Oceanfront Hope Ranch, the Way It Used to Be

In lieu of a roundup of open houses—which haven’t started up again yet—here are some noteworthy properties that have just come on the market.

The 2.42-acre oceanfront property at 4343 Marina Drive ($7.95 million) in Hope Ranch is being positioned as a development opportunity, and no doubt someone will build a big mansion there. But I love the three-bedroom, 2,000-square foot house just the way it is.

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Great views, needs updating: 1130 E. Mountain Drive ($8.75 million).

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1235 E. Mountain Drive ($6.4 million), a 1968 neoclassical, needs a glamour injection, stat. The rest of the house is simply not living up to the high standard set by the oval pool, high-gloss office, and temple tub.

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Cute alert: 1177 Summit Road ($3.25 million), in the Coast Village neighborhood of Montecito, feels older-in-a-good-way than its 20 years.

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Terrific bones at 1816 Santa Barbara Street ($2.495 million), 1929 Monterey Colonial.

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Another nice Upper East house, 527 E. Micheltorena Street ($2.599 million) is a 1908 Craftsman redone with contemporary style. I can’t shake the suspicion that the price is a tad high, given whatever is going on in the photo directly above. Or maybe a “before” shot slipped in?

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1524 East Valley Road ($2.385 million) and 1526 East Valley Road ($1.685 million) were “designed by prominent architect Thornton Abell for two sisters who wanted to live next door to one another in Montecito’s hottest location”—a.k.a. right at the busy Upper Village intersection. The relationship might have been complex: one sister got a two-bedroom house, and the other got the “adjacent townhome.”

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1530 Shoreline Drive ($2.45 million) in the Mesa went pending almost immediately, despite the finishes.

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If you like exploring More Mesa—or visiting the nude beach—check out 1097 Mockingbird Lane ($3.15 million), a 2005 Cape Cod right up against the border.

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