Something wonderful is happening in the Village in Apple Valley! Under the artistic eye of Chet Hitt, The Market at Town’s End and The Town’s End Stillhouse  and Grill are taking shape, and if you’re like me and have left your nose prints on the window, you can’t wait. Everything— from the gleaming 500 liter copper still that will distill 60,000 bottles of artisan vodka, bourbon, whiskey and gin a year— to the decor and neon lighting has been designed with an attention to aesthetics, quality, and detail. 

 

According to spokesperson Lindsey Kerry, the goal is to give this part of town something special and unique, as well as to bring the farm-to-table atmosphere to the village, so in addition to the distillery, they will also be opening The Market at Town’s End— a farmers market and central vendors market in what was formerly the Little Depot that will feature 160 permanently affixed steel vendor booths and a barrelhouse bar. Initially, they expect to open the farmers’ market on Sunday mornings, and once it becomes established, they plan on offering it on Wednesday evenings as well. They’re hoping to have the project up and running sometime during the first quarter of 2020. 

 

It was important to Chet and his wife Rebekah to make the Village a destination site again—there was a time when this was the very heart of our town, and fortunately for us all, some of the old buildings with character and the patina of age remain, as if they were patiently waiting for Hitt’s imagination and creative energy to love them back to life. The industrial/steampunk/rustic vibe is so well-crafted, it’s almost an art installation itself and it will transport you back in time to the era of Prohibition, speakeasies, and bootlegger’s ball events, featuring live music and festivals. To paraphrase a hit song from the Prohibition era, I’m looking forward to this place getting to be a habit with me.