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Property magnate Farhi buys historic Elm Hurst
Property magnate Farhi buys historic Elm Hurst
REAL ESTATE: Plans call for sprucing up facility
By CHIP MARTIN
Last Updated: 1st December 2009, 9:01am
Shmuel Farhi London businessperson Shmuel Farhi has bought the venerable Elm Hurst Inn near Ingersoll and plans to spruce up the Victorian fine-dining and 49-room facility.
It marks the first hospitality property for Farhi, who owns about 100 properties in London and about 140 in all across Ontario.
Many of his properties, like the Elgin County Courthouse he sold back to the Ontario government in a complicated deal with St. Thomas, are architecturally significant.
Farhi declined to disclose the purchase price, but said yesterday the transaction has already been completed. He said he plans to retain general manager Patrine Frey and the staff or more than 100 employees.
'"I think it has a lot of potential," said Farhi, noting he has no intention to expand it at first, but noted "we have a lot of room" to grow.
He said creating a Scandinavian spa is among the things he'd like to do.
The landmark at the Highway 401 exit for Oxford County Rd. 19 was one of the first fine-dining operations in the area, Farhi said he remembered when he came to London in the 1980s.
"We plan to do a lot of cosmetic work," he said of the architecturally intricate property, the oldest portion of which, originally a farmhouse, dates from the late 1800s.
Farhi said he has always admired the inn as an historic property.
The site has been a regional destination for fine dining, conferences and exclusive accommodation for about 30 years.
Farhi said it was a long-term dream of his "to own a first-class hospitality operation and the inn fits the bill perfectly."
arhi buys historic Elm Hurst
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