Tag archives: Ray Winn

Happy Birthday Ray!
By Richard Mineards   |   November 12, 2024

Scientist, inventor, and real estate investor Ray Winn celebrated the 40th anniversary of his half-century with a festive fête at the Birnam Wood Club with his partner of 36 years Peter Kevoian. The dynamic duo, who have developed and operate more than a million square feet of commercial real estate in Texas, split their time […]

A Ray of Holiday Cheer
By Richard Mineards   |   December 27, 2022

Scientist, inventor, and real estate investor Ray Winn, 88, and his partner of 34 years Peter Kavoian, 66, pulled out all the stops when they hosted their first Christmas bash for 100 guests in five years at their magnificent Birnam Wood home. Peter used his gleaming red Bentley convertible as Santa’s sleigh with six reindeer […]

A Birnam Birthday
By Richard Mineards   |   November 8, 2022

Social gridlock reigned at the Birnam Wood Club when real estate investor and inventor Ray Winn, 88, hosted a birthday bash for his partner of 34 years Peter Kavoian, who was celebrating the 16th anniversary of his half century, and Peter’s mother Anna who is 92. The tony twosome, who split their time between their […]

Happy Birthday, Ray
By Richard Mineards   |   November 16, 2021

Scientist, inventor, and real estate investor Ray Winn celebrated the 37th anniversary of his half-century with a cocktail bash at the opulent Birnam Wood home he shares with his longtime companion Peter Kavoian, who marked his 65th birthday last month. The tony twosome, who have developed and operate more than 1 million square feet of […]

Birnam Birthday Bash
By Richard Mineards   |   October 26, 2021

It was social gridlock at the Birnam Wood Club when real estate investor and inventor Ray Winn, 87, hosted a birthday bash for his partner of 33 years Peter Kevoian, who was celebrating the 15th anniversary of his half century. Ray did an excellent job in pulling the event together in a short time after […]

Riveting Recital
By Richard Mineards   |   March 19, 2020

Ray Winn and Peter Kavoian opened the doors of their magnificent Birnam Wood home for a Musicale featuring Italian pianist Jacopo Giacopuzzi on the dynamic duo’s Bosendorfer grand piano, one of only seven of its type in the world. The Music Academy of the West fundraiser, catered by Elena Wagner, featured Verona native Jacopo, who studied […]

Westward Hoedown!
By Richard Mineards   |   September 6, 2019

Dynamic duo Ray Winn and Peter Kavoian certainly know how to throw a party! As the tony twosome, who normally host a must-attend Christmas bash at their opulent Birnam Wood manse, will be away this Yuletide, they threw a Hillbilly Hoedown bash, designed by Jonathan Alburger, complete with hay bales, Victorian underwear hanging from the […]

Fixing Channel Drive
By Montecito Journal   |   December 6, 2018

A few months before the fires and the terrible mud slides in Montecito, I wrote to Santa Barbara County South Coast Maintenance Superintendent Randy Carnahan and attached a picture of the cracked asphalts on the surface of Channel Drive and asked that it be repaired. He responded that he would place it on the repair […]

Poor Old Charlie
By Montecito Journal   |   November 29, 2018

For some reason the memory of silent-film star Charlie Chaplin is exploited with the fantastical myth that he “built” the Montecito Inn. Totally untrue. In David Myrick’s definitive history (“Santa Barbara & Montecito,” Volumes I and II), he explains the origin of the Montecito Inn in some detail. “Don B. Sebastian and William S. Seamans,” […]

To Have or not Have
By Montecito Journal   |   November 15, 2018

As Bob Hazard gazes into his crystal ball (“A Fascinating Future,” Guest Editorial, MJ #24/45), the picture emerges in print. It is a complex vision of the future. It, unfortunately, and realistically harbors a great deal of human wastage. People raised here and with no experience in the Third World may fail to see the […]

Hold Your Kids Tight
By Montecito Journal   |   January 25, 2018

We are sending this email to all our friends and family who have reached out to us in regard to the Montecito fire and mudslide tragedies and evacuations. The story begins over a month ago, when Lynda and I were forced to evacuate our Romero Canyon home due to the largest wildfire in California history. Three […]

He Nailed It
By Montecito Journal   |   January 11, 2018

Peter Walker Hunt‘s letter (“Put the Fires Out!” MJ #23/51) brings out the stunning reality of what our communities have just gone through. Current federal policy on wildfire management is choking us in the smoke of burned tax dollars. The devastation and death of wildlife is a by-product of the “goal line” set within a […]

Holiday Re-Do
By Montecito Journal   |   January 4, 2018

I have a couple ideas to help our local economy in regards to the recent tragic Thomas Fire. My suggestion is to have a Holiday Re-Do on February 25. This gives all the businesses, companies, nonprofits, clubs, and individuals an opportunity to re-do their parties and events that were canceled due to the Thomas Fire. This […]

A Win-Winn Situation
By Richard Mineards   |   December 21, 2017

One of the great joys of Yuletide is the Christmas bash thrown by interior designers Peter Kavoian and Ray Winn, who also scribes for this illustrious organ, at their magnificent Birnam Wood manse. The stunning residence – formerly the home of a member the DuPont family who lived to the ripe old age of 107 […]

Taxing Situation
By Montecito Journal   |   December 14, 2017

I would like to recommend to Bob Hazard, who wrote the recent Guest Editorial (“California Screaming,” MJ #23/48), that the Los Angeles Times of Tuesday, December 5, published a brief letter from a Godfrey Harris under the subject of “Why we pay taxes”. From Mr. Harris’s point of you, which I agree with, Americans are […]

Blue State Payback Time
By Montecito Journal   |   December 7, 2017

Bob Hazard‘s debunking of tax reform Myth #3 (Guest Editorial, MJ #23/48) was revelatory, but not debunking. His Myth #3 is “Removing the Federal Deduction for State and Local Taxes is Unfair to High-Tax States such as California, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Illinois.” Unfortunately, Mr. Hazard did not address a fundamental issue of […]

Believe It or Not
By Montecito Journal   |   November 30, 2017

Climate change is happening whether one “believes” in it or not, and 97 percent of climate scientists agree that human activity is the cause. Since the Industrial Revolution, humans have dug up past living things and burned them, something that has thrown off the balance under which life as we know it has evolved. Carbon […]

Paderewski a Pianist, not Violinist
By Montecito Journal   |   November 23, 2017

Congratulations to Ms Diana Starr Langley for serving as publisher of the beautiful new issue of your glossy magazine, her first. However, there is an egregious error in the issue, which suggests carelessness or ignorance on the author’s or caption-writer’s part. This error must be appalling to the informed music lovers in this community and […]

The Ongoing Onramp Disaster
By Montecito Journal   |   November 16, 2017

The recent two-part editorials on Coast Village Road (MJ #23/43 & 23/45) was very interesting. You did, however, have an error in the recent Part 2. You said that it was the City of Santa Barbara that caused the closure of the southbound 101 on-ramp and that it was Santa Barbara city officials’ contention that […]