Contemporary Villa Atop Pepper Hill

Noteworthy new listings….

Properties at the top of Pepper Hill rarely come on the market, which is enough to make 356 Woodley Road ($34.5 million) notable—it has an enviable combination of convenience and views, in a location where you might still be able to get insurance (or at least that was the case before this week’s horrific fires in L.A.). To that, add size: the house is 7,518 square feet, mostly one-level, on 2.53 acres (which includes a separate parcel on Glenview Road). This style of architecture puts a lot of emphasis on materials; the wood here and there—floors in some parts of the house, and paneling in others—would be welcome elsewhere. P.S. Given the eastward positioning, this is a house for us morning people.

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Last offered in 2021 “mid-construction” for $4.5 million, 2082 Las Canoas Road ($10.95 million) is now finished. The views are terrific and the great room is a winner, but even factoring in the new-build premium—which is high because no one wants to do the work, and understandably so—the price is quite ambitious for the area, which can get raffish. I could see it making more sense if the house checked more boxes, but the dining room looks like it should come with a whiteboard; one of the guest rooms is not en suite; there’s remarkably little outdoor space right outside the house; and there’s neither a pool nor a guest house.

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I haven’t seen 880 Knollwood Drive ($8.695 million), so I’m unsure to what degree its modestness works in its favor. The sellers paid $4.118 million in September 2020 and redid it, maintaining much of the 1966 charm. (The house was designed by Lutah Maria Riggs, although clearly it’s not among her major works.) If the sellers went for quality in the finishes, it could make a cozy bolthole, as long as you don’t mind the lack of views from the house.

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2200 Bella Vista Drive ($7.495 million) is standard 1970s architecture, enlivened considerably by pitched ceilings, wood paneling, and mostly concrete floors. It would be a cool guest house—with view for days—for a main house, yet to be built, below it on the 21-acre lot.

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After changing hands twice in recent years—in July 2021 ($3.616 million) and July 2020 ($2.884 million), the 1925 house at 700 Mission Canyon Road ($7.25 million) finally got the makeover it deserved. The place looks sharp, a stylish rebuttal to the sad beige aesthetic, and money was clearly spent (although not quite as much in the stone guesthouse). The property abuts the parking lot for the Santa Barbara Woman’s Club, which might be preferable to a more traditional neighbor.

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You’d want to update the kitchen and baths at 7 E. Arrellaga Street ($3.995 million), the penthouse of a four-unit apartment building walkable to the good stuff on State Street, but the common spaces—living room, family room, dining room—feel great as is. Along with the 900-square-foot deck, there’s a lot of room to move.

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And a few others worth checking out:
••• 4463 Shadow Hills Boulevard North ($4.1 million): The former show house for the 55-and-over community; that would be a heck of a price, even for a 5,100-square-footer. Would any client be happy with those photos? Were they Xeroxed from a brochure?
••• 3182 Serena Avenue ($3.1 million): Cute 1949 three-bedroom with two-bedroom ADU off Toro Canyon.
••• 20 W. Junipero Street ($2.499 million): Freshly remodeled 1920 three-bedroom with a doozy of a backsplash (below); already in escrow.
••• 1331 Los Alamos Place ($2.95 million): Two-bedroom a block from Shoreline Park.
••• 1617 Olive Street ($2.585 million): “1910s redwood single level home and a 1927 Art Deco duplex” with “an approved ‘rec room’ on the property along with a 3-car carport.” No interior photos….
••• 104 Ontare Hills Lane ($5.5 million): 2014 suburban-style Tuscan asking a lot for that part of the world.

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