Curse at the Heart of Heathcote Five Corners?

There are few addresses more controversial than 2 Weaver Street—home of the yellow stucco'ed French chateau.

Ask around and almost every Scarsdale native will have something to say about the stately landmark that is wedged in the heart of the Heathcote Five Corners business district, even if they don't remember the name of its last tenant.

Last year, for seven months, Bistro Citron was housed under the tavern's slate gable roof, a French eatery with Manhattan ties.

Before that it was Backals and before that the beloved Heathcote Tavern. And what preceded Heathcote? The list goes on, including the famed Piedmont Inn, which opened in 1960, turning the corner of Wilmot and Weaver into Westchester's hip hot spot.

"I heard it was a brothel," an area resident offered up as she pored over microfiche in the Scarsdale assesor's office.

"Some people have claimed it once was a brothel," said Village Planner Liz Marrinan. "But I haven't met anyone who has firsthand knowledge that it was one."

Scarsdale Village Historian and lifelong resident Eric Rothschild has heard similar stories. But he said with a laugh, "You'll have a difficult time finding someone who'll admit, 'Yeah every day before I went home for dinner I stopped by the Inn.'"

Good point.

Though rumors have been widely reported that 2 Weaver Street was once a corner of ill repute—it allegedly housed a speakeasy during Prohibition and a brothel during the free-love 60's—one would be hard-pressed to find concrete proof.

At press time, the records division of the Scarsdale Police Department had yet to uncover any documentation of the building being raided or of there being any arrests for prostitution or solicitation at that address.

"Supposedly the Piedmont Inn was a happening night spot," says Scarsdale P.D. spokesman Lieutenant Brian Clark. " So much so that people came up from the city to go there." Still, it's not like there's a bronze placard posted on the side of the building commemorating illicit consummations.

 "The Piedmont Inn did have rooms," says Mary Katchis, a realtor with Sotheby's, who moved to the neighborhood 40 years ago. "The train to Boston was right across the street. But I think it would be more accurate to say it 2 Weaver was once many, many restaurants."

Built in 1924 by famed New York City architect Arthur Loomis Harmon (the only building in Westchester County to bear that honor), 2 Weaver Street was originally christianed The Donnybrook Lodge and it served as a haven for hunters. Since then, according to the Westchester County Historical Society, it has worn many monikers including Moras, Piedmont Inn, Bartholomew's, Charlie Brown, Pippins, Heathcote Tavern, Backals, and Bistro Citron.

But what is it about this address that seems to attract many restaurants but holds on to none? Some say its haunted. (Heathcote manager Mark Saljanin told the New York Times that the ghost of a murdered working girl haunts its halls).

Others suggest that 2 Weaver is, simply put, cursed.

"That's just old wives' tales," said co-owner Steve Oder. "It's not a cursed location. Heathcote Tavern was successfully run for many years. The [other] restauranters who have been there have not understood Scarsdale. They weren't locals. And really, it's a location that requires somebody who really understands the community."

"Put the right operator in who serves the right food at the right price and I'm sure it will be very successful," he says.

In an interview last month, Mayor Carolyn Stevens agreed. "Whatever goes in there needs to either be a family restaurant or a destination place," she suggested. "Look at Chat, and how well they've done – and everybody goes there, families for a weekend brunch or people coming home from work. "

Located across the street from the old Heathcote  NYWB train station (currently occupied by the Engel & Voelkers realty company), the building has had five owners since 1979 when a company called Who Needs Tomorrow Inc bought it for $262,500. Oder and its current owners, F. S. Fish Investment Corp paid $4,690,000 for it in 2005. "[We bought it because] it's a strong landmark location," said Oder. "Everybody knows the spot. It's a place people have reference to. And that's important to us."

They're also hoping that, this time, they've found a restaurant that can thrive at that address. Oder and F.S Fish are currently in lease negotiations with Apulia, a restaurant management company that hopes to open a yet-to-be-named Italian eatery in 2 Weaver's cupola crowned dining room after Labor Day.

Though he expects the new tenants to make some cosmetic changes to the interior, the exterior of the building, which was granted landmark status in 1988, will remain unchanged. Whatever happens it will give area residents another reason to talk about "that castle-looking building in Five Corners" because, as Village Manager Al Gatta said, "That place has quite an amazing history."