Bringing its neon lights back to the community, the Farm House Motel, which used to be historic landmark number 140 in the city of Riverside, has been transformed into the Farm House Collective. On Saturday, March 29, 2025, a ribbon cutting ceremony took place, celebrating the opening of the new third space, featuring a historical plaque designation, a ceremonial sign lighting for their revitalized neon sign and individual ceremonies for each of the 15 collective businesses.
On opening day, Riverside residents gathered around the Farm House Collective in anticipation of its opening. To kick off the start of the ceremony, the mayor of Riverside, Patricia Lock Dawson shared with the crowd, “We are here to celebrate the grand opening of the Farm House Collective. We are also here to celebrate the great history of the Farm House Hotel. This project has been the true labor of love for the Bailey family, whose passion and dedication have brought new life to this historic space. We are deeply grateful for their commitment to revitalizing properties like this and preserving our history while creating something fresh and exciting.”
Philip Falcone, current Ward 1 Councilmember, also took a moment to speak, pulling from his experiences in the city council’s Cultural Heritage Board which oversees all historic locations throughout Riverside. It was during his time as chairman of the board that the Farm House Motel received its landmark designation of 140. The importance of that, he explains, is that “we care so deeply about our history and how to preserve that, but we also recognize that not every historic building can stay exactly as it is for all time, and so what we have is adaptive reuse. How do you take a historic building and turn it into something that still is usable but makes sense for the era in which it is in now, and that’s this site right here.”
Currently, the collective is home to a mix of food, beverage and retail kiosks, both permanent and pop-up, hosting both local businesses and vendors. It emphasizes not only a quality dining and shopping experience, but also a beautiful gathering space. With wide walkways, ample shading provided by trees, vine-covered trellises and copious seating areas, the Farm House Collective has created a space welcoming to friends and family all around. Tying it all together is an impressive stage and grassy seating area which in the future will host activities such as movie nights and live concerts for the community.
After the grand opening, the venue featured its first performance from the Allah-Lahs. This week, on April 4, they will host WAND and DJ Boogie Boudreaux. Here is a list of upcoming events at Farm House.
The new gathering space was a private adventure invested in directly by the Bailey family, with zero tax dollars going into its creation. Alyssa Digangi, part of the Bailey family business, shares the vision her family had for the gathering space: “We envision[ed] this beautiful place, so that everyone can just feel a community and collaboration with the city and come together and enjoy this place … Now, being here today to celebrate the hard work that we put through is just beautiful. So thank you so much. I’m so excited to think about all the memories and fun times the community will be able to experience here.”
Contributors to the Farm House Collective project lined up for the ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the grand opening of the venue.
Members of the community gather in the audience space before the stage to listen to the opening statements.
Reflecting on what spurred their idea for the Farm House Collective, queen of the Farm House Beverly Bailey recollects how she would take her family out for trips and they’d go around to find out “Who’s playing in town? What concert can we catch? Where’s the place to eat? Where’s guys dives? Where’s the places we can shop?”
Upon returning to Riverside, her children would ask her, “ Why can’t we have something that we just want to stay in town and shop and eat and do all those things.” She states, “that [eventually] started sparking thoughts in our family’s heads that we can bring something back to Riverside.”
People traversing the walkways exploring the various vendors the Farm House Collective has to offer.
“[In the past,] commercial roadside architecture like gas stations and restaurants and motels, they relied on big, monumental signs like this, with their whimsical shapes and their artful letter forms in a bright, colorful neon, to attract the attention of the motoring public and pull those patrons right in from the road,” comments Jennifer Mermilliod, architectural historian. “That is all to say that the farmhouse motel sign was once one of many, and it is now one of precious few. But Neon is making a comeback, one sign at a time.”
