Bel Air Knolls Sunset

Spacious Santa Barbara home for sale  in the coveted Bel Air Knolls neighborhood – ideally located near downtown Santa Barbara and less than 2 miles to the Santa Barbara oceanfront where Hendry’s Beach and a wonderful beachfront restaurant await you!  Colorful semi-tropical landscaping greets you at the front of this stunning home. The interior entry has beautiful wood floors in a herringbone pattern and flows to a cozy sitting area overlooking the impressive living/dining room. Soaring ceilings and an abundance of windows frame the picturesque views. This stylish light and bright home features an expansive deck which can be accessed from either the dining room or the kitchen. It is a great place to enjoy the Santa Barbara sunset views with plenty of room for entertaining. The sun-lit kitchen has a large island with cook top, cabinets galore, a walk-in pantry, and an eat-in area for casual meals. There is also easy access to the deck from the kitchen for dining al fresco – as Santa Barbara’s mild climate welcomes this year round. The spacious master suite features a romantic fireplace surrounded by bookcases and high vaulted ceilings. The adjoining master bath has a spa tub, separate shower and lots of room with double sinks.  The master also has a walk-in closet and a deck of exotic mahogany – great to escape for a little quiet time. There are 2 additional large bedrooms with full baths and a den or home office. The lower level bedroom has treetop views and its own private deck. There is lots of off street parking and a 3-car garage which serves the hobbyist well. The 1/3 acre lot boasts lots of mature & drought resistant plants including beautiful pepper,oak, and palm trees – what Santa Barbara home would be complete without palm trees?  An exceptional opportunity at $1,300,000. For more details contact Pat Saraca at 805-560-9951, Distinctive Real Estate, Santa Barbara.

 A best buy on Santa Barbara’s beachfront community known as “The Mesa”.  This remodeled 4 bedroom home has lots of charm and upgrades.  It is convenient to many shops and restaurants offering everything from fast food to gourmet from pizza to sushi!This charming home is also near the beach and harbor, Shoreline Park, Ledbetter Beach, Hendry’s Beach, City College, & Washington Elementary School. There are warm maple floors in the living and dining rooms with an open floorplan. The sun light dining area flows to a trellis covered patio for dining al fresco. The living room has recessed lighting, fireplace, and plantation shutters. The kitchen has tile flooring, stainless steel appliances, and island work space area for preparing those delicious meals with fresh veggies from the garden.  There are lots of windows in the main living area with a peek of the ocean and islands! Multi-pane windows create a serene interior environment. There are 4 bedrooms and  2 full baths. The master bath has recently been remodeled!  The tropical landscaping in the yard is full of colorful flowers. There is a delightful veggie garden, a gorgeous tile patio and wall and a soothing fountain. There is plenty of off street parking and a 2 car garage on this gated parcel. Motivated sellers have priced this home for a quick sale at just $759,000! Yes that is $759,000 for a 4 bdrm turn-key home near the beach in Santa Barbara!! Hurry on this one.

Santa Barbara

Watched the Fourth of July fireworks from a magnificient bluff top location on the Mesa in Santa Barbara. This oceanfront (click to view Santa Barbara Ocean Front homes for sale) location is a prime spot for a Santa Barbara luxury home. Plans are in place for a gorgeous Tuscan Villa. This remodel opportunity is a rare offering. This locale has a unique orientation facing south and east over the Santa Barbara coastline allowing incredible sunrise views plus ocean, city, harbor, mountain, and island views. Just steps to Shoreline Park, Leadbetter beach – great for surfing and paddle boarding, Santa Barbara Harbor and Santa Barbara Yacht Club plus restaurants and shops. Also close enough for a stroll to State Street and downtown Santa Barbara. Directly in front of you is a favorite local surf spot, for your own live surfing extravaganza. Watch kayakers and paddle boarders from Santa Barbara Harbor, a regular Regatta of international visits from the most spectacular sporting yachts in the world, weekly sail boat races, occasional cruise ship visits and visits from the USS Ronald Reagan, a state of the art U.S. Naval Aircraft Carrier. You may also be delighted with the appearance of dolphins and whales! This is what Santa Barbara beach homes are all about! Build your dream home on one of the most spectacular view properties in Santa Barbara! For additional details on this fantastic offering go to www.BeachFrontSantaBarbara.comAct now and you can watch next year’s fireworks from your very own Santa Barbara beach front home!

The Wall Street Journal has stated that Greenwich, Connecticut had a phenomenal end to 2009 with huge increases in sales volume in the luxury real estate market.  The west coast has also seen some large sales with a recent  Beverly Hills property selling to the tune of $35,000,000.  More specifically, in the Santa Barbara luxury real estate market we have seen 4 major estates go into escrow in the past month. The first property in Montecito is a recently built 8500 sf. Tuscan Villa with dramatic ocean, city, harbor, island and mountain views. Located at the end of a private lane off Hot Springs Road this luxury home on a 3 acre site also boasts a pool, spa, and guest house. This Montecito view home was offered at $11,900,000 when it went into escrow. The next Montecito estate to go under contract is an impressive Mediterranean in Ennisbrook with 6 bdrms and 11 baths in the main house. In addition to all the amenities of the previously mentioned estate this Montecito property also has a tennis court with pavilion and a garage for 9 cars. This luxury estate was offered at $14,750,000.The 3^rd Montecito estate that has just gone into escrow is a knoll top Tuscan Villa with captivating views and over 10,000 square feet of luxury. It offers the utmost in privacy being on approx. 40 acres. This estate’s current list price is $8,750,000. The 4^th estate is a 1929 Reginald Johnson on the Riviera which was listed at $8,900,000. It is the quintessential  old world charmer on 3 acres with gently rolling lawns overlooking the fabulous ocean, city, and mountain views. Yes, there is a pool and guest house, too! Quoted in the fore mentioned Wall Street Journal article a representative for residential real estate at U.S.Trust Bank of America Private Wealth Management commented that they have experienced an increase in buying over the past few months. It seems that the luxury real estate market overall may be starting to rebound! We will keep you posted on the Santa Barbara, Montecito, and Hope Ranch estate market. Watch for the closed sales prices in a future blog.

Santa Barbara, Montecito, and Hope Ranch have some of the finest examples of George Washington Smith architecture as he spent many years living in the Montecito area. Born Feb 22, 1876  George Washington Smith was raised in Philadelphia & studied painting at Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.  Later Smith attended Harvard University to study architecture.  

Around 1911, Smith married Mary Catherine Greenough and moved to Europe.  He traveled around the continent painting landscapes.  Just a few years later, Smith traveled to California where his paintings were on display in the Palace of Fine Arts at San Francisco’s Panama Pacific Exposition.   While in California he traveled south to visit friends in Montecito.  He loved the area so much, Smith decided to stay and build a home.  He modeled his Montecito Estate after farmhouses he had seen in Andalusia during a trip to Spain in 1914.
 
The home built in 1917 called Casa Dracaena was successful.  Neighbors were asking for him to design houses just like his.  Soon he stopped painting and took up architecture full time in Santa Barbara.  He remained in the Santa Barbara area until his death in 1930.  At that time George Washington Smith (GWS) designed over 80 estates in the Santa Barbara Area.   Since then Smith has been credited as being the father of Spanish Colonial Revival Style.   Many of the homes George Washington Smith designed are now a part of the National Register of Historic Homes. His “Casa Del Herrero” in Montecito was just designated a National Historic Landmark in January 2009. George Washington Smith’s vision has shaped Santa Barbara’s history and style. Estates designed by George Washington Smith are extremely limited in availability and quite coveted.

There are currently about a half dozen GWS estates for sale in the Santa Barbara area.

One particular estate currently for sale is Robledal. It was built in the early 1920′s for Milton Wilson. Wilson was one of the three partners credited for developing Hope Ranch Park.  Robledal is one of the finest homes created by George Washington Smith. It has incredible views of the Pacific Ocean & Channel Islands.  Robledal is a fantastic example of GWS architecture with his signature detailing such as wrought iron sconces, chandeliers, grates, tiled stairs, fireplaces, fountains, carved wood doors and ceilings. The beautiful oak studded estate (the Spanish translation of Robledal is oak grove)  In addition to the magnificent  main home there are two attached guest-apartments, and one detached guest cottage, a five car garage and staff apartment with two extra multi-use rooms. This rare offering consists of 8 acres with an adjacent parcel that could also be purchased. It is an equestrian’s dream as the trails lead right to the beach for oceanfront horseback riding! This is truly one of the prime Hope Ranch estates!For additional information on this exquisite George Washington Smith estate go to  http://estateinhoperanch.com

Below is a linked list of 27 Santa Barbara ocean front properties for sale and currently available in the vibrant Santa Barbara real estate market place. These Santa Barbara beach front and ocean side homes from Carpinteria beaches to Montecito ocean front to the More Mesa bluffs to Goleta ocean bluff top properties, are all rare and virtually irreplacable real estate holdings that continue to command solid appreciation through timeless demand. Many of these homes could not be built in todays environment with more restrictive building and zoning codes, making them even more valuable as demand increases. Sorting out these rare and diverse properties and choosing the right property with the best current value requires a solid knowledge base of Santa Barbara ocean front properties, their relative locations and their comparative values in a dynamic Santa Barbara real estate market place. The creators of www.RareEstates.com have 19 years of commensurate Santa Barbara ocean front properties expertise. This link will bring you to a detail page of all 27 properties in the Santa Barbara ocean front for sale category. As well as the link it the list below.

Santa Barbara properties, privately offered Santa Barbara estates, Santa Barbara ocean front for sale, Montecito estates, and the signature property Santa Barbara properties market, is one which requires well informed local expertise and knowledge, crucial to successful acquisition and sale of these rare estates. Custom searches of Santa Barbara properties on the beach, Santa Barbara estates, Montecito properties for sale, Hope Ranch real estate, Carpinteria beach estates information and anaylsis of Santa Barbara CA homes for sale, is available at this site and http://www.RareEstates.com, a fine home sale transaction network, with specialized resources and knowledge of unadvertised Santa Barbara properties and qualified Santa Barbara estates property investors. For exclusive comprehensive analysis and information about Santa Barbara ocean front for sale, privately offered Montecito estates, Santa Barbara estates, or the Hope Ranch properties, inquire here.

Below is a brief list of all Montecito homes for sale in the Montecito Union School District. The graphic is linked to a page with photos and details of all 103 single family homes available in the Montecito Union School area. The Montecito Union School District homes for sale currently offer greater diversity and more total homes for sale as compared to Montecito’s Cold Spring School District. Overall, the Montecito real estate market has maintained a very strong performance since what is considered the real estate market peak in 2005. Montecito properties median pricing has sustained a positive price growth throughout an overall National real estate market downturn. This bode quite well moving forward as traditionally stronger real estate markets are the quickest to return to even more positive appreciation performance. Montecito real estate has proven to be a true "blue chip" real estate market performer while other markets have become relatively soft.

Here is a link to all 103 Montecito properties now available in the Montecito Union School District.

Santa Barbara properties, privately offered Santa Barbara estates, Santa Barbara ocean front for sale, Montecito estates, and the signature property Santa Barbara properties market, is one which requires well informed local expertise and knowledge, crucial to successful acquisition and sale of these rare estates. Custom searches of Santa Barbara properties on the beach, Santa Barbara estates, Montecito properties for sale, Hope Ranch real estate, Carpinteria beach estates information and anaylsis of Santa Barbara CA homes for sale, is available at this site and http://www.RareEstates.com, a fine home sale transaction network, with specialized resources and knowledge of unadvertised Santa Barbara properties and qualified Santa Barbara estates property investors. For exclusive comprehensive analysis and information about Santa Barbara ocean front for sale, privately offered Montecito estates, Santa Barbara estates, or the Hope Ranch properties, inquire here.

Montecito properties for sale in the Cold Springs School District from $2 million, offer only 22 great properties. Cold Springs School District continues to challenge buyers looking for turn key homes with good square footage in this prized Montecito properties area. Below is a list of Single Family homes currently for sale in Montecito Cold Springs School District.

 Santa Barbara properties, privately offered Santa Barbara estates, Santa Barbara ocean front for sale, Montecito estates, and the signature property Santa Barbara properties market is one which requires well informed local expertise and knowledge, crucial to successful acquisition and sale of rare estates. Custom searches of Santa Barbara properties on the beach, Santa Barbara estates, Montecito properties for sale, Hope Ranch real estate, Carpinteria beach estates information and anaylsis of Santa Barbara CA homes for sale, is available at this site and http://www.RareEstates.com, a fine home sale transaction network, with specialized resources and knowledge of unadvertised Santa Barbara properties and qualified Santa Barbara estates property investors. For exclusive comprehensive analysis and information about Santa Barbara ocean front for sale, privately offered Montecito estates, Santa Barbara estates, or the Hope Ranch properties, inquire here.