Tag archives: Summerland
Even movie stars and the rich and famous need to play by the rules, so it should seem simple for the rest of us mere mortals. At a Summerland Architectural Board of Review meeting a few years back, the board approved a 26,000-square-foot house (by virtue of a variance on the 25-acre beachfront property) for […]
A warm Summerland welcome to sports legend Maria Sharapova, who has purchased one of my favorite properties. The retired (in February of this year) tennis player has purchased a five-acre ocean view compound in the hills for $8.6 million. The 33-year-old Russian has won more than $38 million in prize money – that’s not counting […]
Will freeway noise be louder or quieter, during construction and/or when it is finished? How long will the construction take (spoiler alert: asteroid Bennu)? Will commuters take a short cut on the “Banner Avenue freeway” instead of the 101 or Lillie Avenue? All these questions and more were answered during an informative 1.5-hour presentation by […]
For anyone wanting to live the Summerland version of “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous,” two of the town’s grandest estates are on the market. Both are owned by polo patrons: there are digs and playing fields for the horses that far outshine many Summerland beach shacks. Tuscany Oaks Farm, a seven-bedroom, 10-bath polo estate […]
This week I’m taking the opportunity to sound off from my soapbox, since the lead item on the Summerland’s popularity vote “yea” or “nay” for a cannabis dispensary in town, which ran a few weeks ago, created quite a little stir that resulted in three letters to the editor printed over three issues. First, I […]
Porch, the popular Santa Claus Lane home, garden, and gift store, has moved from Santa Claus Lane and officially opened in its new location in the space long known as Just Folk on Lillie Avenue. With a new coat of white paint and the two-story space filled with lots of tempting items, large and small, […]
Has Summerland ‘Spoken’? The front-page “hook” for the Summerland cannabis dispensary article repeats a statement from a Summerland Citizens Association email regarding the survey results (which I reject outright). While eye catching, it is not a fair presentation of the facts and could lead a reader to infer that Summerland has “spoken” (another exaggerated claim […]
Summerland residents and visitors who enjoy Lookout Park should be feeling pretty hopeful: the construction aspects of the long-anticipated improvements to the east end of the ocean view community recreational area are almost complete – but there’s still a three-month waiting period for the official opening. The project will open to the public in December […]
Decisive Opposition to New Dispensary Despite 70 percent of Summerland voters in the state election voting in favor of marijuana legalization, residents and business owners are overwhelmingly against the establishment of a cannabis dispensary in town. So says a recent survey with a sample that comprises 25 percent of residents and almost all business owners […]
Local food activist and Sweet Wheel Farm & Flowers owner Leslie Person Ryan is on a mission to solve the “food desert” of Summerland. The think-outside-the-box purveyor of all things grown from the earth offers fresh fruit, vegetables, herbs, baked goods, wildflowers, and specialty foods made with ingredients from her garden. Person Ryan operates two […]
As I waltzed through the mostly empty streets of Summerland this past Sunday, the cowboy ballad “The Cowboys Lament” (aka “Streets of Loredo”) came to mind: “As I walked out on the streets of Laredo.As I walked out on Laredo one day,I spied a poor cowboy wrapped in white linen,Wrapped in white linen as cold […]
Sonya Harris keeps the seaside town in the green Most people recognize Sonya Harris from, er, behind. Often seen bent over the landscape edging the 101 northbound entrance, or the Summerland Memorial Garden or other spots in town, Sonya has taken it upon herself to keep the seaside town looking healthy and green ever since […]
Guy Hamilton and his wife, author Cynthia Hamilton, have lived in Summerland for 33 years. He wouldn’t live anywhere else. Guy recently reached out reminding me that he owned Chanticleer (now the site of Lucky’s) back in the late 1970s-early ‘80s and suggested he could offer a “little different perspective on things.” “Wouldn’t it nice […]
Longtime fixture Summerland Oriental Rugs has moved their showroom across the street to the former home of Clive Markey’s Pine Trader. Longtime treasure-filled Summerland Antiques Collective re-opened a few weeks ago and has been buzzing with activity adding to the retail mix… Carpinteria’sPorchis moving from Santa Claus Lane to Lillie Avenue (into the space formerly […]
The Carpinteria Unified School District at their May 12 board meeting approved the leasing of a portion of the Whitney acreage that has been in limbo as a potential new campus site for Summerland School for as long as I can remember. Leslie Person Ryan’s Organic Sweetwater Farms (OSF) will be planting four acres of […]
Every Sunday evening at 7 pm Gordon Morrison, bagpiper, husband, father, and VP of Engineering at Freedom Photonics, steps onto the porch of his family’s Summerland house and plays the bagpipes as the sun sets. It’s a comforting lament during these difficult times. I asked Morrison our usual “People of Summerland” questions. I also sat […]
From long held memories with old neighbors to first impressions upon new encounters, one thing remains true in our “People of Summerland” snippets: from the terrific views to thoughtful neighbors, the pop. 1,500 town is a magical place. Fran Davis, Writer; Roger Davis, Retired Editor “As Summerland residents for fifty years, we’ve accumulated a staggering […]
This month, roughly 4,600 households in Montecito and Summerland received a special insert along with their monthly water bill. “WATER RATE UPDATE!” the flyer declared in urgent all caps, adding that the “Montecito Water District has Plans for Delivering a Secure Water Future.” Stating that its customers “want their drinking water to come from local, […]
Carter Willis Hines: July 24, 1941 – May 1, 2020 Carter Willis Hines, 78, passed away Friday evening, May 1, 2020, at his Montecito home with his beloved wife, Victoria, at his side. Carter’s sudden death from a heart attack followed a prolonged illness of several years. Carter was born in Long Beach, California to […]
It may be the longest, most anticipated pizza parlor opening in Summerland history: five years in the making. At long last Rusty’s Pizza is finally open in Summerland at the former Stacky’s Seaside spot on Lillie Avenue. The day I spoke with Tyler Duncan, CEO of the family business launched by his parents in Isla […]
