June 23, 2026 Select Board notes: Josiah Smith Tavern parking variance supported, Case Estates sold

The Select Board on June 23 threw its support behind the variance The Woods needs to open a restaurant at the Josiah Smith Tavern and signed purchase-and-sale agreements for the Case Estates.

Acquiring a variance is one of the final major steps for The Woods, the long-awaited restaurant proposed for the Josiah Smith Tavern, which needs the Zoning Board of Appeals to green-light the use of on-street parking on Boston Post Road to meet occupancy requirements.

While The Woods and the Zoning Board of Appeals have yet to schedule a meeting date, the Select Board offered a public show of support in the restaurant’s efforts. That support, however, is symbolic, as the ZBA must consider the proposal against Weston’s bylaws and weigh the precedent it sets if it approves a variance.

“The restaurant needs to have more seats to make it economically viable, and that’s also a benefit for the town because the restaurant is going to cover most of the operating costs of the building,” Select Board Chair John McDonald said. “For those reasons, and the reason that we’re all strongly interested in having the restaurant open as soon as possible, I think we should formally vote to endorse this, just so the ZBA knows that we, along with many other residents, would like to see the variance approved, provided of course that it meets their requirements.”

Other board members concurred, with Lise Revers noting that it is The Woods’ responsibility to prepare the variance application and their argument for why it is necessary.

Town Manager Leon Gaumond said The Woods have had some preliminary conversations with an attorney to draft paperwork.

The Select Board’s support of The Woods’ variance request comes a few weeks after the board issued an ultimatum to the restaurant and the Friends of the Josiah Smith Tavern, demanding in-depth documents and financial information concerning construction. The deadline to meet those demands is July 6.

The board also signed purchase-and-sale agreements for the three buildings at the Case Estates, which are slated to be rehabilitated into three single-family homes.

The sale marks the end of a long-running effort to sell the three buildings located at the historic Case Estates: the Thomas Rand Jr. House, Hillcrest Stables and the Schoolhouse. Two families, the Whites and the Cooks, are planning to renovate the homes and move into Weston. 

The White family is purchasing the Schoolhouse and Hillcrest Stables for $700,000 and $900,000, respectively, while the Cook family is purchasing the Thomas Rand Jr. House for $850,000. Chaplin Partners handled real estate duties for the town.

McDonald said the sales are an absolute win for Weston, as it ensures the historic properties will be renovated, while getting them out of the town’s hands and onto the tax rolls. 

“It’s been a long road, but I think it’s great that we have sold these three buildings,” he said. “Not only are we getting a purchase price that is a lot more than I originally thought, the town will be getting three single-family residences and will be getting tax revenue.”

The Case Estates is a 62.5-acre collection of properties on both sides of Wellesley Street that was started as an experimental farm by Hillcrest Farms founder Marion Case, who combined farming and education on the site. The property was willed to Harvard University’s Arnold Arboretum in 1944, and in 1989 the Arboretum offered the land back to Weston.

In other business, the Select Board held off on appointing new members to the Traffic and Sidewalk Committee; heard an update on the Housing Production Plan Steering Committee, which will need to complete its plan by mid-August; received details on the Tree Advisory Group’s Town Green rehabilitation project; and discussed several ongoing housing projects in Weston.