Lake House, a new lake-inspired restaurant from partners Eric Rushing and Thomas Holzmann, is coming to 363 Green Valley Road in El Dorado Hills, the same address that housed The Purple Place Bar and Grill, the community’s original roadhouse, for nearly seven decades before it closed in August 2022. Holzmann confirmed to What Now Sacramento that the duo is targeting an opening before the end of 2026, with no hard date set yet. The menu will center on new American comfort food with a strong focus on brunch and breakfast.
“I know that a lot of people miss having a restaurant in that area, and we do too,” Holzmann said. “Eric and I are both residents of El Dorado Hills, and we’re very excited to bring something new to the community.”
The menu is still being shaped in collaboration with well-known local chefs, but the direction is clear: new American comfort food with a lake-inspired atmosphere, indoor and possibly outdoor seating, and a brunch and breakfast program that Holzmann says will be a centerpiece of the experience.
The building has sat vacant for three years since The Purple Place’s lease negotiations with the property owner, Amy Anders, broke down, a public and painful chapter for a community that had rallied around the restaurant for generations. Founded in 1955 as El Dorado Hills’ original roadhouse, The Purple Place was a family-friendly sports bar known for live music, scratch-made sauces, and all-day breakfast. When it closed, it didn’t just leave a vacant building on Green Valley Road. It left a hole.
Rushing knows exactly how deep that hole is. A 15-year El Dorado Hills resident who has spent nearly three decades building some of Sacramento’s most successful venues, such as Goldfield Trading Post, Ace of Spades, Holy Diver, and The Cabin, he’s building something in his own neighborhood for the first time.
