edible excursion

Tiverton Four Corners

By Annie Sherman / Photography By Maaike Bernstrom | September 09, 2021

New Ventures and Tasty Treats in a Favored and Ever-Evolving New England Village

The scents of new cedar shingles and freshly mowed hay overlap with warm croissants while French café music wafts through the air. Pedestrians with shopping bags peruse art and antiques, then sit at a picnic table to chat over salade Niçoise and eye their neighbor’s ice cream. This is not the Tiverton Four Corners you expected. This historic village with farming roots dating back two centuries is experiencing a contemporary resurgence of arts and food that is attracting a new vibe, as well as new attention from visitors across the country. Though its relaxed pace is an omnipresent undertone, its cosmopolitan flair is a welcoming boon for local business.

“Tiverton has always been such a slow, sleepy little town, especially in wintertime. It’s easy to find, it has always been picturesque, with long stone walls, summertime lilies and fall foliage—there is a graciousness to this corner of town. It’s also a crossroads, so whatever point you turn—it’s lovely,” says Jennifer Rashleigh, artist and owner of Cédian Painting Studio—Gallery here, and an active member of the Tiverton Four Corners (T4C) Merchants Association. “But it has piqued interest and spurred curiosity.”

Two things generated this transformation: the pandemic and the Weirs. Rosalind Weir and her late husband, Jim, arrived here in 1983 with backgrounds in architecture, historic preservation and landscapes. During the course of three decades, they bought and restored 13 historic properties, transforming this sleepy hollow into a treasure chest of charm. They established the Four Corners Arts Center at their circa-1800 Soule- Seabury House, launched the annual T4C Antique Show, Cultural Survival Bazaar plus other events and curated regional artists, all of which attracted new culture and energy to T4C.

“We could see there might be an opportunity in this little village. We hadn’t envisioned what might happen here when we bought Soule-Seabury house but we gradually renovated or built to continue the feeling of 19th- and some 18th-century buildings that are really reminiscent of an old English village. It’s hard to describe, but it has that feel, and we found it charming,” Weir explains. “A lot of other people have come here, and committed to being part of the village effort.”

Others certainly picked up where the Weirs left off, continuing historic restoration and business investment, including Diane and Bill Botelho of The Cheese Wheel, Four Corners Grill, Sayles Livingston Design, The Cottage and Tiffany Peay Jewelry. But it’s David Fierabend and John McDowell’s Groundswell Cafe + Garden that is the most recent and largest metamorphosis of three buildings at the cornerstone of T4C. Their French-inspired retrofit of the A.P. White General Store (circa 1876, and the former Provender building), as well as neighboring Arnold Smith House (circa 1750) with their cozy garden and home store, has fulfilled the blossoming of thoroughfare into destination.

While handmade ceramics, glassware, skin care products and garden furnishings are tucked in every corner, it is coffee, casual French-inspired cuisine and bringing people together that are the genesis of the Groundswell movement. Picnic tables and firepits on brick walkways invite passersby to sit and enjoy a coffee and conversation, which has been so critical during the pandemic.

“I have always been interested in coffee as a social gathering component. And the quietness is lovely here. But it was more about the building. The intention was to keep it serving the public, since it was built as a gathering space,” Fierabend says. “Tiverton Four Corners … has a nice mixture of retail, its artists community and craftsman community. And people go to places that are beautiful, so no doubt it will grow organically on its own.”

T4C has local purveyors at its heart, so while Groundswell’s menu includes quintessential French items like quiche Lorraine, almond croissants and latte, its pantry staples and staff are authentic Rhode Island. Sourcing local markets, CSAs and veggies, Fierabend says they are “all about buying local. We are committed to our craft and made-from-scratch,” he says. “I was at Young’s [Family Farm in Little Compton] the other day buying dahlias, because no one does it like them. It’s great to have those relationships.”

Expanding food provisioning into Rashleigh’s building next door, Groundswell is complementing T4C’s revolution. Though the biggest thing to hit Tiverton is the pandemic, Rashleigh says, people who fled the city for their summer home now have a little more sophistication, along with espresso and croissants, at their fingertips.

“Moving into the future, the success of the village is evolving; it’s definitely a place where people want to be now,” Weir says. “Everything you can do outdoors has so much appeal, to the public and to the people doing business. So we’re really fortunate that the village is thriving.”