Sperryville’s Apple Hill Bakery, up for sale, faces an uncertain future
By James P. Gannon
One of Sperryville’s most popular gathering places, Apple Hill Bakery, is up for sale and may change ownership or cease doing business as a bakery by spring, according to the owners.
The business is owned by Wayne and Dorothy Waller of Sperryville and operated by their daughter Eileen and her husband Lucky Yilmaz. It’s been a successful and popular place since it opened in November 2004–almost too successful, according to Mrs. Waller.
“As my husband says, ‘The good news is that the business is going great, and the bad news is that the business is going great,” she laughed. “It’s a lot of work,” she added, noting that the hours are long and the schedule very demanding. “Someone has to be down there at 4 a.m. every morning to make the doughnuts.”
After more than two years of days that begin before dawn and don’t end until dark, Eileen and Lucky are looking toward a change, Mrs. Waller said. “They are in their thirties and would like to start a family, but that isn’t feasible with the bakery schedule,” she said. Lucky is trying to complete work on a master’s degree in business administration, and the couple is thinking of relocating by spring.
The Wallers have listed the business and real estate for sale with a commercial broker in Charlottesville, at at asking price of $250,000, including all equipment, Mrs. Waller said. “If we don’t sell the property, we will probably turn it into something else,” possibly a gallery for local artists with coffee service, she said. “We will give it until April or May, possibly June,” to sell, after which it may cease to be a bakery, unless a new buyer comes along to keep the bakery business going.
Apple Hill is a favorite hang-out of locals around Sperryville. In the mornings, the tables are often full with gatherings of local men enjoying coffee and pastries and trading the day’s news; and at lunchtime, it’s a popular stop for folks looking for a deli sandwich or home-made soup. “We have a lot of regulars” who come nearly every day, Mrs. Waller commented.
The bright yellow building sits on a tight little lot sandwiched between the village’s old Main Street and the Thornton River, which bubbles along just outside the back door, where the Wallers installed a patio for outside seating in warm weather. The bakery is open Wednesday through Sunday and closed on Monday and Tuesday. Normal hours are 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
If their daughter and son-in-law move on, the Wallers don’t plan on keeping the bakery going. “We did the bakery for the kids,” Mrs. Waller commented. “Wayne and I don’t need any other jobs.”
-- James P. Gannon
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