Tag archives: Eric Schmidt

Mar y Cel Sold!
By Richard Mineards   |   March 18, 2025

Santa Barbara residents Eric, former head of Google, and Wendy Schmidt’s family foundation has purchased the 350-acre parcel of land known as Mar y Cel, the largest contiguous undeveloped property in Montecito. In keeping with their philanthropic focus on the environment and in recognition of the value of Mar y Cel to the community and […]

Changes of the Seasons
By Richard Mineards   |   July 2, 2024

Having settled his four-year battle with the Toronto-based Four Seasons hotel group, Beanie Baby billionaire Ty Warner is planning to turn 50 of the 368 rooms at his iconic I. M. Pei-designed Manhattan hostelry into up to 50 apartments, according to the New York Post. “The units would cater to full-time residents who will be […]

House on Market
By Richard Mineards   |   May 14, 2024

Tech mogul Eric Schmidt, who owns Montecito’s sprawling Solana estate, the former home of Bill and Sandi Nicholson, has put his Bay Area compound on the market. The three-acre property, created by combining three contiguous parcels in the tony township of Atherton, home to America’s priciest zip code for seven consecutive years, is asking $24.5 […]

Local House Sold
By Richard Mineards   |   July 4, 2023

Automotive industry mogul Dave Cantin and his wife, Dina Manzo, widely known for starring in The Real Housewives of New Jersey, have splashed out nearly $16 million for a five-bedroom, five-and-a-half-bath home in our rarefied enclave. Originally built in 1994, the Tuscan-style home on 0.76 acres was designed by local architect Marc Appleton and last […]

Latest Match at the Field
By Richard Mineards   |   May 24, 2022

Prince Harry may not be appearing on the balcony of Buckingham Palace with his actress wife Meghan Markle after the Trooping of the Color ceremony next month, but he was definitely front and center at the Santa Barbara Polo Club playing in the final of the Folded Hills Pope Challenge final on Sunday. The closely […]

Slice of Life
By Richard Mineards   |   February 1, 2022

The Broadway run of the show Waitress may have ended prematurely because of COVID, but the American Theatre Guild’s touring production at the Granada served up a highly entertaining show. With music and lyrics by Grammy winner Sara Bareilles, the production, based on a 2007 comedy-drama film of the same name, is about a young […]

‘Semele’ Stuns
By Richard Mineards   |   January 25, 2022

Opera Santa Barbara was again in fine form when it presented Handel’s Semele at the Lobero, which was first performed in 1744 at London’s Covent Garden. A fusion of elements of opera, drama, and oratorio, the popular work is taken from Ovid’s Metamorphoses with Semele, the mother of the god Bacchus, superbly played by soprano […]

All About the Famiglia
By Richard Mineards   |   September 21, 2021

Everybody was in the right aria when Opera Santa Barbara’s Marylove Thralls hosted a sunset soirée to launch an entertaining new book, La Mia Pazza Famiglia by Kay Lemke. The dynamic duo met when Lemke, who hails from a small community, San Fior di Sopra, north of Venice, volunteered to help the opera and the […]

A Royals Record
By Richard Mineards   |   June 17, 2021

I went to the historic Rockwood Woman’s Club to speak to a record turnout of 80 guests for a Royal Tea. After British-born Janet Bullock, who served finger sandwiches and clotted cream scones on her Royal Crown Derby china, alongside dainty cups of Earl Grey tea, I regaled the club members — many wearing colorful […]

Tesla Investor Takes Tuscan-style Home
By Richard Mineards   |   November 26, 2020

One of the major investors in the electric car giant Tesla has splashed out $18 million on a new Montecito home and is moving here from Beverly Hills. Alan Salzman, 63, heads VantagePoint Capital Partners and owns 7 million shares in the auto company worth more than $2.3 billion. His new hilltop Tuscan-style property was […]