2 sides battle over ownership of historic Cobbs Mill Inn

Laura Friedman and her now deceased husband Drew ran the Cobbs Mill Inn before his death 7 years ago.

Mark Sudol

Mar 17, 2023, 9:36 PM

Updated 571 days ago

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There appears to be some discrepancy as to the ownership of the historic Cobbs Mill Inn in Weston.
The heir to the Inn and the man who says he bought it spoke exclusively to News 12 Connecticut.
Laura Friedman and her now deceased husband Drew ran the Cobbs Mill Inn before his death 7 years ago.
Friedman says lawyers that handled the estate back then took away her rights to the property, but she still believes she is the rightful owner.
"Once the one-member LLC, once that member dies it could pass to the next of kin who was of course Mrs. Friedman. That would be me," said Friedman.
Friedman says her friend and business partner, Anthony Villano has been advising her on the estate.
She says she sold him joint ownership for $1,500.
"He said I am buying the place and I have signed a purchase agreement.  I love it here," said Friedman.
Town records show Kleber Siguenza, who owns other restaurants in the area, bought the property in February of 2022 for $1.1 million.
"On around June I had Mrs. Friedman and a guy named Villano in the property trying to stop the bank from us...going in to doing the final inspections to get the property," said Siguenza.
Friedman showed us that she and Villano live at the Cobbs Mill Inn because she says they are the rightful owners.
"I feel it's my legacy, I am an heir, not a squatter," said Friedman.
Siguenza says he wants to renovate the Inn and open it back up.
But he says Friedman has been making the process difficult.
"They understand the system, they have an attorney that is as crooked as they are," said Siguenza.
Friedman says the 6-acre property is worth $3-4 million.
Villano and Friedman say they're taking legal action. This case has already been heard in Probate Court where Friedman objected to the sale of the property.