Gay couple sells Virginia restaurant at center of small-town dispute

The Front Porch in The Plains, Va., has changed hands after the owners tired of fighting with their neighbors

By Tim Carman
January 3, 2024 at 5:53 p.m. EST



The Front Porch Market and Grill in The Plains, Va., in April. (Amanda Andrade-Rhoades for The Washington Post)

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In December, corporate officer Dan Myers decided that the Front Porch Market and Grill should close at the start of the new year. It was just a matter of convincing owner William Waybourn, a longtime gay-community activist, to raise the surrender flag at the restaurant in The Plains, Va., which has been in a years-long conflict with neighbors on the opposite end of the political spectrum.

After factoring in legal fees, the Front Porch was losing tens of thousands of dollars a month, said Waybourn and Myers. What’s more, they added, after months of relative calm in the wake of a July 2023 article in The Washington Post about the conflict, the Front Porch was once again experiencing tensions with its next-door neighbor, ICS Financial, a family-run company led by Mike and Melissa Washer, self-described conservative Christians. Waybourn and Myers say the tensions resumed Nov. 8, the day after the Washers’ son, Regan, won a seat on the Fauquier County Board of Supervisors.

[ A gay couple ran a rural restaurant in peace. Then new neighbors arrived. ]

“I put my foot down and I said, ‘We’re done,’” Myers told The Post. Myers said he told Waybourn, 76, who had suffered a mild stroke last year while dealing with the conflicts, “I need you to take a couple of days and just wrap your mind around that, but that’s going to happen.” ... But a surprising thing happened on the way to shuttering the Front Porch: Almost a year after Waybourn and his husband and co-founder, Craig Spaulding, put the restaurant on the market because of the conflict, a buyer came along and purchased it. The sale closed on Dec. 26, although the staff wasn’t told until Tuesday.



William Waybourn at the Front Porch, which he co-owned with his husband, Craig Spaulding. (Amanda Andrade-Rhoades for The Washington Post)

Shawn Malone, a chef and restaurateur with decades of experience in the industry, plans to reopen the business in February under the name Bistro at the Porch. He also hopes to fix the broken relationship with the Washers, who have sued The Plains over its decision to allow the Front Porch to operate under its existing permit. Over the years, the Washers have also raised protests over the restaurant’s trash, deliveries and customer parking. The owners of ICS Financial and the previous owners of Front Porch had filed no-trespassing orders against each other. While Waybourn and others at the Front Porch have alleged the Washers have been motivated in part by homophobia, the Washers have denied any such motivation, saying politics and ideology don’t have anything to do with their complaints.

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ICS Financial, left, and the Front Porch sit side-by-side in The Plains, population 250. (Amanda Andrade-Rhoades for The Washington Post)

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The Front Porch, seen in April, is expected to reopen under a new owner and a new name in February. (Amanda Andrade-Rhoades for The Washington Post)

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The tensions between the businesses appeared to die down in the months leading up to the November election. But Waybourn and Myers said the conflict resumed on Nov. 8, the day after Regan Washer won his seat on the Board of Supervisors. They say that Mike Washer resumed efforts to deter delivery drivers from idling in the parking lot, where both businesses own spaces, long enough to drop off beer and wine to the restaurant or to refill its propane tanks. Neither recalled Washer stopping trucks in the months leading up to the election. The Washers did not respond to texts and emails seeking comment.

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By Tim Carman
Tim Carman is a food reporter at The Washington Post, where he has worked since 2010. Previously, he served for five years as food editor and columnist at Washington City Paper. Twitter https://twitter.com/timcarman

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