Last modified: Friday, August 3, 2007 1:19 AM EDT
Former Brook Manor restaurant in North Attleboro. (Staff photo by TOM MAGUIRE)

North landmark changes hands

NORTH ATTLEBORO - The former Brook Manor has another owner and another new name.

Bella Vista Restaurant and Grille, specializing in Italian cuisine, will open this fall at the Elm Street landmark.

Brothers Nash and Joe Moawde have purchased the building from Jan Concepts, which most recently had operated the Country Inn restaurant there.

John Mason, Moawde's brother-in-law, said some minor interior renovation will be done before the restaurant opens in November.

The restaurant is expected to be open seven days a week and employ approximately 70 people.

The Moawdes own several restaurants in the area, including the Vineyard in South Attleboro, Eli's Pizza in Attleboro and Bill's House of Pizza in Easton. The pair formerly owned Bill's House of Pizza in North Attleboro.

While the property was called the Country Inn for a couple of years, the building is still known to many as the home to Brook Manor.

The Brook Manor had been operated by members of the Scarlatelli family for more than half a century except for a three-year hiatus in the mid-1990s.

Robert Scarlatelli retired and sold the property in 2002.

The building has a storied past.

The central part of the structure was built as a home by a local industrialist in 1836 and first converted into a restaurant by the Scarlatelli facility in 1948.