A Sweet Little Farmhouse With Big-Time Style

Here’s a real rarity in greater Montecito: A small house on a lot of land.

At the center of the main house at 568 Toro Canyon Road* is a living room, off which you’ll find the galley kitchen, the three bedrooms, and a very pretty solarium. You could stand in the middle and probably have a conversation with anyone anywhere in the house, unless he/she is in one of the three bathrooms. This is not necessarily a ding on the property: Smaller houses mean less maintenance and fewer guests. (*Not to be confused with 568 Toro Canyon Park Road. And even Google gets confused, because 568 Toro Canyon Road is actually accessed via Toro Canyon Park Road.)

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Bedrooms: Three and a half in the main house, plus the barn.
Bathrooms: Three in the main house, one in the barn.
Size/Acreage: 2,000 square feet (main house) / 10 acres.
Price: $7.95 million.
Last sold: For $6.7 million off-market in 2018.
Listing agents: It’s co-listed with Riskin Properties and Suzanne Perkins of Compass.
UPDATE 8/20: Sold for $6,982,000.

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The farmhouse was built in 1917, but it has just been thoroughly renovated—down to the studs—and stylishly decorated. (The furnishings can also be bought, in a deal that would be separate from the purchase of the house.)

You’ll undoubtedly be drawn to the light from the screened solarium, enclosing what used to be a terrace. There are shades installed on the ceiling panels.

The boldest design choice is in the kitchen, setting it off from the living room with dramatic dark surfaces.

Somewhat oddly, there’s no door between the living room and the master bedroom; perhaps the owner likes his/her guests more than the rest of us. In any event, a barn door could easily fix that situation. Note the spacious master bath; the black-and-white tiles are a motif throughout the house.

Everything has been done just so, combining contemporary design with rustic touches. Take the herringbone wall in the powder room, for example….

The two guest rooms in the main house, each with en suite bath:

As charming as the main house is, the two-story barn—just across the motor court—takes the cake. The low ceiling in the ground floor makes for an intimate space. Upstairs, in contrast, is airy and grand—or at least as grand as a barn can be. The barn has a bathroom, so it can be used as a guest suite.

About all that land I mentioned at the top…. The current owners have done significant landscaping on most of it, keeping things relatively simple and very open. And they added a well.

There are properties where much of the acreage is unusable, which is not the case here. What you’re buying is not just buffer, but space—and what you do with it (if anything) is up to you. Some of it is set up as pasture, and there’s opportunity to create more; a small, unlandscaped part of the property is on the other side of a neighbor’s driveway. There are restrictions on what you could build there—perhaps stables, but not a full-fledged guest house—but it would make excellent pasture for horses.

P.S. All that and an ocean view, too.

Something to bear in mind:

While the location has its merits—if you’re driving up from L.A., it’s way quicker to reach than the heart of Montecito or, even worse, Hope Ranch—the property is close to Toro Park Road and Route 192, which can be busy at rush hour (and may turn busier if the widening of Highway 101 ever happens).

••• The full listing for 568 Toro Canyon Road is here and here.
••• 568 Toro Park Road on Realtor.com.

The property is pending, but you might still be able to contact Riskin Properties (805-565-8600, [email protected]) or Suzanne Perkins of Compass (805-895-2138, [email protected]) for a showing. Be sure to tell them Siteline sent you!