The Red Pheasant began in 1977 with a vision by Bill Atwood Sr., a restaurateur who purchased the 200-year-old barn on historic Route 6A in Dennis that had housed The County Fair restaurant. Bill Sr., known to most people simply as “Chef,” saw that the old barn could be transformed to an elegant venue. Setting off the building’s exposed beams and wide wood floors with linens and candlelight, he launched the Red Pheasant Inn with a menu of French cuisine.