Big Tech Bigwigs Buy Montecito Residence
By Richard Mineards   |   December 10, 2020

The nearly one-acre Montecito Residence, built barely a decade ago for Chicagoans John and Dorothy Gardner, has been sold for $7.2 million to Silicon Valley entrepreneurs Mark Armenante and Young Sohn, co-founders of Vlocity, the cloud-applications software company acquired by Salesforce for $1.3 billion earlier this year. Built almost entirely from steel and glass, the […]

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 […]

 

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What’s Better Than Buying Property in Montecito? Buying Two, Of Course
By Richard Mineards   |   November 26, 2020

That’s what ultra-wealthy San Francisco locals, Marc and Elisa Stad, have just completed in our Eden by the Beach. The first deal closed in September when the couple forked out $12.2 million for a shingle-sided mansion with seven bedrooms and 13 bathrooms in nearly 14,000 square feet of living space. Built in 2008, the 2.1-acre […]

Stuart Whitman’s Montecito Ranch Up for $62 Million
By Richard Mineards   |   November 19, 2020

A scenic Montecito ranch owned by the late Oscar-nominated actor Stuart Whitman is up for grabs for $62 million, one of our rarefied enclave’s most expensive properties. Stuart, well-known for cowboy roles in films with John Wayne, owned the 13-acre estate in the Santa Ynez Mountains until his death in March at the age of […]

Staying in the ‘Hood
By Richard Mineards   |   November 19, 2020

Former U.S. ambassador to Austria Susan McCaw, ex-wife of cell phone billionaire Craig McCaw, has paid $9.5 million, a hefty $2 million over the asking price, for the Erdman House, designed in 1959 by noted architect Lutah Maria Riggs. Nearly 9,000 square feet, on four eucalyptus and pine tree studded acres, the sublimely preserved midcentury […]

A New Lease on Life
By Richard Mineards   |   November 19, 2020

Carpinteria twosome Ashton Kutcher, 42, and wife Mila Kunis, 37, have listed their 7,351-square-foot Beverly Hills home on half an acre for rent. The property in Hidden Valley in the mountains above Coldwater Canyon is a guard-gated community with neighbors including singers Adele and Katy Perry, and actresses Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Lawrence. The estate, […]

McMansion on the Market
By Richard Mineards   |   November 12, 2020

A stunning 554-acre ranch once owned by McDonald’s mogul Ray Kroc in the Santa Ynez Valley is up for grabs, for $29 million. Kroc and his wife, Jane, a former secretary to the actor John Wayne, bought the property in the Happy Valley area 16 miles from the late singer Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch in […]

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  • Girl Power
    By Richard Mineards   |   November 12, 2020

    The venerable Granada was socially gridlocked when the popular Danish String Quartet returned to Santa Barbara with the Danish National Girls’ Choir, under conductor Phillip Faber, putting on an entertaining UCSB Arts & Lectures concert. The Fab Four – violinists Rune Tonsgaard Sorensen and Frederik Oland, violist Asbjørn Norgaard, and cellist Fredrik Schoyen Sjolin – […]

    Ellen Puts Estate on Market
    By Richard Mineards   |   October 29, 2020

    TV talk show host and serial real estate flipper Ellen DeGeneres and her longtime wife-actress Portia de Rossi have put on the market their latest acquisition in our rarefied enclave for $39.9 million. They purchased the bulk of the Bali-esque Montecito spread last year for $27 million, but since then have expanded the complex, which […]

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    Montecito is the Place to Be
    By Mark Ashton Hunt   |   October 21, 2020

    Judging by the home buying activity in the last few months, we can easily conclude that Montecito is “The place to be.” Since the terrible home sales in April and May brought on by strict lockdown measures, Montecito has experienced the highest number of sales per month that most real estate agents can ever remember.  […]

    Same Price, Same Street, Different House
    By Mark Ashton Hunt   |   September 3, 2020

    Hello and welcome to a busy Montecito summer season. In the past four months, the number of closed escrows is more than double what we would typically see. Between July 19 and August 29, for example, whereas 16 homes traded hands last year during the same timeframe, this year we saw 39 completed home sales. […]

    Opportunities Await
    By Mark Ashton Hunt   |   August 20, 2020

    It has been an incredible past two-plus months in the Montecito real estate market, to say the least. Sales are up and still climbing. Not since perhaps 2002-2006 have agents seen this kind of buyer activity, in all price ranges. Sales have been solid in Summerland, Carpinteria, Santa Barbara, and Goleta as well this summer, […]

    Homes in the $4 to $5 Million Range
    By Mark Ashton Hunt   |   July 23, 2020

    The months of May and June, and now into July 2020, are proving to be the most active real estate months that many can remember in Montecito during the past 15+/- years. Whether it be Boomers flexing their buying muscle and finally committing to a place in Montecito, perhaps Ellen’s celebrity friends, the Bay Area […]

    Real Estate Snapshot
    By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   June 25, 2020

    Montecito Market Update Real estate transactions in Montecito have been steadily increasing over the last two months, reflecting an influx of out-of-town buyers flocking to purchase in the 93108 zip code since the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown began mid-March. The last few weeks have been incredibly active, with 28 homes going into escrow in Montecito since […]

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