HUNTINGTON — After 30 years in business, the Huntington Country Store is closing up shop and its historic and spacious home is up for sale.

Owners Becky Butler and her husband, Randy, are aiming to sell off everything by the end of October and move south, likely to Florida or Texas.

The 1790s building is believed to have been a stop on the Underground Railroad and at various times has been a tavern, bed and breakfast, restaurant, dance hall and brewery. It has 5,320 square feet of space on two floors, with a three-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment on the second floor, a wraparound porch and a parking lot with 20 spaces.

“I’m sad to see it go,” Randy Butler said. “I hope whoever takes over will appreciate an old building and keep it going.”

Butler, 58, said the time has come for him to retire.

“I need time to not do anything,” he said. “I want to go sailing.”

He’s not a fan of snow, and the couple’s four children are all independent now. None of them wanted to take over the business, he said.

The Butlers had previously put the property up for sale in 2017, but said at the time they were in no hurry to sell. Then, the pandemic arrived and no one wanted to buy a store, he said.

“We didn’t really start trying to sell it until the pandemic was over,” he said.

The asking price is $279,000.

The Butlers took over the store in 1992 and initially ran it with Becky Butler’s parents, Carol and David Majercik, who own the Williamsburg General Store.

“It’s really her store,” Randy Butler said of his wife. “She does all the buying, all the baking.”

The store is known for its baked goods, sandwiches, “Wrapples” (homemade filled pastry with a little frosting outside), and ice cream in summer, along with country store items such as jewelry, windchimes, pewter figurines baskets, Christmas ornaments and pottery.

“It’s a unique property,” Butler said, noting that it’s situated in a residential zone with a business permit. It’s right around the corner from the elementary and high schools, and next to Hilltown Community Ambulance.

“We’re hoping someone else can take it over and make something of it,” he said.

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