The Ranch
A working ranch.
A place to gather.
Welcome to our family-run wedding venue on a working cattle and horse ranch in the Swauk Creek Valley near Cle Elum.
Photo: Memory Montage Photography
A conversation with Nancy
Come walk the spaces with Nancy, your contact for tours and rentals. Bring your date ideas and guest count, and we’ll talk through your celebration together.
A setting with country character
The History of The Cattle Barn
The Cattle Barn stands on George D. Virden's homestead in the Swauk Valley near Cle Elum, Washington. The Virdens came to Kittitas County in 1876, and in 1878 they built the Ranch House and moved onto this farm, five years after the Swauk gold strike. George Virden received his homestead patent in 1896. The Burke family moved onto "the Virden Ranch in the Swauk" in 1943 and ranched until 2005, growing it to more than nine hundred acres, including the Dunford Barn, listed on the Washington Heritage Barn Register. Pat Deneen’s family owned the ranch from 2005 to 2025. The barn dates to the early 1900s, and since 2016 Nancy has hosted weddings in it.
Today, the ranch is best known as The Cattle Barn, the wedding venue near Cle Elum. The restored working-ranch barn offers a dance floor and patios, and the Ranch House adds more room to gather. Together they give family and friends space to celebrate weddings and special occasions in spring, summer and fall. Weddings and events run April 1 through November 1. Tours are available by appointment year-round.
Keep exploring
An experience at The Cattle Barn
“it was an amazing venue.”
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