Alleged squatter, lawsuits complicate planned Cobb’s Mill Inn restoration
WESTON — Efforts to renovate and reopen one of the town’s oldest buildings over the last couple years have been sidelined by lawsuits over ownership of the property and allegations of the presence of a squatter living on the site.
Cobb’s Mill Inn, which was built as a sawmill in 1749, was for a while a main gathering spot in town, but it closed several years ago after a previous owner’s death.
In January, Sandra and Kleber Siguenza, who own multiple other restaurants in Connecticut, purchased the property — under the name Cleves & Siguenza Properties, LLC — after months of trying from 12
Old Mill Road LLC, which was managed by the executor of former owner Andrew Friedman’s estate, Thomas Sargent.
“I fell in love with this property,” Sandra Siguenza said.
The couple said they want to reopen the space, but their plans have been thwarted by Andrew Friedman’s widow’s claims on the property.
On April 9, 2021, the widow, Laura Friedman, objected to a petition from Sargent in probate court to sell the property to the Siguenzas.
According to a court decision from Probate Judge Lisa Wexler, Laura Friedman objected to the sale “on the ground that she did not believe the fiduciary was obtaining the maximum amount of value for the Property.”
It also said Laura Friedman “asked the court to order another independent appraisal to delay the sale” and that her attorney said he believed a better offer would come in soon after the hearing, which was held on April 22, 2021.
The court found that the objection was without merit for multiple reasons, including that the sale to the Siguenzas was “in the best interests of the estate” and that it had been on the market since March 2016, with at least 72 potential buyers in that timeframe.
After that hearing, on June 15, 2021, an “emergency petition for order directing Laura Friedman to vacate the Cobbs Mill Inn and permit its sale to proceed” was filed.
It said that since the decree on April 22, 2021, Laura Friedman repeatedly “contested the right of the Executor to enter the Cobbs Mill Inn” and put an associate of hers “into possession of the Cobbs Mill Inn.”
Court documents indicate a man has been leasing the property from Laura Friedman.
In the hearing after that petition, on June 23, 2021, Laura Friedman told the court that she was co-owner of her husband’s property and should have access to it. Wexler ruled that the executor of the estate had sole right to the property, not Laura Friedman.
Attorneys for Laura Friedman did not respond to a request for comment, and she could not be reached.
In Wexler’s decision on that second matter, she notes that in testimony given to the court it was said that in April 2021, Laura Friedman had hired several people identified as security guards to block entry to the 12 Old Mill Road property, impeding the sale to the Siguenzas.
The decision also stated Sgt. Pat Daubert appeared at a June 2021 hearing,
submitting about a dozen police reports involving trespassing and civil disturbances at Cobb’s Mill Inn. He testified that the Weston police were unsure who had the legal right to be on the premises at the time.
According to the police reports, authorities were called to Cobb’s Mill Inn on multiple accounts for incidents such as trespassing, lock changes and inaccessibility to the property.
Sargent, the then-executor of the property, also noted that the locks at Cobb’s Mill Inn had been changed without his knowledge and it had been broken into several times, according to the decision.
At the hearing, Laura Friedman presented an article to the court from a now defunct newspaper that listed her as a person who ran the Cobb’s Mill Inn restaurant when it was open, according to the decision.
Wexler, however, deemed the article irrelevant and ruled that Cobb’s Mill Inn was never owned by Laura Friedman.
“The court finds that Laura Friedman has no independent legal right whatsoever to be present at the Cobbs Mill Inn,” the decision said, noting that the only person with legal right to entry was the executor of the estate, and he could authorize others to be present.
The judge’s decision stated that Laura Friedman was ordered to revoke any authority she may have given to others to enter or occupy the premises.
The Siguenzas eventually received the title to the property.
However, after they received the title, they found that Laura Friedman and the man leasing the property from her had taken possession of the site, locking the doors with steel cable and pad locks, according to a lawsuit filed by their company, Cleves & Siguenza Properties, LLC, against Laura Friedman, the man and a third party from April 2022.
The lawsuit states that on April 12, a notice to quit was served to the alleged squatter and Laura Friedman, requiring them to vacate the premises by April 19, but the two remained.
In October, Laura Friedman, the man allegedly living on the site and another person worked together to sell the restaurant equipment and construction materials purchased by the Siguenzas to renovate the site, according to police reports.
Weston Police Chief Ed Henion said there has not been any criminal investigations at the property because they didn’t find anything criminal to investigate, with exception to the alleged property being sold.
Henion said the situation was unclear because of the civil litigation regarding who owns what.
“We’ll gather all the facts and evidence and present it to the court to see if there is probable cause for a violation of the law, but we’re not at that point, yet,” he said.
This month, Laura Friedman filed for bankruptcy, possibly delaying the case even further.
Still, the Siguenzas hope to open Cobb’s Mill Inn within a year.
“Just thinking about the possibility of buying it sounded like something impossible for a couple from another country,” said Sandra Siguenza, who is from Colombia.
She and her husband, who is from Ecuador, purchased their Weston home in 2016, choosing it for the top schools.
Sandra Siguenza said she drove past Cobb’s Mill Inn for years, but they didn’t call to purchase it, figuring it would be too expensive. She eventually convinced her husband to call the seller.
She said that the duo appreciated the opportunity to buy it, not only to make a living, but to create jobs in the community.
The couple said that they plan on keeping the inn as it was “in its glory days,” but they will upgrade it to maintain its beauty.
In the 19th century, Cobb’s Mill Inn was used as a cider mill. In 1912, Frank I. Cobb bought and began using the property as a weekend and summer retreat. For 22 years following, it changed ownership several times and became a part-time inn and, later, in 1934, a restaurant.
The last iteration of Cobb’s Mill Inn also served as an open mic venue.
Harry Falber, a former member of Weston’s Planning and Zoning Commission, said that the property is deemed pre-existing, nonconforming, since it was built before zoning regulations were part of the town. It is in the middle of a residential neighborhood where, typically, commercial buildings wouldn’t be located.
This would allow the owners to make minor adjustments to the property to keep it in operation as a restaurant, but not major changes.
“Everyone in town wants Cobb’s Mill to reopen,” Falber said.
Recently, the Siguenzas proposed adding a rooftop section to the restaurant, according to pre-application review documents submitted to the zoning commission.
Falber said that Cobb’s Mill Inn is part of the “DNA, heart and soul of Weston.”