There isn't a lot that brings a smile to Marietta residents more than the opening of a new restaurant.
When the restaurant is also a local historic treasure, even better.
Add to the mix, an eclectic Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Morrocan, Turkish, and Northern Italian cuisine, along with upscale decor, and the recipe aims to please.
The Buckley House Restaurant, 332 Front St., which opens to the public Saturday, Nov. 22, has special significance because of the historic nature of the house and its ties to Marietta.
The Buckley House was built in 1879 by Maria Woodbridge, granddaughter of Dudley Woodbridge, the first merchant in the Northwest Territory, said Ernie Thode, manager, history and genealogy department, Washington County Public Library.
A little over a year ago the former Buckley House Bed and Breakfast was purchased from Marietta residents Alf and Dell Nicholas, who had owned it 15 years.
"We were invited over to see the restaurant recently and were extremely pleased with what has been done," Alf Nicholas said. "It was our home and we wanted someone to buy it who would love and enjoy it as much as we did."
New owners, Emad Al-Masri and Hilles Hughes, have worked hard to keep the original flavor of the house, Nicholas said.
"It shows a sense of history to keep changes to a minimum in the house," said Thode. "This house is a treasure to Marietta."
The Victorian-era home, with its two-layered porch, was sold in 1900 to Jerry Buckley for $5,450, Thode said. Since then, it has been primarily a single-family home, until Nicholas purchased it.
Al-Masri, an executive chef, plans a wide array of dishes, all with a Middle Eastern flavor and flare. He has been an executive chef 18 years in five-star restaurants from the Crown Plaza in Kuwait to Holiday Inns in Wooster, Mass. and Dayton, Ohio, and Sfuzzi in Cleveland.
Marietta College brought Hughes to Marietta as director of the Career Center. The couple have remodeled the upstairs for living quarters and plan to use the expansive back deck of the house for dining in summer months.
Inside the stately Buckley House, there is a shiny new restaurant kitchen and the parlor and dining room are decorated in fashionable black and white.
