New life for a venerable old inn

SALISBURY — The gracious Ragamont on Main Street, a Salisbury landmark, has taken on a new identity, the third since it’s been in the hands of Phillips “Pete” Hathaway.Operating since the fall of 2009 as Enterprise New Life, a sober-living facility for men who had completed in-patient treatment for drug and alcohol addiction, it is now the Ragamont House — a bed and breakfast, home to a catering business and available for special events.Hathaway said the work with the clients — he estimated that about 20 men came through Enterprise New Life in 14 months — was rewarding. “It was a terrific experience,” he continued. He’s still “keeping his oar in,” maintaining the contacts with primary care providers and making informal referrals to those who call for advice.But being available around the clock took its toll. That and the 2 a.m. phone calls.“Nothing good comes from a phone call at that hour.”When Hathaway and his business partner, executive chef Bruce Young, made the decision to get out of the recovery aftercare business, there were five clients in residence who were all planning to wind up their stays around Christmas 2010.So it was a logical time to make the switch. The Ragamont was for most of its life a hotel with a high-end restaurant. When Hathaway bought it in 2002, he renovated it extensively and filled it with antiques (before moving to Litchfield County, he was head of the 18th-century European Furniture and Decorative Arts Department for Sotheby’s in New York City). He lived in the rambling Greek Revival, and used it as a showcase for selling art and furnishings. In this new incarnation, the initial focus was on the events and catering side — the bed and breakfast was seen more as a promotional tool.But the entire package is catching on.Young says the Ragamont is ideal for a four-course meal, with drinks and wait staff that can handle up to 20 people.Not that they can’t handle something a lot bigger — such as last month’s funeral reception for 200.“That threw us in the thick of things,” said Young, who is the Ragamont’s executive chef.They handled the family’s meal — an off-site job — the evening before as well.“It went off without a hitch,” Hathaway said.Hathaway and Young are persnickety about the details — tableware, silverware, tablecloths, flowers. “We pay a lot of attention to the details,” said Young.That attention is evident everywhere in the house — to say it is furnished elegantly is an understatement. It is eclectic, as well. Hathaway pointed out a bathtub that would convince the most confirmed shower-taker to make the switch, and an old chest of drawers that was converted into a bathroom sink.“That was a Route 7 find,” he said. And then there’s the fez hanging from the wall by the stairs.“I saw that in the window of the pawn shop in Winsted and ‘Screech!’,” Hathaway said, making a rapid-braking sound.Ultimately, clients will find the Ragamont House to be “something more than a private room in a restaurant,” Young said.There’s a sideline, too — the Ragabox, an update on the traditional boarding school care package. A Ragabox contains brownies, or chocolate chip brownies, or oat bars. “Sinful,” was Hathaway’s succinct description.The website for Ragamont House is www.ragamont.com; the Ragaboxes are at www.myragabox.com, or call 860-596-0555 or 800-424-7095.