When Beatrix Isaac and Linda Kohlmeyer opened their little wine shop in downtown Leesburg on December 6, 2007, it was to celebrate Beatrix’s daughter’s birthday.

Because, according to legend, “if you’re going to open a wine shop you might as well do it for a reason that requires a toast.”

For nearly two decades Two Old Hags has served as Leesburg’s unofficial living room. Then, Joyce Huey, who eventually became sole owner, turned it into something the community genuinely depended on: a gathering place, a fundraiser hub and the kind of spot where you came for wine and stayed because someone you knew walked in five minutes later.

This year Joyce and her son Michael sold Two Old Hags to Ryan McCabe and Layna Sasser — two locals who didn’t have to look far to understand what they were taking on.

“We’re just a new chapter,” Ryan says. “Every ‘Hag’ along the way has added their own touch to it and we are slowly adding ours.”

Both were born just down the street at LRMC and grew up around the corner from each other before meeting at work years later.

“We are Lake County locals,” Layna says. “Our families are multiple generations locally and we’ve worked here or in The Villages most of our lives.”

Ryan’s dad once owned The Chopping Block sandwich shop in Leesburg and so they added the original stained-glass sign to the walls, now covered in vintage art and local treasures after a recent renovation of the bottle shop into a lounge.

“Everything on the walls has some kind of history,” Ryan says. “You can always tell when someone walks in for the first time because they just sort of look around in awe of the collective memories.”

Even though they have been coming to Two Old Hags for 15 years, their first priority was earning the trust of the regulars.

“We adopted a lot of people that we have been enjoying wine with,” Ryan says. “The first thing was just to make sure they still feel welcome.”

Two Old Hags is very dog friendly and Ms. Grits the resident dog agrees.

“We recently had all of our friends of many years all in this room at the same time and it was incredible,” Layna says.

It will be 20 years next year and the intention is to keep the heritage and create more memories.

“It’s just a different chapter of the same legacy,” Ryan says.

They are located at 410 W. Main St. in Leesburg. Visit twooldhagswine.com for more information.

Photos by Gina Horan