Herb Lyceum, wedding venue in Groton, rebounds after fire with neighbors’ support

Three weeks before their big day, the wedding venue Kali and Joey Espinola dreamed of being married in went up in flames. The special date was still far off, but already Kali Espinola panicked, not knowing if they’d marry at Herb Lyceum, a field-to-table restaurant and event space in Groton.

“I didn’t believe it at first,” she said, “and then it just started to sink in.”

Drawn by fragrant herb gardens, greenhouses, and a 19th-century carriage house, couples like the Espinolas have long chosen the idyllic location for their wedding. But early on Sept. 1, the carriage house, where the kitchen, refrigeration, offices, and dining room were, burst into flames. It feels Herb Lyceum’s owners, the Gilson family, rushing to ensure soon-to-be-wed couples would still be able to tie the knot.

But they weren’t in it alone — neighbors in Groton swept in to help. A local camp offered its kitchen, the Groton Inn offered event space, a private school offered a field.

Herb Lyceum has been owned by generations of the Gilson family since the 1800s. Thirty years ago, David Gilson, the current owner, transformed the 19th-century carriage house on the property into an event space. The Labor Day fire started in the kitchen, but the cause is still unknown.

The Groton Inn took in a 45-guest wedding on Sept. 1, the day of the fire, and local restaurants provided food, Will Gilson said.

“I think that’s been one of the most heartwarming things about this tragedy — people being sort of selfless and offering up whatever they can,” said Will Gilson, David Gilson’s son and a Cambridge-based chef.

In the backyard of their home, less than a mile away, Gina Perini and Peter Benedict hosted two weddings for Herb Lyceum. Overlooking hundreds of acres of conservation land with roaming cows and Gibbet Hill, the meadow’s curves of lush green trees already spotting with orange and red offered a charming spot for couples to proclaim their life-long vows of love for each other in front of friends and family.

Strings of lights hung around three white tents that were erected in the couple’s backyard to accommodate guests.

The couple have lived in the house 17 years and have used it for their own family’s weddings. Perini said they were happy and grateful they could help other couples and help the Gilsons keep their business running.

“It’s kind of one of those things that in a small town, when one person has adversity, we all feel it and we want to do something about it,” Perini said. “It’s kind of restored for me that beautiful feeling of community and how there’s just a lot of really good in the world.”

The fire didn’t destroy everything. The greenhouses and bed and breakfast owned by the Gilson family on the property are still standing. And three weeks after the incident, the Gilsons found ways to host on the grounds.

In addition to the community support, the Gilson family has a GoFundMe page to raise money to rebuild the carriage house. “While nothing can replace the century old beams and wood that were used in the renovation, the spirit of the building remains,” the website reads. They’ve raised $30,000 of their $500,000 goal.

Despite the venue being a ways from fully restoring, Kali, 29, and Joey Espinola, 32, who live in Chelmsford, couldn’t imagine marrying anywhere else.

“We’d been dreaming of having the day there for so long and didn’t want to change our minds,” Kali Espinola said.

“The whole thing just makes me really grateful to be getting married in Groton.”

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Natalie La Roche Pietri can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her @natalaroche.