The Biltmore Is Building a Lazy River Pool in Its Front Yard

••• Artist William Wegman is coming to town for a doubleheader this Sunday, November 19. At 11 a.m., he’ll be at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, to “speak about his pioneering work in painting, drawing, photography, and video, beginning with his start in California in the 1970s.” Then, from noon to 5 p.m., he’ll be at ARM Studio (8 E. De La Guerra) for “a special one-day exhibition […] to unveil several Santa Barbara–inspired paintings alongside his classic Weimaraner photography in a collaborative show with Mark Selwyn Fine Art.” Above, a detail from “Harbor House”; below, “The Cars of Santa Barbara.” Both incorporate vintage postcards.

••• After I posted about the construction in the Biltmore’s front yard, a reader weighed in with this: “They are building a family pool with a lazy river. The initial idea was to get the kid pool noise away from the spa, and now they are also trying to compete with the Miramar kid amenities is my guess.” Hoping it wasn’t true, I looked up the permit, and sure enough, it’s for “constructing an 8,052-square-foot leisure river concrete pool shell and concrete surge tank. Construct a beach pool concrete shell and concrete surge tank.” So maybe that’s two pools?

••• From the city: “Bike lanes and high-visibility crosswalks are coming to the State Street Promenade from Victoria to Haley Streets as part of a pilot project! Installation [began] Tuesday, November 14, along State Street from Victoria to Anapamu Streets (1200 block) and will be completed over the next three weeks, weather permitting. The 1200 block will be opened to northbound vehicular traffic to facilitate passenger drop-off at the Granada Theatre.” And that’s why The Daisy lost its parklet. UPDATE And here it is….

••• Funk Zone bar Studio has a new project, Cold Records: the “new Santa Barbara–based music and drinks company has released their first compilation COLD Summer //001. Five tracks combining both up and coming and established house music producers available to stream everywhere. Functioning like a record label in a can, COLD Records has two hard seltzers and a session lager rolling out to locations across town. Revenue from the drinks is used to release new tracks, deliver great content and execute unique events.”

••• “Do you know where to find local Santa Barbara T-shirts for guests?” asks M. “The airport has the best ones but you have to have a flight!” Any suggestions? UPDATE: There have been a couple of votes for Stearns Wharf, and I also remembered about the Bungalow West shop on State Street.

••• November 18 at the Community Arts Workshop: “the fourth iteration of what has already become an annually awaited artistic tradition: Ready to Hang. A pop-up show open to all local artists for creations 12-by-12 inches in size, Ready to Hang presents a unique opportunity to see new works by our entire community of artists in one show. […] Up to 450 pieces are anticipated this year [and] prices set by the artists span a wide range, from a few dollars to a few hundred dollars.”

••• Willie Nelson & Family play the Santa Barbara Bowl on April 25. His 1978 album of standards, Stardust, is a treat.

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Comment:

7 Comments

E

The pier has some decent options for T-shirt’s, the place under Deep Sea tasting room.

Seems Ty is bringing features from Las Ventanas to his Montecito properties. A speak easy at SYR and a lazy river at Biltmore. Both are better suited to Cabo than Montecito…

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AFC

I read the Great Beanie Baby Bubble this summer and he’s an unusual (nutty) character. It’s really sad and maddening that he has been able to essentially shut down the Biltmore for years. The human tragedy of all the people who lost their jobs plus the place is a historic landmark and sits empty because of the whims of some eccentric billionaire.

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ES Corchero

Biltmore… how your beautiful, quiet elegance has fallen. The thought of that jungle dining room + a lazy river out front (and even what they’re doing to the front landscaping right now)… are just tacky at best.

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J

What the Biltmore and Coral Casino had going for them was that they were the elegant and classic antidote to the Caruso commercial glitz. Ty really needs to reign it in :/

Also, were there any opportunities for public comment or a review by the coastal commission with respect to the lazy river?

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Christine!

https://www.adktdlifestyle.com/

This company is local and its products are made in DT SB- the owner’s name is Nathan. He is as nice as they come- he sells custom product around the 805 and in select areas beyond- and that includes several national parks! He incorporates the “senior lopez “ fabric in his designs- such great memories of bonfires, flojos & crashing waves.

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Celeste

When I read the words “lazy river” my heart sank and my eyes rolled backwards. What a terrible addition to a historic property. Not everyone needs nor wants child friendly features. Let that be for Miramar. Shame shame.

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