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 […]

Keeping it Beautiful
By Richard Mineards   |   December 3, 2020

Deborah Schwartz is the newly elected President of Santa Barbara Beautiful, replacing Penny Haberman. Her deep ties throughout our Eden by the Beach and dedication to community support have led to a number grant-making projects including the natural environment, arts and culture, and education. Deborah, a former Montecito Union School and UCSB student, is in […]

 

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Blackbird Sings Again
By Richard Mineards   |   November 26, 2020

To the Hotel Californian for the re-opening bash of Blackbird, the hostelry’s signature restaurant, which has been reimagined with “a beverage-forward atmosphere” featuring cocktails by celebrity mixologist Devon Espinosa, alongside a thoughtfully curated menu of light bites by executive chef Travis Watson who pays homage to the culinary bounty of the Central Coast. My trusty […]

Dennis Miller Sells Montecito Spread
By Richard Mineards   |   November 26, 2020

Comedian and political pundit Dennis Miller, 67, has sold his Montecito spread for $49 million in an all-cash deal. It’s the second largest amount recorded for a home in our rarefied enclave in recent years, behind only the $63.3 million paid by construction heir Riley Bechtel for a much larger estate last month. According to […]

Saluting Navy Art
By Richard Mineards   |   November 26, 2020

The Santa Barbara Maritime Museum is hosting an extensive collection of 53 paintings that chronicle the accomplishments of the U.S. Navy, from the USS Constitution to atomic bomb tests, and expeditions to the North and South Poles. The colorful show, Arthur Beaumont: Art of the Sea, who was known as the Artist of the Fleet, […]

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 […]

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 […]

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  • Pathway To Community
    By Lynda Millner   |   November 24, 2020

    When Pearl Chase was attending the founding meeting of Santa Barbara Beautiful (SBB) in 1965 she offered this quote from Abraham Lincoln, “I like to see a man proud of the place he lives.” And so Santa Barbara Beautiful was born. Arriving at the Music Academy of the West for the annual awards, I was […]

    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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    Behind the Velvet Ropes
    By Richard Mineards   |   November 12, 2020

    An old New York friend, Ben Widdicombe, now editor-in-chief of Avenue Magazine, has sent me his new 287-page book Gatecrasher: How I Helped the Rich Become Famous and Ruin the World. Australian Ben, whom I first knew when he scribed for the gossip column of the Daily News with George Rush and Joanna Molloy, whom […]

    Near to Friends
    By Richard Mineards   |   November 12, 2020

    Music man David Foster and his pregnant wife, Katharine McPhee, are house hunting in Montecito to be near their friends Prince Harry and Meghan. Foster, 70, winner of 16 Grammys, and McPhee, 36, reportedly want their children to grow up alongside Archie, the 16-month-old son of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Meghan, 39, and […]

    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 – […]

    Welcome to the Neighborhood
    By Richard Mineards   |   November 5, 2020

    It was just four months ago that singer Ariana Grande splashed out $6.75 million for a Tudor-style home, The Porter House, consisting of two bedrooms and three bathrooms in two antique barns that had been imported from England, and just a month later Prince Harry and his wife Meghan spent $14.5 million for a nine-bedroom, […]

    James Corden’s Son Stars in Janet Adderley Play
    By Richard Mineards   |   November 5, 2020

    British TV talk show star James Corden, who has hosted both the Tonys and Grammys, has given the ultimate accolade to Santa Barbara Youth Ensemble Theatre founder Janet Adderley. Bubbly Janet, whom I have known for 12 years, is a Broadway veteran and starred in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Starlight Express in 1978 before founding her […]

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