Siteline | A “Master Flipper” Is Ready to Move On

“It’s nice to finally be back in Santa Barbara,” Xorin Balbes told Santa Barbara magazine earlier this year. “I feel like this time it’s home.” But when you’re a “master flipper”—as Mansion Global described the founder of TempleHome, and architecture/design firm—home is wherever your next house is.

After buying 365 El Cielito in January of 2018 for $3.5 million, Balbes embarked on a thorough renovation and redecoration of the 1950s property, but without changing the footprint or the green ceramic roof tiles. Now it has been listed for just under $9 million.

·················

Bedrooms: Five.
Bathrooms: Six full, two half.
Size/Acreage: 7,484 square feet / 2.26 acres.
Price: $8.95 million.
Last sold: $For 3.5 million in January of 2018.
Listing agent: Nancy Kogevinas of Berkshire Hathaway Luxury Collection.

·················

The house is certainly stunning, making the most of its hilltop location. Note how all of the common rooms open to the outside. First, the living room:

The dining room:

The kitchen:

Even the office and meditation rooms have amazing views. (The meditation room also has an en suite bathroom, in case your bladder doesn’t fall in line with your mind.)

The interior-design choices are bold, to say the least. Behold the powder room, with its “hospital chic” stainless-steel toilet:

And the family room has the Sofa of the Year. It’s hand-painted silk velvet, according to Santa Barbara mag.

The master bedroom, meanwhile, includes a dressing room with a wet bar, dual showers in the bathroom, and an outdoor copper soaking tub.

In a separate wing, with a dramatic foyer, there are three guest suites “each with their own en suite bathroom, sitting area and private garden,” says the listing.

The grounds, meanwhile, are packed with features: a “sparkling pool” (which I assume describes the finish, not the water), chicken coop, creekside meditation terrace, bamboo forest, sculpture garden, koi ponds (plural), fire pits (plural), and two Tesla backup generators. There are solar panels a private well for the lush landscaping.