Barn and Thistle

About Our Store

Barn & Thistle

Welcome to our family-owned and operated unique gift shoppe and eatery.

Established in 2021, Barn & Thistle offers hand chosen gifts, fresh seasonal offerings and baked goods in a charming, cozy setting.

Here at Barn & Thistle, we believe food is more than just nourishment; it helps create memories, brings comfort, and forms connections.

Our mission is to make it easy for you to feel the magic that comes with enjoying delicious eats and good company in a welcoming, homey atmosphere… or the option to bring home and enjoy in yours.

Delicious & Unique Offerings

Morning Options

Salads & Sandwiches

Stop in for coffee and a muffin or sit for a hearty breakfast.

In a hurry, enjoy a breakfast sandwich to go.

7:00am - 11:00am

Salads & Sandwiches

Freshly made salads and sandwiches available for take-out ~ or choose to enjoy in our cozy dining area.

Beer, wine and spirits are available.

11:00am - 3:00pm

Baked Goods

Salads & Sandwiches

Artisanal Chocolate

Freshly baked goods available daily: cookies, scones, muffins, cakes and more.

Enjoy with coffee or tea. End your meal with a sweet treat or take some home!

Artisanal Chocolate

Enjoy the flavors of Grenada. L.A. Burdick's Jouvay Chocolate, a variety of chocolate bark and chocolate dipped mango available daily.

Also a seasonal selection of bonbons from EDBE Chocolatier Eric Dreze.

Gift Shoppe

Artisanal Chocolate

Gift Shoppe

Hand chosen unique gifts for every occasion.

Events

Artisanal Chocolate

Gift Shoppe

We’ll keep you posted on winter music nights.

Morning Options

7:00am - 11:00am; Saturday 8:00AM - Noon

~ Thistle Breakfast ~ 2 buttermilk pancakes, 2 eggs any style, 2 slices Applewood smoked bacon. This breakfast includes coffee or tea.

~ Traditional Breakfast ~ 2 eggs any style, loaded home fries & buttered toast.

~ Buttermilk Pancakes ~ Served with sweet cream butter & warm local maple syrup.

~ Brioche French Toast ~ topped with fresh fruit compote & warm maple cream.

~ Breakfast Sandwich ~ fried egg, Vermont Cheddar, sliced tomato & baby spinach. Choice of bacon or sausage. Served on a plain bagel.

~ Morning Parfait ~ Greek yogurt, fresh fruit & Amish made granola.

This is just a sampling of our menu. Come in and see our additional offerings. Subject to change.

“All happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast.”

‒ John Gunther

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Salads & Sandwiches & Additional Options

11:00am - 3:00pm; Saturday noon - 2:30pm

Sandwiches

~ Black Forest ~ Grilled ham, Vermont cheddar, sliced pear, candied bacon, goat cheese with fig mustard.

~ Summer Turkey ~ Grilled turkey, Swiss, house-made slaw with Thousand Island dressing.

~ Thistle Grilled Cheese ~ Vermont Cheddar oozing between Bakery de France bread. (add bacon, tomato and bacon jam)

~ Granny Smith ~ Grilled Vermont Cheddar, sliced apple, red onion, baby spinach & honey mustard.

~ Chicken Salad Wrap ~ Chunk chicken, cranberries, grapes, celery & apples tossed in herbed mayo.

~ Grilled Caprese ~ sliced tomato, Mozzarella, Vermont Cheddar, baby spinach, balsamic glaze with sun-dried tomato pesto mayo.

~ Chicken Quesadilla ~ Grilled Chicken seasoned with onion and peppers, Vermont Cheddar. Served with salsa and sour cream.

Salads & more

~ Strawberry Spinach Salad ~ pineapple, red onion, goat cheese, candied bacon, candied walnuts with poppy seed dressing.

~ Spring Thistle Salad ~ mixed greens, cranberries, feta, candied pecans, sunflower seeds, grilled peaches with house-made vinaigrette.

~ Caesar Salad ~ Romaine, house-made croutons, Parmesan crisps tossed with Parmesan cheese & creamy Caesar dressing.

~ Slider Board ~ 3 mini versions of our favorites with chips, pickle & cupcake of the day.

- Grilled ham & pineapple

- Stuffed Turkey

- Chicken Salad

This is just a sampling of our menu. Come in and see our additional offerings. Subject to change.

"Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what's for lunch."

‒ Orson Welles

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About Us

Cathy Watson:

Through her many years in the hospitality industry, Cathy has found where she shines, leading her to pursue her life’s dream of starting her own family business.

Cathy started working in the restaurant industry at the age of 16 and purchased her first restaurant when she was just 22 years old. Although she loved running the restaurant, she decided to put that chapter on hold when she became a mother, as it was impossible to give both jobs the attention they deserved at the time.

When Cathy’s youngest started going to school full time, Cathy decided she was ready to re-enter the workforce, and found a job managing an ice cream and sandwich shop in the village of Walpole, NH. It was during her time there that she met Larry and Paula Burdick, who had recently started a business of their own in town, L.A. Burdick Chocolate. Cathy was intrigued by the new business, and it wasn’t long before she joined the team at L.A.Burdick Chocolate, working her way up to General Manager.

As General Manager at L.A. Burdick Chocolate, Cathy was not only in charge of day to day operations of the chocolate company, but was also in charge of the Restaurant at Burdicks, Walpole Grocery, and the real estate that was co-owned by The Burdicks and Ken Burns. As the company grew, so did Cathy’s investment in it, leading her to take the role of COO and helped execute the expansion of the chocolate company, opening stores in Boston, New York City, and Chicago.

When the businesses were sold in 2015, Cathy decided to retire, but stayed on long enough to help with the transition. Throughout her 17 years with the companies, she learned all aspects of each business, helping to expand her knowledge and deepen her passion for the hospitality industry.

Since Cathy’s retirement in 2018, she has enjoyed taking some time for both herself and her family, especially valuing time spent with her grandchildren. She has also been grateful to spend time relaxing at her family’s vacation home on Bailey Island in Maine. Although her retirement has been wonderful, Cathy, along with her husband’s support, has been looking for the perfect place and opportunity to start a family business and pursue her life’s dream: here it is!

Jeff Watson:

Jeff is Cathy’s husband and has been in the utility industry for nearly 40 years. His life’s work consists of making sure families have power, especially during periods of stormy weather, including blizzards, ice storms, hurricanes, and thunderstorms. Due to the nature of his work, Jeff has often had to be available at a moment’s notice and has traveled all over the country during turbulent weather events.

When not at work, Jeff stays busy with projects around the house, taking pride in doing repairs himself. He is a jack-of-all-trades, having both a knack and passion for home maintenance projects and renovations. After purchasing a fisherman’s cottage on the shores of The Pamlico River in North Carolina, Jeff, with the help of his son, Nick, brought his and Cathy’s

vision to life as he renovated the entire cottage, turning it into an adorable, quaint beach house!

Deciding they wanted a vacation house closer to home, Jeff and Cathy sold the beach house in North Carolina and bought a cottage on Bailey Island in Harpswell, Maine. Jeff then again found himself diving into renovation projects, providing him with further opportunity to build upon his skill and experience. Jeff’s years of past renovations prepared him for the most recent project, the renovation of Barn and Thistle!

In his spare time, Jeff can be found spending time on his boat in Casco Bay, Maine or indulging in his lifelong passion of music. Jeff is a talented singer, songwriter, and musician and is excited for a place of his own to perform!

Cori Hildreth:

Cori, Jeff’s oldest child, has worked with Cathy in some capacity for nearly all of her life. When Cori was nine years old, she enjoyed helping out and clearing tables at Cathy’s restaurant while waiting to stay with her dad and Cathy for the weekend.

Cori went on to work at the ice cream and sandwich shop in Walpole as one of Cathy’s employees during her teens. There, she quickly learned the ins and outs of the restaurant business. After taking another position in a local restaurant for several years, Cori then joined the Pastry Department at L.A. Burdick Chocolate in 2005. She worked alongside trained pastry chefs for years, eventually becoming the head of pastry production for L.A. Burdick. She remained in that position, overseeing production of pastry for the mail order portion of L.A. Burdick, as well as all five L.A. Burdick Café locations.

Cori loved her work, but decided to explore another path shortly after L.A. Burdick Chocolate was sold and trained to become a medical assistant. Although she found the position very rewarding, her heart longed to return to the restaurant business. When the opportunity arose to help Cathy and Jeff build a family business, it all seemed to fall perfectly into place and she quickly jumped on board.

When not at work, Cori enjoys spending time with her husband, Kevin, and their two children, Anna and Liam.

Joshua Watson:

Josh, Jeff’s second oldest child, is a commercial diver. In addition to being busy with his work, he is also working on building his own diving company. In his free time, Josh enjoys spending time with his young son, Beau. Josh is currently not involved in the day-to-day operations of the business.

Nick Watson:

Cathy and Jeff’s youngest son, Nick, is a social studies teacher at Bow High School. Having enjoyed helping with past renovations of vacation homes, as well as various café build-outs during Cathy’s tenure at L.A. Burdick Chocolate, Nick was excited to dedicate some time to help with the Barn and Thistle renovations as well.

Although his career path led him to teaching, Nick has a background in the hospitality industry as well, having spent the majority of his teen years and mid twenties working for L.A. Burdick Chocolate. During his teen years, many of his responsibilities included back of the house operations, including production, delivery, and maintenance. Shortly after graduating college, Nick began working at the Harvard Square location and discovered a passion for forging relationships with people. He then went on to launch and co-manage the L.A. Burdick Boston location, where he continued to work while pursuing his Masters in Education.

In Nick’s spare time, he enjoys spending time with his wife, Stephanie, and their two young children, Gavin and Aurora. Nick is excited about the new family business, because it will keep him in the hospitality loop. Steph is excited as well, having taken on the responsibility of helping with marketing for Barn & Thistle, including the Barn & Thistle Facebook page.

History of our Property

The earliest record is when Stephen Barker built the house in 1839. He sold the property to Abel Starkey in 1841 and Starkey converted the house into a hotel. The same year Starkey built a large store on the corner. Starkey went bankrupt forcing a sale of most of his store property at public auction on September 8, 1843. Some of the items auctioned were horses, buffalo robes, 47 dozen combs, 200 lanterns, 300 Huntington’s geography and atlas, 700 broom handles and axes, to name a few.

March 29, 1856 – Ezekiel P. and Susanna Pierce from Chesterfield, NH, sold the property to Samuel Howe II “being the Abel Starkey Tavern.” The 1858 map of Westmoreland shows “S. Howe’s Hotel” on the property.

February 22, 1859 – Samuel II and Caroline A. Howe sold to their son Frederick.

April 2, 1860 – Frederick Howe sold the property to his brother James A. Howe.

September 3, 1864 – James A. Howe sold to Leonard W. and Adaline H. Slade from Keene, NH.

February 11, 1867 – The Slades sold the property to Holland Bennett from Walpole, NH. Bennett ran the hotel on the property called the “Valley House”. Otis Hutchins, a resident of Westmoreland wrote in his diary on June 1879 “Anson Cole’s store and H.M. Bennett’s hotel burned down. Fire caught in Cole’s barn in some unknown way.” Cole’s store (now the site of the town hall) was attached to Bennett’s hotel by stables. Photos of the two properties can be seen in the Westmoreland history on page 41. The Keene Sentinel reported “the loss for Holland Bennett of the Valley House is large. The loss of these buildings to the town and especially to the village, of which they formed a prominent part, will be great if not rebuilt”. By the fall of 1897 Bennett rebuilt the hotel and barns.

February 8, 1882 – Holland Bennett sold to his daughter Emma Bennett.

February 8, 1882 – Emma L. Bennett sold to her mother Betsey W. Bennett “known as the Hotel premises”.

December 20, 1883 – Sanford and Lydia Guernsey (or Gurnsey) sold to N. G. Guernsey & Sons.

August 11, 1884 – Stephen O. and Abbie A. Hawkins sold the property to Alonzo and Ellen Burt “occupied and used for a hotel”.

August 21, 1885 – The Burts sold the property to James A. Pullen from Chesterfield, NH.

October 1, 1885 – James A. Pullen sold to Mary Crowningshield “land and buildings known as the Hotel Property”. Crowningshield operated the hotel as the Pynchon House until November 30, 1895, when fire destroyed the buildings.

December 20, 1895 – Mary and Henry Crowningshield sold the property to Henry D. and Anna Pierce. George M. Blake rebuilt a three-story structure for his father-in-law Henry Pierce for $3000 in 1896. Blake turned the downstairs into a store and ran it for a number of years until moving to Keene and working for Spencer Hardware Co. Later Charles Hart took the store over until around 1904 when Clifford McClenning ran the store, post-office and telephone office until the fire destroyed the building in 1907.

On October 30, 1907 Horatio Black writes in his diary “Henry store burnt to night 10 clock. Everything burnt maid out to save town hall. I staid over all night”. The barn connecting the store also burnt. Clifford McClenning had rented the store and house for the last two or three years from Pierce. The Keene Sentinel reported, “the fire was supposed to have caught from the furnace in the cellar. They awoke to the smell of smoke and driven back from the smoke when opening the door to the downstairs. He hurried back and seized his little baby and calling to his wife rushed down stairs, falling on the way and having difficulty in getting out. The store was then filled with flames and the fire was in the house and store before help arrived but by then scarcely any portion of the buildings could be entered. There was no fire apparatus in the village and the premises were entirely consumed with their contents. There was probably a considerable quantity of mail matter burned and some government property such as envelopes and the like. There was a good safe in the office in which stamps, money orders and the like were kept. The office did quite a business, receiving and distributing the mail for a considerable area. A good deal of mail was usually called for in the evening by near-by residents which would reduce the amount in the office at night.” Henry Pierce had $2000 on the property and McClenning $2500 on his stock and fixtures. Insurance covered most of the loss.

Two months later, on December 28, 1907, Pierce sold the property to Edgar J. Holden who built the current store on the property.

July 10, 1917 – Edgar J. Holden, unmarried, sold the property back to the Pierces. When the town hall, which stood south of and next to the store, burnt to the ground on November 25, 1915, the store was in danger of burning also.

September 4, 1918 – Henry D. and Anna Pierce sold the property to George B. and Gertrude Veazie.

June 7, 1919 – George B. Veazie bought property from the Town of Westmoreland. Tileston Barker had sold the property to the Town of Westmoreland for the use of the town hall on November 11, 1853.

November 20, 1920 – The Veazies sold the property to John E. and Cora Sheldon.

November 3, 1925 – The Sheldons sold to Walter E. and Emma L. Bowers from Natick, MA.

March 5, 1928 - Walter E. Bowers sold the store to Christopher F. and Emma L. Finnegan. Sarah E. Bowers had sold to Walter Bowers “all claims to her right as wife to the property owned and occupied by Walter as a store property” on November 7, 1927.

September 20, 1930 – The Finnegans sold the property to Glenn E. and Anna B. Britton who were both life-long residents of Westmoreland and moved their family into the store.

November 29, 1930 – George B. Veazie, divorced, sold the old town hall lot (which burnt in 1915) and stood south of the store, to Glenn Britton.

May 31, 1955 – The Brittons sold the property to the Nelsons and Orela Lesure. Mr. Nelson was a member of the Westmoreland Fire Department.

May 15, 1968 – Orelia Lesure, widow, sold the property to Philip M. and Glenna M. Patch.

June 25, 1969 – The Patchs sold the property to Kenneth and Lois Woolley from Neptune, NJ.

October 30, 1990 – The Woolleys sold the property to Peter R. and Lorraine P. Robedoux.

January 2, 1998 – The Robedoux foreclosed the property to the Bank.

September 3, 1998 – The Connecticut River Bank sold the property to Ricky and Diane Delisle. The store stood empty through part of 1997 until the Delisles bought it. They cleaned up the store, changed the location of the front counter and redid the floors.

July 31, 2000 – Ricky and Diane Delisle sold the property to Dana and Helena Coburn from Southampton, MA.

August 20, 2002 – The Coburns sold the property, a conventional style store/house and small storage building to Antonia and Jacqueline M. Romero of Deerfield Beach, FL.

August 24, 2021 – Purchased by Jeff and Cathy Watson.

Contact Us

Barn & Thistle

784 Route 63, Westmoreland, NH, 03467, United States

Phone: 603-399-0082 Email: info@barnandthistle.com *No reservations or requests via email. Please call during business hours.

Store Hours

Mon	Closed
Tue	Closed
Wed	07:00 am – 03:00 pm
Thu	07:00 am – 03:00 pm
Fri	07:00 am – 03:00 pm
Sat	08:00 am – 03:00 pm
Sun	Closed

Morning Options: 7:00am - 11:00am; Saturday: 8:00am - noon

Sandwiches & Salads: 11:00am - 3:00pm; Saturday: Noon - 2:30pm (Kitchen closes at 2:30pm)

Reservations only taken for parties of 5 or more.

We will be closed 4 weeks yearly:

Last week February thru 1st week March: For 2024: Feb 21-Mar 6.

4th of July week, July 3- July 6.

First week of August: For 2024: .

Barn & Thistle

Feel the magic

About Our Store

Barn & Thistle

Delicious & Unique Offerings

Morning Options

Salads & Sandwiches

Salads & Sandwiches

Salads & Sandwiches

Salads & Sandwiches

Salads & Sandwiches

Baked Goods

Salads & Sandwiches

Artisanal Chocolate

Artisanal Chocolate

Artisanal Chocolate

Artisanal Chocolate

Gift Shoppe

Artisanal Chocolate

Gift Shoppe

Events

Artisanal Chocolate

Gift Shoppe

Morning Options

7:00am - 11:00am; Saturday 8:00AM - Noon

Salads & Sandwiches & Additional Options

11:00am - 3:00pm; Saturday noon - 2:30pm

Baked Goods

Artisanal Chocolate

Gift Shoppe

Events

Music

Community Support

Fundraising

Fundraising

Community Support

Fundraising

Community Support

Community Support

Community Support

To Our Customers

Local bank. Local people. Local decisions.

Spreading the Word

At Barn & Thistle, Food Brings Comfort and Forms Connection

At Barn & Thistle, Food Brings Comfort and Forms Connection

At Barn & Thistle, Food Brings Comfort and Forms Connection

SHOP LOCAL The Barn & Thistle • Westmoreland, NH

At Barn & Thistle, Food Brings Comfort and Forms Connection

At Barn & Thistle, Food Brings Comfort and Forms Connection

About Us

History of our Property

Contact Us

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Barn & Thistle

Store Hours

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