Supercool Midcentury in the Heart of Montecito

Noteworthy new listings….

With its dramatic roofline, covered walkway leading to the entrance, flat-roofed garage, and walls of glass in every direction, the 1951 Lutah Maria Riggs house at 650 San Ysidro Road ($17.975 million) is sex on a stick. The catch? It has just one bedroom. Elsewhere on the 2.7-acre lot, in an A+ location above the Upper Village, is a little office and a one-bedroom guest house with far less flair than the main house. A creek* drainage ravine runs through the property, which limits might conceivably affect how you could build something with more bedrooms, but I suspect this is destined to be an architectural trophy rather than a primary home. And if I hear about plans to tear it down, I’ll be there with a mob wielding pitchforks. (*My mistake.)

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Montecito one-bedrooms are rare, and yet here’s a second one: 741 Hot Springs Road ($5.7 million), built in 2011 on a shared private lane. It feels solid, if a tad dim thanks to all that greenery. The house sits at the southern edge of the one-acre lot, with the lane right in front of it and a fair amount of open space in back.

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What a treat to get to explore 530 Plaza Rubio ($7.5 million), the 1931 George Washington Smith house at the end of the street. It has one of the best entrances in town, via a carved-wood gate and courtyard. Updates throughout are in order, but there’s a lot to work with (including marvelous bathroom tile). The backyard looks better than it sounds; the stone wall and egg-shaped pool are lovely, but Alameda Padre Serra looms above. If you want to be outside, you can always just walk over to the Mission Historical Park.

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On the bluff’s edge directly east of the Thousand Steps is 1429 Shoreline Drive ($6 million), a 1971 two-bedroom in the shape of a hexadecagon (16 sides), the wedged-shaped rooms radiating around the center. It’s hard to imagine it surviving in its current form, particularly when you get a glimpse of the conceptual remodel that Donaldson + Partners has come up with. P.S. Popcorn ceilings!

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1435 Estrella Drive ($12.95 million) has been improved—the standing-seam metal roof, the landscaping, and some of the finishes—since it sold in September 2023 for $7.45 million. Let’s go out on a limb and assume that the current owner also got rid of the two urinals.

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In the upper part of the Hedgerow that was subdivided in the 1970s, 325 Malaga Drive ($6.25 million) is standard California architecture of the time, glossed up with early 21st-century surfaces and a couple of quirky touches (see-through fireplace, bookshelf door). While the one-acre lot is on a shared private lane, the creek buffer to the west makes the backyard feel very private.

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The 1967 six-bedroom at 4490 Via Alegre ($7.495 million), on 1.94 acres in Hope Ranch, wants to be redone, and the large guest house, more recently updated, shows how contemporary style might feel if applied throughout. The living room, with its large arched windows and protruding fireplace, is striking, and the family room is huge. One of the bathrooms has a combined WC-shower area, which is… efficient?

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Great bones abound at 435 E. Pedregosa Street ($3.795 million), an 1898 five-bedroom on the Lower Riviera. It’s due for an update, particularly the original carriage house/barn. The floor plan is on the listing agents’ website; note how you can do laps around the second floor of the main house.

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The owner of 2641 Dorking Place ($3.875 million), built in 2011, went all in on tile after buying the Mission Canyon four-bedroom in 2018. The floors are fantastic. The upstairs kitchen and main living room will turn some folks off, and the private lane is unpaved (or in such bad shape that it might as well be). On the other hand, Calgon, take me away!

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Neighbors in the Marine Terrace part of the Mesa surely think of 1274 San Miguel Avenue ($2.995 million) as the one with the funky converted garage. While the house proper is nothing special—the three bedrooms share one bath—the ADU is design with a capital D. Is it weird that your tenants, assuming it gets rented out, have cooler digs than you do?

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And a few others worth checking out:
••• 425 Calle Lippizana ($6.295 million): Renovated four-bedroom on 10.24 acres in El Capitan Ranch, a gated community three exits past Costco. The primary bath has a body-dryer by the shower (below).
••• 17 Camino Verde ($3.895 million): 2010 three-bedroom on the back of the Riviera. Note to self: ask ChatGPT for new ways to say “needs an update.”
••• 3204 Calle Pinon ($2.295 million): 1926 Craftsman in San Roque with permits “to expand the home by 1,012 square feet and add a new 440-square-foot garage—bringing the future layout to four bedrooms and three and a half baths.”

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