On Sunday afternoon, residents gathered for the official grand opening of Milliken Manor 580 Mountain Road in Jaffrey – formerly known as Grand View Estates -- to tour the historic grounds and enjoy the views of Mount Monadnock.

The new event center, which is set to host wedding parties, retreats, reunions and private parties, has been renamed by the new owners in honor of Lt. Alexander Milliken, who built a tavern on the property in 1790, serving as a traveling stop for the stagecoach.

New owners Kristen and Jason Delano and Kristen’s parents Jeffrey and Noreen Burd closed on the property in March. Kristen Delano said it has been a longtime dream of hers to own her own event center. She has been in the hospitality business for 16 years, including as a wedding and event planner. Kristen said she has been looking at properties and sending possibilities back and forth with her parents for years now.

“But none were good enough,” she said. That was, until she found Grand View Estates, and she said it hit just the right spot of being beautiful and functional, with enough infrastructure to host events.

“It checked every single box,” Kristen said.

The property includes a field with an open view of Mount Monadnock, and multiple event spaces, including a pavilion and an event barn built in 1920 when the property was an operating farm. The barn includes a commercial kitchen, space for up to 150 people for seated receptions or 300 people for cocktail reception events. The manor is available for wedding parties or retreats, and features brick fireplaces in almost every room, picture windows with views of Mount Monadnock, sitting and recreational space and a swimming pool.

Jeffrey Burd said he doesn’t have any experience in event planning, though he has been around it through Kristen and her sister, who is also in the business, and said that between his wife, daughter and son-in-law, they have the skills to run the business, market it and keep up the property and grounds.

“We’re a well-polished, well-rounded team,” Jeffrey said.

The property was in good condition, with the family only doing some rearranging and clean-up, Kristen said. The hardest part was coming up with the new name, they joked. Kristen said they landed on Milliken Manor after a conversation with the Jaffrey Historical Society about the history of the property.

“We knew it was a historic property, and we wanted to honor that,” she said.

The property is now open for bookings, with one of its first events, “Field and Foothills,” a field-to-table spring dinner event on May 30 from 6 to 9 p.m., with a dinner prepared by chef Maureen Metivier of Foray Event Caterers. The dinner is inspired by the history of the property as an operating farm for over 200 years. The dinner includes a welcome cocktail and four-course dinner. Tickets are $95, and are available for purchase at millikenmanornh.com/events.

For information, contact Milliken Manor at 603-369-2705 or online at millikenmanornh.com. Milliken Manor is also on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook. Bookings for the property can be done either online or by phone.

Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172, Ext.  244, or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on X @AshleySaari MLT.