Stonewall Abbey Cafe opens in Sperryville, mixing coffee, music, lunch and internet surfing
By James P. Gannon
The 105-year-old former Episcopal church in Sperryville has been born again, this time as Stonewall Abbey Cafe & Gift Shoppe, blending the old church’s quiet ambiance with the modern trappings of an upscale internet cafe featuring coffee, gourmet treats, music and the comforts of a quiet lounge.
Occupying the historic church building on Main Street that previously housed the Old Sperryville Bookshop and before that, the Church Mouse gift shop, this reincarnation of the building is the dream of David and Donna Compton of Amissville and their 28-year-old son Brian. The Comptons purchased the property early in 2007 and have spent more than a year restoring and adding to the building while maintaining its historic character.
Sperryville’s newest business opened without fanfare Thursday, a soft opening that provides a chance to test-run all the new equipment and tweak the operation before Stonewall Abbey’s grand opening scheduled for Saturday, May 31.
The cafe will appeal to coffee addicts, ice cream lovers, internet users looking for a high-speed connection or anyone wanting a quick breakfast or light lunch in an atmosphere more akin to a living room or lounge than a fast-food place.
On the exterior, the church retains its historic look with added new features including a handicap-access ramp, a new stonewalled patio with tables for outdoor dining, and a new, street-facing front door that restores the entrance to where it was originally in the early 1900s.
On the inside, a visitor is greeted by a coffee bar and deli counter featuring gleaming new restaurant equipment. The atmosphere is bright, lit by sunlight through the new, clear-glass Gothic church windows. With polished hardwood floors, a leather sofa, plush wingback chairs and six round tables with chairs, the cafe presents a beckoning comfort that invites visitors to linger.
Against one wall, a bank of three new widescreen Apple iMac computers offers a free Internet surfing station to those who want to check the news or work on the web. Up on the raised platform that once held the altar, a set of drums and several guitars suggests the cafe’s musical inclinations. Son Brian, who plays, builds and restores guitars will be the musical impresario here, while Donna and some hired hands manage the cafe.
The Comptons were not on the scene Thursday during our initial visit, but we were greeted by Nina Shaffer, who works for David Compton’s firm and has helped plan and establish the new cafe. She said she plans to work at the new cafe a couple days a week.
Nina explained the several coffees that will be offered, including some from Sperryville’s own Central Coffee Roasters, Kona coffee from Hawaii, and an especially apt brand for this sanctuary of caffeine, “Pastor Leo’s Holy Roast,” produced by a real reverend in California.
Coffee lovers will find expresso ($1.75) cappuccino or latte ($3.50) a regular “coffee of the day” ($1.50 for small, $1.75 for large) as well as various iced coffee drinks. There’s a variety of sodas, juices, snobby waters (Perrier, Evian), and good old milk and lemonade for those not inclined to get wired.
The Stonewall Abbey menu will fill breakfast, lunch or daytime snack hungers. The cafe plans to open at 7 a.m. every day but Sunday and remain open till 5 p.m., with evening hours to 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Sunday hours will be noon to 5 p.m.
Breakfast offerings include cold cereal, toast, muffins, various pastries or bagel, with breakfast sandwiches (3.50) such as sausage, egg and cheese muffin. Lunch fare will include a soup of the day, cold sandwiches, deli wraps, salads and hot sandwiches, including grilled panini with chicken or steak (6.95).
Eight flavors of Blue Bunny ice cream (made in Iowa, where David was raised on a farm) were on hand Thursday, along with fresh-made cookies, brownies and other sweets.
On the gift front, Stonewall Abbey offers a selection of handmade jewelry and specialty items including imported teapots, exotic teas, bagged coffee and other items.
For entertainment, the cafe plans to schedule music, karaoke nights, and offer local musicians a place to jam or hold pickin’ parties, according to Nina Shaffer. There may be movie nights, with flicks shown on a large TV screen mounted on one wall. She also said the cafe has already had inquiries about hosting small-group meetings such as a women’s book club and other social or business groups.
Brian Compton plans to live in the small apartment at the back of the building and preside over the music end of the business. “My major goal is to establish an open mic venue where local musicians can come and play,” he said in a phone interview. “I know how active the music community is here in Rappahannock. We are just getting started and I am open to suggestions and ideas.”
Brian, who has a workshop at his parent’s farm in Amissville, will offer guitar repair and modification service and plans to build guitars from scratch, to be sold at the shop. He’s been playing guitar for 15 years and doing repairs for about eight years.
Stonewall Abbey Cafe holds promise of becoming what some call a “third place,” that place beyond the home and workplace that seems like home, where friends gather and people unwind–in this case, in a sanctuary-like atmosphere that soothes and nourishes.
Full disclosure note: The author is the former owner of The Old Sperryville Bookshop, who freely admits a special fondness for his old property and a satisfaction in seeing it brought to new life by new owners. Stonewall Abbey Cafe can be reached by calling (540) 987-9875.
-- James P. Gannon
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