Two Old Town buildings a short walk apart are being turned into a hotel, a restaurant and a private club. Most of the attention goes to the Warren Green at 10 Hotel St., which is set to become a boutique hotel. The building that decides how much of the project the public can use is the former Town Hall at 18 Court St. If 18 Court St. had stayed out of the deal, the project would be 18 hotel rooms, workspace for a members' club, and a lobby bar and café. With it, the plan grows to 26 rooms, a speakeasy, a fitness center and an 80-seat restaurant that developer Kevin Ash says "will be open to the public," according to FauquierNow's April profile of Ash.
That restaurant is the piece most likely to change an ordinary weeknight in Old Town. The rest of the plan is built around it.
A Hotel Building That Spent Decades as Offices
The building on Hotel Street began as a hotel. A Fauquier Historical Society account, quoted in a 2014 FauquierNow feature, dates the Warren Green Hotel to 1819, on the site of Norris Tavern. It was rebuilt after a fire in 1876. The same account connects the hotel to a banquet for General Lafayette in 1825, a stay by Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay's presidential announcement, George McClellan's farewell to his troops in 1862, a dinner for Theodore Roosevelt, and a 1927 stay by Wallis Warfield.
More recently, Fauquier County used the building for decades as a headquarters, meeting space and administrative building. When the county decided to sell, its consultants went looking for a hotel developer. Ash told FauquierNow that nine parties were interested and his was one of three that stayed in the running. His recent work includes the 39-room Hotel Burg in Leesburg and the restoration of Manor 1858, a 22-acre wedding venue in Aldie.
On the façade, he has been plain about his intentions. "We're not going to change a thing," he told FauquierNow. "The Warren Green will look exactly the same." The Master Gardeners of Fauquier and Rappahannock Counties have agreed to look after the hotel's gardens.
How One Building Became Two
Ash told FauquierNow that he first raised 18 Court St. with the town in September 2025 and made an offer that December. Since then, the approvals have come in this order:
- February 12, 2026. Ash entered into an agreement with the Fauquier County Board of Supervisors to buy the Warren Green.
- April 2026. Warrenton Town Council approved the $510,000 sale of 18 Court St.
- July 2026. Council made small hotels a by-right use.
- August 2026. Council voted unanimously to rezone the Warren Green from public-semi-public use to central business district zoning. Under the sale agreement, the sale could not go forward without this change.
- September 8, 2026. Council rezoned 18 Court St. in the same way.
Mayor Carter Nevill described the September vote as technical. "This is just making sure that the zoning is tied into the use that is predicted and projected for the property so that it will be in compliance," he said, as FauquierNow reported.
The price of the second building came down because of the building itself. Ash's first offer for 18 Court St. was $750,000. Negotiations cut that by $250,000 because the building needs an elevator. He said the offer matched the same cost per square foot the county accepted for the Warren Green, which he put at $2 million.
Who Gets Through Which Door
Much of the local discussion is about privacy, and the plan has both public and members-only parts. Based on Ash's description in April, here is how access breaks down:
| Space | Where | Who can use it |
|---|---|---|
| Hotel rooms, 18 to 26 | Warren Green, plus 18 Court St. if included | Overnight guests |
| Restaurant, 80 seats | 18 Court St. | Open to the public |
| Lobby bar and café | Warren Green | Part of the base plan |
| The Chase club, with workspace, fitness center and speakeasy | Across the project | Members |
The Chase is Ash's private club, open seven days a week. Annual dues are $2,500 and include reciprocity among three locations. The Leesburg club has 450 members, and Ash estimates a Warrenton club could hold 300 to 400. In April, he also planned a Chase venue upstairs from a new restaurant in Middleburg's Fun Shop building on Washington Street.
In the same FauquierNow profile, Ash answered criticism of the private model by comparing membership to a gym: "it's no different than joining the fitness club." The same FauquierNow piece notes that private clubs already exist nearby. The Fauquier Club is a few steps from the Warren Green on Culpeper Street. The Fauquier Springs Country Club and the Middleburg Tennis Club on Zulla Road are also in the county.
The Town Hall Vote Was the Close One
Every public decision on this project has passed, but the votes on the old Town Hall were closer than the vote on the Warren Green. The Warren Green rezoning passed unanimously with no public speakers. The 18 Court St. sale passed 5-2, with Council Members Eric Gagnon and David McGuire voting no. Both had moved to delay the vote, and both motions failed by the same 5-2 margin, FauquierNow reported in April. "We've known about this deal for about a year," Council Member Michele O'Halloran said, "and delay kills projects." Nevill called it "a historic decision." The September rezoning passed 6-1, with Gagnon voting against.
The building also had a competing idea for its future. Ash told FauquierNow he knew some local artists and musicians wanted 18 Court St. to become a community arts center. He has offered to hang art for sale "all over the walls," as he does at Hotel Burg, and to host gallery nights where artists can show and sell their work. Old Town's merchants' group supports the plan. Matt Carson, who chairs Experience Old Town Warrenton and owns Britches on Main Street, told FauquierNow that its members are "overwhelmingly in favor of the project." Ash says the hotel will join both Experience Old Town Warrenton and the Fauquier Chamber.
The second building also matters to the town budget. By Ash's estimate, the Warren Green alone would generate about $100,000 a year in taxes for the town. With 18 Court St. included, he puts the figure at about $400,000 a year. He expects about 75 jobs across the hotel, restaurant and club.
What Still Stands Between Court Square and an Opening
Both buildings are in Warrenton's historic district, so any exterior change needs a certificate of appropriateness from the town's Architectural Review Board. As of early September, the board had issued one certificate, covering a kitchen addition and an exterior staircase. Next on the list was a tax incentive grant agreement between the county and Madison Dale, Ash's company, for the sale and improvement of the Warren Green. A resolution to approve it was placed on the Board of Supervisors' consent agenda for September 10.
No opening date has been announced, and the hotel and the public restaurant do not have names yet. In April, Ash said the project "could be completed in 18 months" if all went well. PM Hotel Group would manage both buildings. It already manages Hotel Burg, Manor 1858 and American University's Airlie conference center in Warrenton. Madison Dale and Clay Construction, both owned by Ash, would handle design and construction.
The Old Town Comeback Already Open on East Lee Street
The first part of Old Town's hospitality comeback is already open, two blocks from Court Square. Silver Branch Warrenton Station held its grand reopening at 56 E. Lee St. on October 9 and 10, Beer Alien reported. The reopening came more than 21 months after an early-morning fire on December 23, 2024, which badly damaged the kitchen and storage areas. Investigators traced the fire to what FauquierNow described as an "accidental catastrophic electrical event" in the ceiling of the adjoining Fletching Building.
The brewery was founded in Maryland in 2019 by Christian Layke and Brett Robison. It came to Warrenton in fall 2023, taking over the former Wort Hog Brewing building, and kept a presence this summer with a pop-up outside while renovations continued. Mosaic Pizza is back as part of the operation. Silver Branch's Warrenton page lists hours of 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Our family has watched the Warren Green and the old Town Hall serve this town for a long time, and we are following each approval as these two buildings change hands. If you own a home near Court Square or on one of Old Town's historic blocks and want to talk about what the project could mean for your street, Allen Real Estate is glad to have that conversation with you.
