![]() Pender owned the property until 2001, when it was purchased by Michael Clark, who renamed it Dawn Ranch. In 1978, Peter Pender purchased the site, renaming it Fife’s Place and announcing his intention to create a “Fire Island West,” introducing a “Gay Renaissance” to Guerneville. Knowing the turn of the 20th century San Francisco “elite” enjoyed vacationing in the area, she built a lodge to serve as a dining hall and placed tent cabins amidst the orchards. In 1905, Theodosia Button Murphy purchased the 15-acre heirloom apple orchard on which Dawn Ranch is located, alongside the Russian River, for the price of eight gold coins. ![]() Upon my late afternoon arrival I settle in at Dawn Ranch Lodge on Guerneville’s main drag, Highway 116. More recently, an influx of culinary innovators has added a host of edible attractions to Guerneville’s treasures. Guerneville has a history of attracting LGBTQ, bohemian and forward-thinking vacationers from San Francisco and around the globe, most seeking rest and relaxation and some, perhaps, the freedom to be a bit more of who they really are. Guerneville, with its storied past and contemporary exuberance, is a vacation mecca that, in the right moment, may transfix a traveler into permanent residency. Passing over a small bridge that spans the Russian River I enter a magical hamlet, unlike any other place I’ve known. Above me tower the majestic redwood trees of Sonoma County. ![]()
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