West River Coffee Barn comes to Londonderry after percolating for four years

By Shawn Cunningham
© 2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC

Leaving the West River Farmers Market in Londonderry one Saturday in 2021, Kristin Nelson looked at the intersection of Routes 100 and 11 at the flashing light and thought to herself that something was needed to bring the area and the community together  — right there.

“Something was needed on that corner” — that northwest corner — Nelson told The Telegraph, describing empty lots and the long-closed Mill Tavern.

Little did she know that she was about to embark on a long, four-year journey toward opening the West River Coffee Barn, a community gathering spot at that junction. And while that journey isn’t over yet, Nelson and the other people who have helped bring this about are inviting the community to a ribbon cutting and Open House on Thursday, July 31 ahead of opening for business later this summer.

Giving a visitor a tour of the project on a warm Friday while workmen continued to get the space ready, Nelson says they want the community to collaborate with the owners of the shop. During the Open House, she says, white boards will be available for visitors to express their desires for the space and its offerings.

Nelson says the Coffee Barn – the name is an echo back to the Shoe Barn which previously occupied the site – will use local businesses for many of their offerings including quiche from Grandma Miller’s in Londonderry and breakfast items from the Mercantile on Main bakery in Chester. You’ll get to sample those regular Barn offerings at Thursday’s Open House.

The Coffee Barn is laid out in two spaces. As you enter, to the right of the front door, is the counter to order coffee and food. To the left, a seating area for more than a dozen people. The longer range plan is to have the large end wall sport a map of area attractions, which Nelson calls “referrals.” She  sees many possibilities including hosting food trucks from time to time.

When outdoor seating is installed, the shop will have a total of 25 seats and parking for 12.

The Coffee Barn sits on a site with some history. Many will remember the Shoe Barn, a large, single story clapboard building. But prior to that sat a Texaco service station and, even earlier, the three-story Wantastiquet Hotel with its Mansard roof. The owners of this new barn want to make sure to connect it to its roots, says Nelson, who is working on a photo display of the the site’s previous incarnations.

And among those connections, the recently erected sign for the coffee shop is similar in size and shape to the Shoe Barn sign. Nelson’s husband, Gary Kleiman, says that old sign will soon have a home inside the new Coffee Barn.

The Open House and ribbon cutting will be held at West River Coffee Barn at 2309 N. Main St. in Londonderry, , from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Thursday July 31.