50 FLOURISH • SPRING 2014
Taking two years to build, with a bud-
get of more than $23 million and open
just since November 1, The Barlow (its
design was deeply influenced by pio-
neers in the sustainable food-gathering-
place movement, such as Tomales Bay
Foods/Cowgirl Creamery in Point Reyes
Station and Napa's Oxbow Market) al-
ready has 98-percent occupancy: 34
businesses, mostly wine tasting rooms,
breweries or restaurants, filling 18 build-
ings over 12-1/2 acres that cover four city
blocks.
By 2015 says Aldridge, The Barlow
will be home to the boutique Solage Ho-
tel, with 58 guest rooms, pool, spa and
café.
The Barlow's clean, ultra-modern
lanes were carved out of what had been
a 100-year-old defunct railroad station,
dilapidated industrial area and apple
processing plant known as the Barlow.
Now, these new roads are lined with
big metal buildings that look like a cross
between a boy's high-tech erector set
fantasies and old-fashioned barns. The
structures are crafted of recycled wood,
galvanized metal, cement, stone and
acres of specially designed glass, treated
so the interiors would need a minimum
of heating and cooling.This streamlined,
light-filled architecture is like a painter's
canvas in which each individual, locally
owned business (no chains allowed) can
create any type of design, décor and
style.
As you stroll the blocks, each build-
ing has something else to charm you
with: a two-story high Tibetan painting
in the Tibetan Gallery and Studio run
by Tibetan monks; Circle of Hands, a
child's toy shop with a Waldorf School
sensibility and host of natural wooden
toys; Tamarind, a woman's clothing store
where cutting-edge separates by local
designers are displayed on blocks of
recycled wood; Sub Zero, an ice cream
stand where clouds of 300-degree-below-
zero liquid nitrogen—instant molecular
gastronomy —turns the fresh organic
cream and flavorings of your choice, into
velvety ice cream which you can savor
sitting around the outdoor fire pit sur-
rounded by a grassy courtyard.
These new roads are lined with big metal buildings
that look like a cross between a boy's high-tech
erector set fantasies and old-fashioned barns.
Spirit Works Distillery hand crafts artisan gin with organic California
wheat and fresh botanicals.
Zazu's Maple Glazed Donuts with Bacon Jimmies.
