by Sarah Gold

The hulking olive-brown barn set along a barren reach of Route 81 in Killingworth had sat unused for years. Once home to a struggling Christmas-themed gift shop, it had long stood vacant — a looming carapace marooned beside a sparsely traveled rural road. But then, in late 2013, Francesco Lulaj, a local restaurateur, noticed it.

For Mr. Lulaj, the building was far more than just a ponderous shell. In fact, he could envision the property as a dignified Tuscan-style farmhouse — just the sort of place where he had hoped to open an upmarket Italian restaurant. Sure, it needed work, and was a little out of the way, but he felt certain that if he built it, the diners would come.

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Source: http://www.nytimes.com/