Land trust purchases historic Dungeness farm

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, June 3, 2026

SEQUIM — A more than 100-year-old Clallam County farm will continue operating after it was purchased by the North Olympic Land Trust.

The land trust purchased the 135-acre Big Red Barn Farm at the end of 2025 after the Hunt (nee Dick) family sought a full-market-value sale to prevent the 112-year-old farm from being converted into a 27-lot residential development, according to a news release.

“This is a rare opportunity to protect a farm of this scale and history,” Land Trust board president Julie Knobel stated in the release. “I’m delighted the Land Trust can honor the current and previous farmers who established this productive farm while giving our community a chance to ensure this farm continues to serve the region for generations to come.”

The sale had to go through by the end of 2025, so the Land Trust used a financing package, including a Washington State Farm PAI loan, seller financing and previous community contributions to purchase the property for $6.25 million.

In 1886, James B. Dick immigrated to the Olympic Peninsula from Scotland and established a small farm, known as the Smalley Farm, in Dungeness, according to the release.

“In 1904, his son, William Dick, purchased 280 acres of farmland at what is now the corner of Kitchen-Dick Road and Old Olympic Highway,” the release states. “Shortly after purchasing the farm, William began constructing a massive barn, clearing stumps in the southern portion of the property, establishing a family homestead.”

The Dick Farm was one of the original homesteads in the area and had the largest barn, Sequim Museum Executive Director Judy Reandeau Stipe said in the release.

“This iconic building anchored the northeast corner of Dick Road and Old Olympic Highway,” she said. “The dairy farm had a herd of over 100 cows for milk production, chickens and pigs and beef for family use.”

The land trust is now looking into agricultural conservation easements to permanently protect the property as farmland, according to the release. Agricultural conservation easements are legal agreements that restrict the land to agricultural use.

“If successful, the farm’s long-term operator — who has worked the land for four decades — will continue farming,” the release states. “Upon his retirement, the Land Trust plans to resell the property, potentially as up to three smaller farms, at an agricultural value to farmers based on viable farm plans rather than to the highest bidder.”

After the conservation easements are sold, the land trust will use the proceeds to make the scheduled payments to the previous owner.

The Clallam County Conservation Futures Program Advisory Board met April 8 to review applications for funding and recommended that the Clallam County commissioners approve $1.4 million to acquire a conservation easement on the Big Red Barn Farm. The commissioners approved a resolution to authorize the expenditure during their April 21 meeting.

“Protecting this land isn’t just about preserving acreage — it’s about giving farmers the long-term land access they need to succeed,” Land Trust Executive Director Tom Sanford stated in the release. “By keeping this farm available and affordable for agricultural use, we’re investing in the next generation of farmers and strengthening the future of local agriculture.”

The land trust’s board worked carefully to ensure the organization could respond swiftly to the opportunity to buy the Big Red Barn Farm without compromising the long-standing commitments that define the land trust’s work, Sanford said.

“While Buy, Protect, Sell requires some risk, it’s one of the most powerful tools we have,” he said. “It allows the Land Trust to act quickly when critical properties come up for sale and create outcomes where the land, the farmers and the community all benefit.”

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Reporter Emily Hanson can be reached by email at emily.hanson@peninsuladailynews.com.