Avon Cafe Open in Old Williams House

The Old Williams House at the corner of French Creek and Detroit Roads was probably about a year from tumbling down when Mike Petrillo bought it.

He didn't know that until after he bought it and a contractor told him the foundation was cracked and crumbling. Since then, he's repaired the ravages of time and turned the house in a prime French Creek district location into a business building.

This month, he joined the crowd there, opening , specializing in sandwiches, soups, coffees, smoothies and baked treats.

It's been a long road for Petrillo since he was laid off from his job at Cargill six years ago. He worked for a while in Nevada, but hated being away from his wife and three daughters. He did construction work, and opened a coffee and sandwich kiosk at Mercy in Lorain. During this time, he and a friend, Tom Kelly, bought the Old Williams House and set to work restoring it.

The restoration was just the beginning of the hard work, Petrillo said. He admits he got frustrated with the and its requirements, including the installation of sidewalks and paved parking, as well as with Avon Historical Society getting involved.

Petrillo said it took a window falling out almost onto Detroit Road because the frames were so rotted to convince the Historical Society that the windows needed to be replaced and not repaired.

Petrillo hopes to use his experiences to help other small businesses get launched in Avon.

He said that while it was more expensive to do things like install fiber cement siding rather than vinyl to meet the Historical Society's standards, he's glad he did it because the property looks so good.

One project was done to save money. When the house was raised to fix the foundation, Petrillo found himself with a whole lot of sandstone. Gas prices at the time were high, and hiring someone to haul it away would have cost about $10,000, he said. So he decided to use the sandstone to build a walled patio around the open foundation at the back of the building, where the entrance to Avon Cafe is now located.

Petrillo, with his background in engineering and construction, did as much of the work himself as he could. He stared down raccoons living in the walls as he did interior repairs. A new roof was put on. New plumbing was installed, as the whole building only had a single working half-bath.

At times, all the projects and all the expenses were scary.

"But we had to make the leap," he said. "I believe in Avon, even during the hard times."

As the restoration has gone on, tenants have moved in, including , Becky's Photography, accountant Bradley Herdman and attorneys Todd Armanini and Paul Kossis. With rental income coming in, Petrillo, who had since bought out Kelly, decided it was time to open Avon Cafe.

The whole Petrillo clan has been involved. His wife, Barb, a nurse, has made desserts like cakes, muffins, cookies and cupcakes for the cafe. Oldest daughter Susan, 18, has worked in food service and helps out after getting out of classes at during the week. Middle daughter Christina, 15, is an athlete and has become what her dad calls the "smoothie expert," choosing the products for smoothies. Twelve-year-old Kim helps select and approve the baked goods.

"She's as big around as a noodle, in spite of all those doughnuts," Petrillo said.