••• In what could be taken as a screw-you move, 1-800-Flowers founder Carl Westcott has held four days of estate sales at 1569 East Valley Road, the property he recently lost to Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom in a legal fight. Perry and Bloom, known to savor their privacy, can’t love the idea that hundreds of people have milled through the house, taking photos despite the signs prohibiting it. N.B. The one above is from the sale organizer’s website.
••• Stabiles is moving from 527 State Street (Haley/Cota), but it’s being coy about where. The shop’s last day is Saturday.
••• And in other State Street news…. Find Your Feet rebranded as Sock Harbor at some point; another clothing shop has opened at 923 State Street (Canon Perdido/Carrillo); and Stratinc, a.k.a. Strategic Incentives (“a leading provider of promotional marketing, incentives and recognition solutions”), is now at 630 State Street (Cota/Ortega).
••• While driving north on the 101 above Ventura, I noticed an Adopt-a-Highway sign sponsored by Latte Larry’s. Apparently it’s a Curb Your Enthusiasm promotion. (“All throughout Season 10, Larry’s been building a strip-mall coffee shop called Latte Larry’s as a ‘spite store’ specifically intended to befuddle Mocha Joe, the owner of a neighboring coffee shop named Mocha Joe’s, after he banned Larry for expressing concerns about the wobbly tables, muffin-like scones and lukewarm coffee at Mocha Joe’s” —Thrillist.) UPDATE: Apparently Larry David’s “wife Ashley posted on Instagram she did it for his birthday last year,” says Sam.
••• Today’s 22 agenda of the Architectural Board of Review includes two projects on Garden Street—both have been in the permitting process for a while, but they warrant another look. First is 425 Garden, on the same block as Smart & Final. It’s the “four-story 36-unit residential complex with […] two moderate-income rental units, four very low-income rental units, and thirty market-rate rental units.” And no parking. Maybe the drawing is to fault, but it looks pretty bland.
••• And a half block north, at the corner of Haley, is 501 Garden: “four-story mixed-use building, including seven rental apartment units […] and 553 square feet of commercial retail space. […] The project includes six vehicle parking spaces.” The design is definitely better, but these two four-story buildings are sure to change the character of a part of the street where we all spend time in traffic.
••• Related: The 410 State Street project gives a sense of what taller buildings will do to downtown.
••• I finally made it to the Goleta Butterfly Grove, and it didn’t disappoint. (Those are clumps of butterflies hanging from the eucalyptus trees.) The monarchs expected through mid-February, and if you go, bear in mind that the trail is probably muddy after a rain. And keep an eye open for the terrific Barnsdall-Rio Grande gas station building on Hollister Avenue.
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The Latte Larry’s sign has been there for a while now. It felt like it appeared not long after he bought a home in – well after that season had aired. Seemed more like a cute wink to fans while presumably he genuinely adopted a section of highway to keep clean, than a promotion for the show.
Not sure about it being an actual promotion for the show as his wife Ashley posted on Instagram she did it for his birthday last year.
That said I’d like to see a latte Larry’s pop-up in town given all the other coffee shops we have.
Thanks for the notice about the ABR meeting, I’m watching right now on the city of SB YouTube channel. Does everyone know that almost all of the city boards and commissions are live on YT?
Dan, forgive my ignorance but what is YT?
You Tube
I thought your post re: Carl Wescotts’s “screw you move” was pretty mean. Katy was not the bad guy in all this. People love to bash celebrities when they don’t deserve it. It’ll be a bad move for the neighbor hood when she doesn’t move in & turns it into an Airbnb. Thanks Carl