That’s the Spirit, by Design

It was quite a crowd when the glossy California Homes held its inaugural Distinguished Design and Spirit Awards at Villa Della Costa, a Gaviota Coast 106-acre aerie being sold by Montecito uber-realtor Randy Solakian.

Susan McFadden, the magazine’s editor, handed out the coveted trophies to local interior designers Steve and Caroline Thompson of Cabana Home, and Jacqueline Dyson and Deborah Schwartz of Santa Barbara Beautiful, as Nina Terzian and Mara Abboud applauded the recipients.

Lowe Point

Montecito actor Rob Lowe has been clean and sober for 28 years, but it hasn’t been an easy road to recovery.

The Code Black star, 54, says it was chance encounter nearly three decades ago that turned his life around.

“Well, you know, I believe that God and the universe work in mysterious ways, and I met a friend, who is a drug interventionist,” Rob revealed on the Dr. Oz TV show.

“Her job was to take people who needed help and put them away in a rehab. I was like, ‘That’s so fascinating. Tell me more about this’ and I literally kept the card in my wallet for a year, and then my grandfather got very ill.”

The real turning point, he added, was when his mother called and how he remembered “not wanting to pick up the phone, because I was not in the best shape.”

“And I thought, you know what? This is no way to live my life, and I went to my wallet, picked up the card, called it, and the rest is history.”