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    Rambling House Up for Sale as Owner Prepares for Larger Facility on the South Side

    The Old North’s Rambling House is for sale, and current owner John Lynch is looking for an owner who’ll preserve its music venue reputation.

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    Rambling House Cocktails, the bar’s sister business, is taking off, thanks in part to the WeFunder Lynch started this year. To date, 88 investors have contributed $43,200, each acting as both part-owner and marketer, using word of mouth to promote the new business.

    Rambling House Cocktails launched in February of 2017, a redirect from Lynch’s original business, Rambling House Soda. Using the soda company’s successful ginger beer recipe, they’ve produced a bottled Moscow Mule now available at Kroger stores across Ohio. As Rambling House Cocktails has expanded their production — and added a new Kentucky Mule recipe — Lynch has decided to give up the bar for a larger facility on the South Side.

    Lynch declined to say the exact location of the 20-acre lot he purchased, as they likely won’t break ground on the new production space until next summer.

    “We can’t wait to start talking about it, I just want to get a little closer to production, because it is just land,” Lynch says, “so it’s going to be a while before we can start showing people what’s in store.”

    Once established, the new Rambling House will house a large production facility and a bar featuring their line of cocktails. Lynch imagines that music will continue to be an important component at the new location. Two or three nights per week will be dedicated to local live music events.

    Outdoor gatherings and special releases of canned cocktails, some even based on local bartenders’ recipes, are all part of the plan as well.

    “It’s a space where we can really highlight the outdoors and work off of what we already learned,” Lynch says. “It’s been exciting to work with local musicians on interesting events and see them grow. Once we get the new place up and running, we’ll be doing the same work but on a bigger scale.”

    Rambling House first opened in late 2013 with limited hours and days of operation. Originally used for production space for Rambling House Soda, it slowly morphed into a bar, first obtaining a liquor license, then opening one night monthly to host local musicians. Starting with Sunday night only, they gradually expanded their operating hours. They’re now open Tuesday through Sunday, and they feature an average of 400-500 bands each year.

    Lynch says there’s no timeline on the sale of Rambling House. As his own attention has shifted to the cocktail business, he’s mainly on the lookout for someone who’ll focus full time on the bar’s music scene.

    “We think we created something pretty awesome with the music. That’s really important to us,” Lynch says. “We created that space so that local musicians would have a place that they liked to play.”

    The bar is going for $329,000, and it’s listing is available at bizbuysell.com.

    For more information, visit ramblinghousecocktails.com

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    Lauren Sega
    Lauren Segahttps://columbusunderground.com
    Lauren Sega is the former Associate Editor for Columbus Underground and a current freelance writer for CU. She covers political issues on the local and state levels, as well as local food and restaurant news. She grew up near Cleveland, graduated from Ohio University's Scripps School of Journalism, and loves running, traveling and hiking.
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