French Country Made Fresh in Montecito

Noteworthy new listings….

I bet that a lot of us who looked at 808 San Ysidro Lane ($18.5 million) back in 2018-2019, when the property languished on the market for nearly two years, loved the location and the size of the house (6,929 square feet) but were less enthusiastic about the stale French Country style inside and out. The folks who paid $5.597 million in August 2020 took the risk, did the work, and are now poised to reap quite the reward. The house was originally built in the 1920s but expanded in the 1990s, and the current renovation freshened up the property across the board: the sellers added a guest motor court off Las Tunas Road, expanded the pool terrace, made infrastructure upgrades, and updated nearly all the surfaces (but not some of the floors, alas). On one hand, $18.5 million is a heck of a lot of money; on the other hand, central Montecito properties don’t become available the way they used to, and renovating is guaranteed to be more expensive and time-consuming than you expect.

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While 968 Via Los Padres ($5.2 million) has the sprawl you’d hope for from a Park Highlands (a.k.a. Pill Hill) house, the five-bedroom floor plan would benefit from consolidation and the surfaces are straight out of 1991. (I’d love to know the reasoning for the double-height wall out front.) Putting another million into the property probably doesn’t make sense, so this is a better fit for someone who doesn’t mind the time warp. And anyway, the expansive pool area makes up for a lot.

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The seller of 21 Via Alicia ($5.4 million) paid $4 million a year ago and gave it a monochromatic makeover. (It’s available furnished, if you’re digging it.) The views are amazing, but the floor plan has lots of steps; the ocean-facing outdoor space is slim; and the renovation looks a bit value-engineered, particularly in the bathrooms and downstairs.

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Fascinating architectural choices got made at 434 Nicholas Lane ($4.75 million) back in 1963. It would be interesting to know what the original interiors looked like; a recent renovation instilled a contemporary look more widely seen in boxy contemporary architecture. The two-sided outdoor fireplace is certainly striking, and there’s an opportunity to do something with the part of the lot that abuts Barker Pass Road. P.S. I don’t want to know—or do I?—what goes on in the guest room with the tickle brushes on the wall….

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Another flip attempt is on hand at 1968 Inverness Lane ($4.995 million) in Birnam Wood. The seller paid $3.9 million in October 2021, got plans for a new house through permitting, and then had a change of heart. While the current house isn’t a keeper, the design for the new house, on view at the brokers’ open, is surprisingly 1970s in style. (You don’t see a lot of trapezoidal windows in new construction these days.) Bear in mind that much of the 1.6-acre lot is golf course.

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Turnkey houses on the Mesa have sold extra fast in recent years, and 1804 Lighthouse Way ($3.49 million) is unlikely to prove an exception. Built in 2018 on a five-house stub of street, it’s a four-bedroom, three-bath that’s walkable to Lazy Acres and the beach, albeit via Meigs Road/Shoreline Drive. The primary bathroom could really use a pocket door.

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Also worth checking out:
••• 231 Rametto Road ($2.95 million): Teardown on .59 acre on Eucalyptus Hill.
••• 431 E. Sola Street ($899,000): One-bedroom fixer.
••• 1824 Grand Avenue ($1.749 million): 1920 house built below street level (and configured as a duplex). UPDATE: That’s actually the view from the house, as Toasteroven pointed out.

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