Gilbert’s Agritopia community has a new retail component. Barnone, housed in a remodeled 1950s Quonset hut that formerly served as a barn for the farm, has been sectioned to spaces for local craftsmen and restaurateurs, and opened to the public last November. In keeping with the spirit with which the Johnston family founded Agritopia to preserve the agricultural and village life within the growing urbanization surrounding their land, Joe Johnston invited only true craftsmen to participate in Barnone.
Shops include florist Everybody Loves Flowers, printing company Prickly Pear Paper — which displays in its front window the letterpress that owners Mark Johnston and Lauren Elliott use to make their handmade paper products — and Letter Craft, which offers laser-cut wood gifts and home décor. With a beauty salon and high-end gunsmith of custom firearms also in the mix, three restaurants onsite are a pizzeria, taproom for local craft beer brewery 12West Brewing, and The Uprooted Kitchen — which brings it all full circle. The Barnone location for The Uprooted Kitchen is the first standing location for the popular food truck operated by Erin and Chad Romanoff, and Chad notes much of the produce for their menu comes from the Agritopia fields.
