In 2014, someone bought the 1930 house at 848 Picacho in Montecito for $5.5 million, and then had Jon Sorrell of Sorrell Design thoroughly reinvent it. (He stayed close to the original footprint; photos of the house as it used to be are here.) The estate is now on the market for $15 million. Whether $9.5 million worth of work has been invested is an open question, but the property certainly has its charms.
·················
Bedrooms: Five.
Bathrooms: Seven and a half.
Size/Acreage: 7,270 square feet (according to the floor plan) / 2.19 acres.
Price: $15 million.
Last sold: for $5.5 million in 2014.
Listing agents: Dana Zertuche and Lori Bowles of Coldwell Banker.
·················
The house is organized a little quirkily, with the living room, loggia, and library one on side of the entry hall, and the kitchen/family room and dining room on the other. Judging from the interiors, which seem staged (throws draped everywhere are usually a sign), I’d wager that it’s a spec house, and that no one has lived in it.
Besides the blue awnings—which bring to mind the tinting at the top of a car windshield—the house has been given some antique villa embellishments that weren’t around during its previous incarnation.
Four of the five bedrooms are upstairs. (The only ground-level one is for the help.) Below, the master bedroom and one of the two master baths.
Below the entry level are a bunch of rooms: wine cellar, billiards room, game room, theater, gym, and changing room, with the last four in a railroad-style row. The only one shown in the listing photos is the wine cellar. A table in the wine cellar always cracks me up. Does anyone ever really sit there?
Some of the landscaping is still filling in, but the grounds are attractive, with a series of terraces flowing down the hillside.
It might be open tomorrow (Wednesday); keep an eye out for signs. And/or contact Dana Zertuche and Lori Bowles of Coldwell Banker for a showing—and be sure to tell them Siteline sent you.
·················
Also on the market in Montecito:
••• Rob Lowe’s extremely gracious estate
••• Drew Barrymore’s former house, now renovated and decorated to perfection
••• A grand 1929 mansion near Coast Village Road
Comment: