Another New Contemporary on Olive Mill Road

Noteworthy new listings….

285 Olive Mill Road ($11.695 million) and last week’s 204 Olive Mill Road ($11.75 million) are ripe for comparison, for they have much in common: conveniently situated between Montecito’s Upper and Lower Villages, newly constructed on lots affected by the debris flow, contemporary in style, and similar in size (5,500 and 5,000 square feet, respectively). Where 285 Olive Mill rises above is inside; the finishes suit the architecture well and feel like the kind of luxe that people want now. Its challenge is the location: while 204 Olive Mill sits at the end of a private lane, well off the road, 285 Olive Mill is at the corner of Olive Mill and Hot Springs, an intersection reliably busy from three directions, with a front-yard pool.

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The hot potato at 568 Toro Canyon Road ($14.75 million) has sold five times since 2015, most recently in 2022 for $11.35 million. The listing doesn’t mention any improvements, so what I wrote before would seem to stand: “The 1917 house [has] the same pluses and minuses: a gorgeous sunroom, marvelous land (8.2 acres), and the best barn around, but also a tight kitchen, a primary bedroom right off the front door, and depressing asphalt shingles.” Actually, the size of the lot appears to have grown, as it’s now listed at a hair over 10 acres, so it must be including the 1.5-ish parcel to the southeast. If so, that means two neighbors have driveway easements across different parts of the property.

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There’s 1950s ranch-house charm at 150 Olive Mill Lane ($4.695 million), which has three en-suite bedrooms and appealing volume in many rooms. The location along Olive Mill Road, however, casts a different kind of spell.

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The location of 2707 Glendessary Lane ($3.95 million), on a prime private lane, will be enough to draw substantial interest. The property also sweet bones in the 1925 house, and the property comprises two lots, the one to the west currently devoted to driveway and gardens. But the floor plan is tricky. The likely primary has a door off the foyer, with its bathroom on the other side of a small den; another primary contender is upstairs, but the stairs are narrow and the bathroom is small. And one of the guest rooms is accessed via the laundry room. Still, it’s all pretty lovable.

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On the street extending off Eucalyptus Hill’s Cima Lane loop, 525 Owen Road ($3.7 million) is a 1963 fixer with big views. It’s safe to say the layout wants to be rethought.

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A 1971 three-bedroom, two-bath fixer at the north end of the street, 1303 Las Alturas Road ($3 million) does not make the best use of its acre of land, but I suspect you could work with the footprint—rearrange the floor plan and go to town on the outdoor space—to create something very cool. Those bedroom draperies illustrate why weirdly shaped windows are best avoided.

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I haven’t seen 1701 S. Thornburg Street in person, and I don’t know much about Santa Maria or mobile homes, but the price seems ambitious.

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And a few others worth checking out:
••• 1136 Hill Road ($4.2 million): 1951 two-bedroom spiffer-upper walkable to Butterfly Beach but abutting the railroad tracks.
••• 1021 Las Alturas Road ($3.995 million): Attractive Spanish Colonial “originally designed by renowned architect Reginald Johnson and meticulously rebuilt in 1978”; bring your geologist.
••• 1428 Manitou Road ($3.1 million): Floops-ish three-bedroom, two-bath in Bel Air Knolls; the seller paid $2.882 million in April 2024.
••• 1357 Rialto Lane ($2.799 million): Four-bedroom spiffer-upper on a Bel Air Knolls cul-de-sac.
••• 4504 Atascadero Drive ($2.695 million): 1961 four-bedroom with rather a lot of dramatic stonework—old and new—on a corner lot in Hope Ranch Annex (below).
••• 1628 Chapala Street ($2.5 million): 1926 three-bedroom with ADU and greenhouse between Valerio and Arrellaga.

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