••• The Rosewood Miramar Beach is proposing to add not just employee housing in the eastern parking lot, as previously reported, but a new building in the northwest parking lot (above) at S. Jameson Lane and Eucalyptus Lane that would have 15 market-rate apartments and 12 shops. (It would bring the total number of shops to 22, including the five existing ones and the five coming to bungalow #1). The Montecito Journal‘s write-up about the presentation to the Montecito Association has a drawing of the proposed building. Questions! Will it have armed guards, like at Caruso’s Palisades Village? Will the folks who signed off on a hotel back in the day feel like the slow conversion into a mixed-use development is a bit of a bait-and-switch? How much retail does one wealthy enclave need? Because when you factor in Coast Village Road, the Upper Village, and The Post development (née Las Aves), Montecito is suddenly looking at a future with rather a lot of it.
••• Menswear brand Orlebar Brown is opening at the Montecito Country Mart, in the space between Bettina (on the parking lot side) and Mate Gallery’s forthcoming shop. The company’s emphasis is on swimwear, but I couldn’t resist this photo because it reminded me of Sassy magazine’s classic “Dopey Fashion Poses.”
••• Ventura’s House of Rio interior design firm is expanding to Santa Barbara with a 3,000-square-foot shop/studio opening soon at 1719 State Street (Valerio/Islay).
••• Two new commercial real estate listings of note…. First, there’s the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum building at 21-23 W. Anapamu Street ($4.83 million), constructed in 1903 as a private residence. I asked the museum whether it planned to stay in town if the building sells: “We love Santa Barbara, so we are seriously considering it. The only reason that we are not staying at the present location is that we own the building with a partner and it is not practical for us in the long term to have a partner.”
••• And second, 44 Helena Avenue ($4.195 million) in the Funk Zone.
••• Last time I visited Neal Feay in Goleta, the aluminum company was working on a fabulous project that was embargoed till now: a model of the Concorde to be installed in the restaurant at the new Peninsula London hotel.
View this post on Instagram
················
Sign up for the Siteline email newsletter and you’ll never miss a post.
Ah, yes. Let’s go to Santa Barbara without actually having to deal with the “unwashed masses” – the Miramar bubble.
Is it just me or is there a lot of land/property/Apt. Complex for sale that has not been on the market for 60+ years… What’s up? Kinda weird anyone know?
Thanks!
-Mac
The Karpeles Manuscript Library was pretty interesting when I visited a few years ago.
At the time they were displaying a collection of old Major League Baseball documents such as player contracts. They also have a variety of other things including religions texts as well.
I’m not sure if it was just the exhibition I went to, but some of the documents (likely the more important ones) were not the originals but high quality copies of the originals. They were still interesting to look at but didn’t quite hold the same weight as the real versions would have).
So many people have moved to Santa Barbara because of its relatively small size, uniqueness and laidback life style only to slowly turn it into what they hoped to escape. I guess it is progress.