Blog

Old Meets New at Lucca Antiques’s Massive Montecito Showroom

The Lucca philosophy is decidedly wabi-sabi, where imperfections and patina are embraced for their beauty, their uniqueness, and the history they represent.

The Monarch and Silver Bough Restaurants Have Closed

More food news and notes: The Bear and Star at the Fess Parker inn in Los Olivos has closed; Lab Social cocktail bar extended its Sunday hours; the revamped Cuyama Buckhorn motel now serves dinner; Pascucci will move in January.

A Passion Project Inspired by the Alhambra and a Ferrari

One wonders what Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara, whose portrait hangs inside, would make of the house, on the market for $29 million.

Why Do French-Inspired Houses Have a Hard Time Selling?

Also newly reduced: The stylish Cielito house of a “master flipper”; a Hope Ranch estate with dated interiors; and a San Roque spec house with the world’s largest dreamcatcher. Plus: This weekend’s schedule of open houses.

Mate Gallery Sale at Today’s Purge & Splurge Vintage Show

Plus: An update on the 101 work in Carpinteria; the Montecito Association mulls hiring private security; Hammonds Beach house finally sells; Milpas Street corridor survey.

Readers’ Poll Results Are as Depressing as You Might Expect

Other local news: Habitat Home & Garden has finally opened; Mission Street to be closed for five days; fire up near Gaviota; earthquake warning alerts now available; new sports complex for Santa Barbara City College; city to punish businesses for stolen shopping carts.

The Piccolo, a New Hotel in Paso Robles, Has Opened

Plus: House for sale boasts a guesthouse that was once a cottage at San Ysidro Ranch; Provençal-inspired house on East Valley Road sold fast; utility mosaic.

A Rare Peek Inside Downtown’s Most Adorable Enclave

Santa Barbara has more nooks and crannies than an English muffin, and none is more appealing than El Caserio, built in the 1930s as artists’ studios. This new listing’s style is everything you’d hope for from the compound—and it’s a three-minute walk to Handlebar.

Bacara Wants to Move Its Beach Bathrooms to a Chumash Burial Site

Other recent news: The candidates running for the city council’s District 2; Cliff Drive public input; governor signs bill assessing cost of winding down oil and gas infrastructure; Australian willow trees.

A Couple of Imminent Teardowns

Plus: Best-case scenario for the Montecito Creek Bridge is now mid-December; scorpions; another empty retail space at the Montecito Country Mart; kite roosts in More Mesa.