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El Dorado Hills' 'The Purple Place' announces closure

According to Denise Hountalas, the owner of The Purple Place, their last day open will be Sunday August 21, 2022.

EL DORADO HILLS, Calif. — The Purple Place Bar and Grill will officially close its doors on Sunday.

Denise and Mike Hountalas, the owners of the Purple Place Bar and Grill, purchased and renovated the restaurant in 2006. It quickly became a beloved restaurant for many El Dorado County residents and those passing through the area.

"We grew the struggling business into a successful community gathering place while we employed multiple generations of families and local high schoolers," the Hountalases previously told ABC10.

However, according to them, they've been in lease negations with their landlord since Dec. 2021, with their lease set to expire in Sept. 2022.

The Hountalases sent the following statement to ABC10:

The Hountalases have been in lease negotiations with Ms. Anders since December 2021. They offered more than double the current rent, which is comparable to the newer rent prices in El Dorado Hills, and a commitment to make a large capital investment towards property improvement. Negotiations ended earlier this month with Ms. Anders demanding a rent increase of over 240%, and a large unspecified Common Area Maintenance (CAM) fee in addition to a demand for upwards of $200,000 in structural improvements.

They remained hopeful they would be able to stay in their original location, but due to increasing costs it would not be economically feasible for them to continue operating.

According to the Hountalases they "offered to buy the property or even sell the business to Ms. Anders so that The Purple Place could stay at its original location. Unfortunately, none of these options worked out."

The Hountalases said the Purple Place will close on Sunday, Aug. 21. They hope to announce the reopening of the Purple Place at a new location in the near future.

ABC10 repeatedly reached out to the landlord of the Purple Place by email, Facebook message, and phone throughout our reporting, but did not hear back from her prior to publishing.

Residents are saddened to hear of the restaurant's closure as it has become an iconic space for them to celebrate birthdays, the end of the year, and everything in between.

"This is a hub for the community. Not just for El Dorado Hills but also for Folsom and the Sacramento Valley," said Greg Jones who says he's been coming to the Purple Place about two to three times a week for the past 15 years. "I'm going to remember all the smiles, good food and camaraderie."

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