RR Car Barn Sees Face Lift

A local partnership has so far invested $7 million in the conversion of a historic train barn into a mixed used development featuring office, retail and lodging accommodations.

The 31-room Sebastopol Inn, one of two inns in this small community near the Russian River, opened a year ago, and two old railroad cars were transformed into retail and office space several months ago. Work on the barn itself is nearly complete.

Called Gravenstein Station, the project sits on and along tracks taken from a spike line of the Santa Rosa-Petaluma Railway. The development partnership consists of managing director Sean Taylor, his father Garry Taylor, local real estate broker Mark Stevens and Keith and Trilby Aull. The architect, Bob Anderson, has his offices in one of the train cars.

Tenants of the converted barn include Coffee Catz, C&W Ford, vintage clothier Look, The Flower Shop; Global Vision Travel, home and garden shop Habitat and LEAP Now, an educational resource center for area youth. New Dawn Day Spa is scheduled to open in late August.