A dairy barn built in 1924 on the Gambonini family's 540-acre Petaluma ranch has been transformed into a special event venue, and the project has now picked up an Excellence in Construction award for its builders. The barn sits on the family's working ranch near Lakeville, land the Gamboninis have worked since they purchased it in 1913.
The honor, detailed in the Press Democrat, recognizes a project that aimed to preserve and repurpose the historic agricultural structure while giving the ranch a new way to generate income. Frank and Stacey Gambonini are listed as the project's developers and owners, with Evenich Construction serving as builder, Rick J. Brereton as architect, Greg Shooter Company as landscape architect, Adobe & Associates, Inc. as civil engineer, and MKM & Associates Structural Engineering handling the structural work, according to the same report.
From Working Dairy to Wedding Destination
The barn's roots run deep into the ranch's agricultural past. It was reconstructed in 1924 after fire destroyed the original structure around 1921, using salvaged lumber from the old Cotati Speedway, per the Press Democrat's account, and a smaller addition followed in 1939. For generations, the barn served the ranch's agricultural operations before sitting largely unused once the Gambonini family discontinued its dairy milking operation in 2019.
That shutdown came after what Frank Gambonini described as years of watching California's dairy industry decline. “At the end of 2019, after four years of watching the decline of the dairy industry in California, Frank made the hard decision to stop the milking operation,” according to a Q&A published by Petaluma Gap. The ranch at its peak carried 600 cows, the same Q&A notes.
It was Stacey Gambonini who envisioned turning the barn into a special event venue, the Press Democrat reports, setting the family on a path toward agritourism as a way to diversify the ranch's income while preserving its agricultural heritage. The family has described the shift in its own words too: Petaluma Gap quotes them saying, “in 2019 they decided to sell the dairy cows and chart a new course, starting with agricultural tourism.”
Keeping the Bones of the Barn Intact
Converting a century-old barn into an event space meant extensive structural work. The barn was extensively reinforced and structurally retrofitted, and expanded to accommodate its new use while retaining its historic character and original materials, per the Press Democrat's reporting.
Several pieces of the barn's working past remain visible inside. The original barn roof now serves as the interior ceiling, and the space includes two original cattle feeders along with a preserved section of the overhead feed trolley system, the Press Democrat notes. The ranch's own website echoes that blend of old and new, stating that “this thoughtfully restored barn has been transformed into a one-of-a-kind event space” built “to host weddings, gatherings, and celebrations,” according to the Gambonini Family Ranch.
The ranch, located at 7325 Old Lakeville No. 3 Road in Petaluma, says its latest renovations are now complete and that “our books are open for 2026 and 2027,” per the same ranch website. Permit records tied to the property also point to further plans: a California CEQA notice identifies a proposed use permit for a 300-square-foot farm-product tasting room within the existing multi-use barn, with public access limited to up to 20 visitors per day by appointment Thursday through Sunday, though those permit details come from snippet-level filings that warrant independent verification.
Part of a Broader Shift Along the Petaluma Gap
The Gambonini family's pivot reflects a wider trend among Sonoma County ranches looking beyond traditional dairy and cattle operations. Farm tours, festivals, value-added products, cooking classes and barn dinners are all common agritourism features in the region, according to the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources Agriculture Ombudsperson.
Other ranches in the area are navigating similar pressures. As coastal California ranches face economic pressure, Stemple Creek Ranch has been building a central hub in Petaluma to propel its wholesale, direct-to-consumer and agritourism ventures, the Press Democrat reported earlier this year. For the Gamboninis, the restored barn stands as their own answer to that same economic squeeze, turning a structure once filled with hay and cattle into a venue built for celebrations.
