Tag archives: Coast Village Road

After more than a year helping many of their business constituents navigate through catastrophic blows to business, the Board of Directors of the Coast Village Association has one primary goal for 2021: To form a Community Benefit Improvement District, or CBID, in order to take control of the street’s aesthetics, safety, and marketing ventures.  “We’re […]

Local fashion fixture Kate McMahon is back on Coast Village Road, opening a pop-up in Montecito Country Mart to offer her full clothing collection called Covet. McMahon took a multi-year hiatus from the brick-and-mortar retail scene, focusing instead on selling her luxury knitwear — including her famous sweaters — online. “It felt like the right […]

At a hearing last week, the California Coastal Commission upheld approvals for two upcoming roundabouts in Montecito after considering appeals of both projects.  The two roundabouts – one at the intersection of Olive Mill and Coast Village roads and one at San Ysidro Road and North Jameson Lane – have had a polarizing effect on […]

Contemporary jewelry store Gorjana has opened on Coast Village Road, bringing its popular mid-priced and fine jewelry to Montecito. Founded in 2004, the Laguna Beach-based jewelry brand is owned by wife and husband team Gorjana and Jason Griffin Reidel, who set out to build a casual jewelry line that was “quintessential California.”  Originating from the […]

If you saw John Sant’Ambrogio walking down Coast Village Road, you might mistake him for Larry David. On the other hand, if you saw Larry David walking down Coast Village Road, you might mistake him for John Sant’Ambrogio, the world renowned cellist. That is, if you’ve been the beneficiary of a private birthday concert given […]

At their monthly board meeting on Thursday, March 18, the Coast Village Association Board of Directors heard from Jesse Rosenberg, General Manager of Santa Barbara BCycle, as she pitched the group on bringing electric bicycle docking stations to Coast Village Road. The private bike share company has been working with the City of Santa Barbara […]

At a City Council hearing on Tuesday, March 2, the Council voted unanimously to approve an ordinance related to forming a Community Benefit District on Coast Village Road, an initiative set forth by the Coast Village Association Board of Directors. “This is just the beginning, the first starting block,” said CVA Board President Bob Ludwick, […]

Kevin Frank and his wife, Katie, owners of K. Frank, the Montecito men and women’s luxury and designer clothing store on Coast Village Road, moved to Summerland six years ago after being attracted by the “small town charm and walkability.” It wasn’t until they toured their house that they became gob smacked by the incredible […]

I learned to sew when I was probably 13 years. The first dress I made when I was 14. You know, my mama was a seamstress. So when I was little, I used to help her. I’d do the hemming, the buttonholes, sewing buttons, and all that kind of stuff.  Later, I took over little […]

Every Halloween since 1996, the year after Montecito Journal’s first issue hit local newsstands, Coast Village Road has turned into “Ghost Village Road.” The annual event typically drew upwards of 1,000 parading trick-or-treaters along Coast Village Road, where local shop owners, restaurateurs, and hoteliers would hand out candy and in some cases create pop-up haunted […]

What Did Opening a Shop in Montecito Mean to You? I’ve been in this location for 37 years. My deceased husband and I had a shop in Santa Barbara 10 years prior to this. One morning, (my friend) called to say there was a little shop available in Montecito and maybe we would want to […]

Artist Cassandria Blackmore, along with her husband, Jon, have opened a new gallery on Coast Village Road, in the space once occupied by Viva Oliva, which moved to downtown Santa Barbara earlier this year. Blackmore, with her eye-catching reverse paintings on glass, is world-renowned for her unique work, which has been exhibited and collected internationally. […]

In a project that has been nearly a year in the making, UCLA Health has made accessing its world-class health care easier and more convenient for Santa Barbara-area residents by opening a new practice in Montecito on Coast Village Road.  UCLA Health Montecito medical services include routine exams, physicals, preoperative consults, same-day sick appointments, immunizations, […]

Jon and Mary Lou Sorrell said goodbye to their Coast Village Road office, as well as their design business, last month, after over four decades of designing hundreds of homes and gardens in Montecito and beyond. With 27 years at their design firm on Coast Village Road, the Sorrells employed a number of different talented […]

Two popular salons on Coast Village Road are yet again doing the “pandemic pivot,” and are now offering their services outside, in alignment with guidelines from the State of California that went into effect in late July. Salon owner Xavier Scordo, who took ownership of the salon known as Belle de Jour in Olive Mill […]

Popular Santa Barbara eatery Mesa Burger has made its long-awaited debut on Coast Village Road, officially opening for business on Tuesday, July 21. “It’s been a long time coming,” said owner Chris Chiarappa when we stopped by the restaurant a few weeks before the opening, as Chiarappa was busy building a parklet to accommodate social […]

No indoor dining? No problem! Local eateries pivot to al fresco service – Montecito style French bistro tables, olive trees, and soft breezes stirring lavender blossoms. These days, dining is a moveable feast as restaurants pivot, creating stunning al fresco settings. A state mandate to curb a surge in COVID-19 called for the immediate closure […]

In response to the staggering loss of local business related to the coronavirus pandemic, the City of Santa Barbara, in late May, authorized the use of “parklets” as an innovative way for restaurant owners to add physically distanced gathering spaces to public streets. The parklets are intended to be located in the parking lane adjacent […]

Montecito may oddly benefit from California’s post-COVID grand reopening. Coast Village Road may be one of the few dining, shopping, and hotel areas that is elegant, energetic, and well designed for the next new normal. You know the Pandemic New Normal – that’s the normal after the Debris Flow New Normal and that other new […]

If you’ve walked along Coast Village Road in the past weeks, you may have stopped to peruse the menu posted at the Montecito Inn; the hotel’s new restaurant, Coast & Olive, is set to open for takeout orders in the coming weeks. The eatery, which is run and managed by the Copus family, the owners […]