O.Z., Durham

In the 19th century, Sage on the Waterfall, as it's popularly known, was first a grist and saw mill and brush factory.

The restaurant overlooks the Pattaconk Brook, which had a more practical use then than providing a picturesque view. The brook helped power the factories.

In the early 1800s, Gideon Waterhouse operated a saw mill on the property. In 1834, he sold it to George Gladding, who made skate blades there. This was, of course, when blades were made of wood. The Gladding family, whose descendants still live in town, maintained a connection to the property until the 1960s.

In 1859, C.B. Rogers and Israel Champion bought the business and converted it into the Rogers and Champion Brush Works. Calvin Gladding ran the business. In 1927, Roger Gladding, a graduate of Clark University with a degree in engineering, took over the factory and renamed it Rogers Brush Works. The factory made wood-handled, spiral-bound brushes made of horsehair, the most common material at the time. The factory made shoe, suede and bottle brushes and brushes for gun barrels, household radiators and carpet sweepers.

The advent in the late 1950s of cheaper nylon bristle brushes led to the demise of the brush factory, and Gladding turned his energies to engineering and welding.

Gladding retired in the 1960s and sold the property to David Joslow, who restored the building and converted it into a restaurant. In 1969, Joslow sold the property to the Chart House chain, which maintained the building's historic elegance.

In February 2000, the Chart House sold the property to Dave McCoart and Curtis Johnson, two former employees. They changed the restaurant's name, but promise not to change its charm.