Second Empire
Written by: Ripshot
So there's kind of a weird dichotomy when it comes to front businesses. Most of the time, they only do the bare minimum needed to keep up appearances since most of their money's being made 'round back. Y'know, electronics-stores with nothin' but used commlinks gathering dust, and takeouts that serve something that can only be called food if you're real desperate or drunk, those sorta places. Then there's the other end of the spectrum, where a front business actually functions as a business and actually sells drek you'd wanna buy sober. The Second Empire is one of those places. The place has had its fair share of changes over the decades, including being outright dug up and transported whole to sit on the upper layer of Raleigh's Downtown Elevated Plaza. The most important change its had however, is when it became the meeting-place for the gentleman's club turned criminal syndicate we know and tolerate as The Black Unicorn Society, becoming one of Raleigh's premier hangouts for rich people who think they ought to run the world.Not to be confused with the Fearrington House, where its exclusivity is now targetted towards people who do run the world.I'll be honest with you chummer, the only reason I'm writing this up is 'cause I've been there on multiple occasions without even knowing it was a mob hangout. Last time, I got pulled into a backroom and questioned at gunpoint 'cause they thought I was casing the joint for a hit, almost went along with it 'cause I didn't want to let up that I just there for the Repsi-Cola pork belly.
Purpose / Function
The Second Empire exists for three reasons: Spending lots of money on fancy food, getting drunk but without feeling guilty because you're getting shitfaced on 'fine spirits' and not box-wine, and hosting meetings for North Carolina's upper-crust.
Alterations
The Second Empire's had plenty of alterations since it was built, mainly in turning it from a stately home into an eatery. First-floor rooms have been opened up, an elevator's been installed, and several new rooms - including the tavern part and a huge glass atrium - have been added on until it can accomodate up to around 250 people, along with plenty of renovations over the years to keep everything nice and up to code.
Architecture
The place gets its name from the so-called 'Second Empire Victorian' style of architecture, a kind of ornate take on roman aesthetic that was real popular in the old Napoleon days, and the building's an appropriately prime example of the style. Huge ceilings, deep bay windows, marble arches, that sort of stuff. Inside, things are still very old-school with heart pine flooring and masonary walls, but over the years more neoclassical and modern elements have been incorporated into renovations and replacement furniture.
History
The place was originally built as a home in 1879 for a mayor called Bill Dodd, I think, followed by getting bought out by the Hinsdale family and remained their turf until the last Hinsdale kid died in 1971. After that, it changed hands a handful of times but nobody really settled in for a long while until 1993, where a dude called Ted Reynolds bought the house, which at this point was starting to fall apart a little, and he got the bright idea of turning the place into a restaurant, I guess figuring that the profits made in selling food to rich folk will do better at keeping the place maintained than if it were still a home.
Under Reynolds' ownership, the place was a pretty huge success, snagging a DiRoNA (Distinguished Restaurants of North America) award and turning the house into one of NC's biggest historical landmarks. This success kept on truckin' into the mid/late twenties, where it was purchased by a local politician and food-mogul called Charles Laroche, and renovated further into being a gentleman's club for Raleigh's rich geezers, particular the Black Unicorn Society, a collection of Raleigh's more 'self-made' millionaires who wanted the air of exclusivity that could only come with a 'secret' society.
The Second Empire had a few financial fuck-ups over the next few years, in part owing to the changing nature of Raleigh's corporate zeitgeist but also in part to an incident in late 2038 when a waitress goblinized into a troll next to a table the current mayor was eating at and blinded him with an erupting horn, which was kind of awkward for everyone involved.
The girl who goblinized, Leslie Knote, ended up going on to found one of the CAS' better metahuman-support groups, and her picture's now outside the mayor's office, just a fun fact for those of you who aren't confused about what the hell Zeitgeist means.Things shook up a little further in 2046 where, a gal from Saeder-Krupp called Mariya Duran made an offer to buy the restaurant for a fraction of what Laroche paid for it. Laroche turned down her offer, despite the Second Empire already circling the drain a little, and Duran responded by going nuclear in tearing down the finances of Laroche and his friends in the Black Unicorn until he finally submitted and took Duran's even worse offer in '49, before topping himself in his apartment. Duran wasn't able to enjoy her new property long though, since in making Laroche and his friends broke she kind of made one of them snap and decapitate her, along with reclaiming the Second Empire for the Black Unicorn again. Said decapitating dude was Ridley Gibbons who in one night went from a goodie two-shoes to a mob-boss and turned the Black Unicorn society into his own little rich-guy mafia, which in turn made the Second Empire into probably the ritziest front in the CAS. Over the following years, he put a bunch of his new ill-gotten loot into renovating his establishment until it was once again the fanciest restaurant in Raleigh, topping it all off in the early seventies by relocating it to a better location. That's right, they dug the whole building out and moved it whole to place it on the upper level of Raleigh's then-new Downtown Elevated Plaza, because frag modesty, am I right? Since then, the Second Empire's been sitting cushy on its throne as the place to be for Raleigh's upper-crusty socialite types, along with any criminal or mob-boss who wanted an audience with Mr. Gibbons. And the food's still great, thank god...
Type
Pub / Tavern / Restaurant
Parent Location
Owner
Owning Organization
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