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 […]

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 […]

 

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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 […]

For Christmas, Mi Casa Es Su Casa
By Lynda Millner   |   November 26, 2020

Christmas at the Casa: From Our Casa to Yours” will be a new experience this year. Usually Casa del Herrero is decorated with all the traditional trees and twinkling lights and is one of my favorite holiday events. This year it will be an amazing online Christmas boutique silent auction that opened November 1 and […]

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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  • Teacher’s Fund Raises Cash for Local Teachers in Back-to-School Drive
    By Nick Schou   |   November 26, 2020

    The Santa Barbara-based nonprofit Teacher’s Fund has raised tens of thousands in cash to help local teachers purchase tools and materials for their classrooms. Although the annual fundraiser, which took place between September 16 and October 16, had to be held online this year, it nonetheless managed to raise $56,000 worth of badly needed school […]

    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, […]

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    Up for Auction
    By Richard Mineards   |   November 19, 2020

    An old New York friend, former model and socialite Barbara Allen de Kwiatkowski, who left us far too early, dying of natural causes aged 69 in June, is having her possessions sold by Christie’s in Manhattan in a total of eight sales over the next few months. Barbara, whom I first met when she was […]

    The Spy Who Squished Me
    By Richard Mineards   |   November 19, 2020

    Prolific local author Philip Myers, 68, has published his latest book, Squished: Jackie Kennedy, Espionage, Murder and Me. The revelatory tome combines facts Myers gleaned from working with former First Lady Jackie Kennedy, whom he got to know through his work with the Santa Barbara Committee on Foreign Relations. Myers is a Stanford University Phi […]

    Shelter from the Storms
    By Richard Mineards   |   November 19, 2020

    ShelterBox, the Santa Barbara-based nonprofit dedicated to disaster relief, is currently dealing with the aftermath of super typhoon Goni, which made landfall in the Philippines. Known locally as Rolly, the typhoon is the latest in a series of violent storms to rip through the country with 140-mile-per-hour winds and torrential rainfall. It became the most […]

    Crooning and Cooking
    By Richard Mineards   |   November 12, 2020

    Santa Barbara’s Singing Chef Andy LoRusso, who now lives in Naples, Florida, was diagnosed with the neurological disorder dystonia, a mild form of Parkinson’s disease, two years ago. “It causes excessive involuntary muscle contractions for which I take Botox shots every ninety days,” says Andy, who grew up in Newark, New Jersey, before finding his […]

    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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