Blog

Let’s Start a New Kind of Restaurant Award

More food news: The area has another empanada specialist; Kyle’s Kitchen takes over the last Silvergreens; fancy dates are in season; update on Telegraph Brewing Company from a former employee; Helena Avenue Bakery bakes pies; vineyards for sale; Peasants Feast review; Solvang tiki bar is an homage to Disneyland.

A New Home Store Is Opening in Montecito’s Upper Village

Plus: What’s up with the cool Glass Pavilion house abandoned after the debris flow?; update on the residential conversion of a water tank; State Street Promenade Market to start up in early November; the city’s network of “community paseos.”

Midcentury Showpiece Ready for Its Next Act

The week’s other noteworthy new listings include cool California vibes in Toro Canyon, a turnkey cottage on the Mesa, a sweet little house on Eucalyptus Hill, and a couple historical curiosities.

One of the Most Magnificent Estates in Montecito

At over 18,000 square feet, Sotto Il Monte is as grand as Montecito gets. It’s on the market for the first time in 20 years, offering us mere mortals a rare chance to see inside.

Westside Park to Close for Three-Month Renovation

Plus: Fashionable pop-ups at the Montecito Country Mart; Rancho San Carlos’s astonishingly low property tax; Mollusk surfboard swap; county sheriff officer goes viral; film recommendations from the SBIFF.

This Midcentury Montecito Masterpiece Is Available for the First Time in 50 Years

Designed by renowned architect Lutah Maria Riggs, the 1958 Erdman House is on four knoll-top acres in prime Montecito—and Riggs’s use of shakkei, as the Japanese call “borrowed scenery,” is evident in almost every room.

Partying in Isla Vista Continues Unabated

Other recent news: Santa Barbara school district mulls return to in-person classes; downtown developer says he’ll pull the plug on a project (sparing the Press Room); design changes possible for State Street Promenade; rumored buyer of 237-acre Rancho San Carlos; people are shooting wildlife with pellet guns; Cottage Health is allowing limited hospital visitors again; Eco Friendly Cleaners profile; a big tree on Anapamu fell over; the tree of the month; school-board candidate Jackie Reid.

Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi Want $39.9 Million for Their Montecito Compound

They enlarged the property by an acre and replaced the rustic Balinese theme with something much cooler and more contemporary.