New era for historic Royal Arcanum

By Avice Meehan

The Norfolk Pub, the bar and restaurant located in the front corner of the iconic Royal Arcanum building, closed its doors on Jan. 31. It ceased operations after 462 trivia nights, untold meals served, several standing ovations for owner Heidi Forler and music from a local band.

The new owners of the building, American Folk & Heritage LLC, decided against renewing the pub’s lease in November and gave Forler two, rent-free months to wind down the business. It leaves “downtown” Norfolk without a place to stop for a drink or dinner, with the nearest destination being the Norbrook Farm Brewery just over the line in Colebrook. “Welcome to the morgue,” joked a server on the next-to-last night. Diners and drinkers clustered around the bar and high-topped tables while the Sons of Astro played in the main dining room. The clientele ranged from ranged from regulars (“Been coming here since I was 18”) to first timers, a foursome of longdistance bike riders (“We’re band groupies”) who drove over from Middletown. All the tables were occupied or booked. A steady stream of customers peeked into the kitchen to greet Forler. Speaking on behalf of American Folk & Heritage, Dev Aujla said he and the other owners had originally planned to extend the lease after purchasing the building last fall. The plans changed after an “audit” by the company insuring the Royal Arcanum. “During that process [we] found out the building was uninsurable from our insurance agency without major upgrades to the kitchen. Heidi would have been responsible for this as per her lease renewal and I wanted to ensure that we didn’t leave her in a tough spot financially.”

Aujla is the chief executive officer of Bode, the New York-based fashion brand founded by Emily Adams Bode Aujla. Together, with her husband and Dev’s brother, Aaron Aujla, they created American Folk & Heritage, which acquired the Royal Arcanum in September 2025. All own homes in Norfolk.

Renovations began a short while later, but details on future uses for the building are scant. At the time of the purchase, Aaron Aujla said the upper floors would likely house clothing and textile materials used by Emily Bode as inspiration for seasonal collections but did not specify other plans. Leases for the other commercial tenants are being honored at least through the end of this year.

“Our main priority is just making sure that the building is safe, all deferred maintenance is done and that the building remains a valuable center for Norfolk well into the future,” Dev Aujla said, noting that future uses of the building were still being decided. In a subsequent conversation, he said, “Our goal is to be respectful of the town and to make difference.” Whether the milestone of the pub’s closure reflects the end of Norfolk as everyone knows it, or the start of something new and positive, is a matter of active debate. Rumors are colorful and rampant, often voiced with great authority. It’s worth noting that in the lifetimes of Norfolk’s oldest residents, the same spot was occupied by the Harry H. Cook Pharmacy where Doc Cook held court over the soda fountain and sold all manner of goods—a precursor to the Berkshire Store of today (minus the prescriptions).

What’s clear is that people are losing jobs and a place to “be.” Speaking on a quiet Thursday afternoon, with a handful of regulars at the bar and a couple eating in the restaurant, Forler said the Norfolk Pub employed about 10 people, plus others who helped with the well-established catering business. Many have worked at the Pub since Forler and her former husband, Michael Dinsmore, opened the business in 2010 as the Wood Creek Bar & Grill. That includes longtime bartender Lindsey Prevuznak, who broke the news of the closure in the Northwest Corner Chatter Facebook group in early January.

“When you have 60 days, you just have to keep thinking about keeping these people employed. I am not worrying about myself right now,” said Forler. The business went to all cash in January and is currently listing chairs and tables for sale through notices posted on the front door. She will have until Saturday, Feb. 7, to remove any furnishings or equipment.

Forler said she recognized that the owners had the right to decide the future of the Royal Arcanum. Her emotions shifted—in one moment she expressed pride in managing the business on her own for the past four years and, in the next, anger over water damage that doused her office during sprinkler repairs in November. “What I have done is pretty incredible,’’ she said.

Change is difficult and complicated. Just ask Larry Hannafin and Sally Carr, frequent customers of the Norfolk Pub. The couple, initially outraged by news of the closure, circulated a petition that garnered nearly 300 signatures from customers drawn from all over Litchfield County. The petition was sent to Aaron and Emilly Aujla in early January and asked that the Norfolk Pub be allowed to remain.

Later, interviewed in their home on Laurel Way, Hannifin and Carr struck a different note, while expressing nostalgia for a Norfolk that boasted multiple grocery stores and restaurants. They described Aujla as cordial, if uncommunicative about details. “We do hope and pray that they will put something in there that will help the community thrive and grow,” said Hannafin.

Longtime observers of the Norfolk scene note that the least expensive part of owning the Royal Arcanum might be the $1.4 million purchase price because the property had been neglected for many years. When the Norfolk Hub acquired the building for $950,000 from Robert Pallone in 2021, it did so with a grant from the William and Mary Greve Foundation led by Norfolk resident Tony Kiser. In a recent conversation, Kiser estimated that the foundation had set side roughly $350,000 for immediate repairs to the roof and electrical wiring, among other improvements.

“We had the funding to do it, and it felt good,” said Kiser. He said the Norfolk Hub hoped for future owners who were committed to Norfolk and not “passing through.” He described the Aujlas and American Folk & Heritage as “about as good a buyer as you can get.” Five years from now, some local business owners believe that the Royal Arcanum will be transformed—and Norfolk’s village center along with it. But for regular customers of the Norfolk Pub, through its many name changes and owners, the loss is sharp. Diane Whitford Hall, who was born and raised in Norfolk, said it was a weekly destination from the time she was 18, a place to have dinner and a few beers and then head home. This time, Hall will head home with her bar stool—autographed by the staff.