post office. The history center also notes the building first stood at the corner of Weston Road and Newtown Turnpike.
After it stopped serving those purposes, it became a small museum. A 2011 Connecticut barns inventory lists its use at the time as a museum. A 2020 Weston Today feature described a visitable historic store and post office with artifacts, period goods and penny candy. Neither source confirms a current schedule for visits.
If the building were moved and run as a coffee shop, people would once again use it for talking over something warm.
Why the Coley Homestead Fits
The proposed site already works as a public campus. The Weston History & Culture Center was founded in 1961. It occupies the 3.7-acre Coley Homestead at 104 Weston Road, a mid-19th-century former working farm. The grounds include the 1841 Coley House, the 1883 Coley Barn Museum, the Prue Bliss Education Center and Visitor's Center with its archive and exhibit hall, and several outbuildings. The center already offers public tours and event space on the property.
Its fall programming shows how much the campus is already used. On Sunday, October 25, it is open from 1 to 4 p.m. for its "Weston at Work" and American Revolution exhibits. Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for ages 5 to 17, and free for members and children 4 and under. Parking is reached by way of High Acre Road. Three days later, on Wednesday, October 28, the center starts a new morning series called Backstories & Breakfast. Doors open at 9:30 a.m. At 10, Rebecca Gavin of the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History presents "Witches in Connecticut." Tickets are $10 for members and $15 for nonmembers, and breakfast is included.
A morning talk with breakfast is a coffee-and-conversation event. Right now the center hosts it as a ticketed program. A permanent café on the same grounds would offer that kind of morning every day.
The Other Historic Rooms Hosting This Fall
The Coley Homestead isn't the only old building carrying the season. Lachat Town Farm at 106 Godfrey Road West and the Town Hall and library complex at 56 Norfield Road host most of the rest. Here is the calendar from this week through Thanksgiving, in date order:
- October 15, 5 p.m., Town Hall Meeting Room. Weston Founders Day, with the dedication of the 2026 Weston Time Capsule.
- October 18, 3 to 4 p.m., Weston Public Library. Author Nona Footz discusses her biography of Alice DeLamar. The Friends of the Library and the Weston History & Culture Center are co-hosting, and registration is required.
- October 22 to 25, Lachat Town Farm. "Spirits of 1776" is a 45-minute guided haunted walk led by actors. The first group leaves at 6:30 p.m. and later groups follow every 20 minutes. Tickets are $25.
- October 23, Weston Public Library. The Witch Club hosts paranormal investigator Barry Piro. The program is usually for young people, but this session is open to ages 10 to 99.
- October 25 and 28, Weston History & Culture Center. The open exhibit hours and Backstories & Breakfast described above.
- October 30 and 31, 7 to 8:30 p.m., Lachat Town Farm. An adults-only reading of Poe in the candlelit barn, featuring Weston resident and actor Daniel Gerroll. The $35 ticket includes drinks and chocolates before the 7:30 readings.
- November 8, 4 p.m., Weston Public Library. Pianist Anthony Ratinov plays in the Sunday Soundscapes series, the first performance on the library's new Estonia grand piano. Admission is free, with suggested donations of $20 for adults and $10 for students. Weston Today reports that seating is limited and recommends reserving.
- November 26, noon to 3 p.m., Lachat's Offutt Center. The Thanksgiving Community Feast, catered by AMG Catering. Adults pay $25 and children under 12 eat free. Room is limited to 75, and registration closes November 20.
The library also has a new Avatar: The Last Airbender club that meets Tuesdays through the school year.
The Offutt Center is the newest room on the list. It opened in 2023 with gathering space, a classroom and art studio, a teaching kitchen, and year-round programs. Most of the other venues are older buildings that now host public life.
What Would Change on the Map
Weston's own town profile calls Weston Center the town's main commercial destination and "meet-up spot," with a food market, a restaurant and other businesses. The Old Post Office idea would add a small café-style stop on Weston Road, on a campus that already holds exhibits, talks and tours. Lachat, the library and Town Hall would stay where they are.
The Selectmen's agenda is also pointing toward the next gathering. At the same October 1 session, the board approved a $2,500 supplemental appropriation to pay for musical acts at the annual holiday tree lighting and music festival.
For the Old Post Office, the next real signals will be a cost estimate, a funding plan and the legal steps for moving a town-owned building. Weston Today's recap lists all three as unresolved. Until those come before the board, the building stays beside Bisceglie-Scribner Park, and the season's coffee-and-conversation mornings happen at the Coley Homestead as ticketed events.
Gina Hackett grew up in Westport, next door to Weston, and keeps track of how the area's historic buildings and civic plans shape daily life in each town. If you own a home in Weston and wonder how projects like this one figure into what your property is worth, Gina Hackett can walk you through it. Request your home valuation and start the conversation.
