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. 1

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.

Tarantula Mating Season Is Here

Other recent news: Preliminary rendering of the San Ysidro roundabout; how hemp cultivation could affect the area; co-working company changes its name; paddleboarding with sharks.

You’re Cordially Invited to a 1980s Party Palace

Open houses this weekend: A midcentury home that looks like a Palm Springs motel (in the best way); two 18th-century barns brought over from England and conjoined into one house; a single-level Mesa retreat; and many more.

Why Isn’t the Rosewood Miramar’s Ice Cream Shop Open to the Public?

More food news and notes: Sama Sama Kitchen's offshoot in Los Alamos has soft-opened; the first-ever Taste of the Santa Ynez Valley is coming up; Bree'osh celebrates its fourth anniversary with a look back; new restaurant at Cachuma Lake.