Noteworthy new listings….
Settings don’t come more dramatic than at 5297 Austin Road ($5.25 million), at the edge of the bluff in More Mesa Shores, the private community just west of More Mesa. The house was built in 2009 by makeup artists Tom and Bari Burman—love the Emmys in the kitchen—in an effort to marry “Tom’s love for thick, white walled Greek-style structures and Bari’s taste for modern design.” Some of the finishes would benefit from updating, but there may be limits to how much you want to invest, given the potentially precarious location. Ask a geologist what the odds are of erosion affecting the property—and if it does, then what? P.S. The “video tour” is about the sellers’ background to an unusual degree.
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The 1907 Georgian Revival house at 1731 Santa Barbara Street ($7.395 million) has been thoroughly cleaned up since the current owner bought it in May 2019 for $2.175 million. Don’t hold the paleness against it: I assume this is a spec reno, and the idea is that you can add personality as you see fit. Located at the corner of E. Islay Street, the .37-acre lot is roomy for the Upper East, but the listing doesn’t show the backyard. (UPDATE: It does mention a new pool and spa.) As tends to be the case with these grandes dames, there are fewer bathrooms than modern-day people expect. The primary bath is quite large—possibly bigger than the bedroom itself—but the other two bedrooms in the main part of the house share a Jack-and-Jill, and the two-story guest quarters embedded in the house has the bathroom on the ground floor and the two bedrooms upstairs.
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In the eight-home Santiago Hills community on the Riviera, 2220 Santiago Road ($5.995 million) feels extremely livable, as long as you can abide the upstairs primary. (An elevator could be added.) The rooms are spacious and gracious, and while some of the surfaces—and all of the bathrooms—could stand a refresh, this is not an emergency situation. In a perfect world, there would be more usable outdoor space for a 4,776-square-foot house, but you can always hang out at the communal pool, clubhouse, and tennis/pickleball court just up the street.
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The listing for 4602 Via Carretas ($6 million) promises to “unleash Your Inner Host,” which sounds a little split-personality to me, an effect amplified by the property itself. The Hope Ranch house was built in 1977 in an architectural style that seems to reference a Spanish village, or something like that. Inside, however, has been taken in a different direction: spare and contemporary, with a primary bathroom that calls to mind Halston. Then we swing back to Spanishish with the two-bedroom guest house and terrace (which is absolutely crying out for a party). Maybe it makes more sense in person, or maybe, with enough sangria, it doesn’t matter if it doesn’t.
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Oof! The seller of 770 Coyote Road ($3.85 million) paid $4.2 million in August 2021—the asking price was only $2.45 million—and is now willing to take a hit to get out. The lot is 4.73 acres, with a two-bedroom main house (complete with a “historic bootlegger-built cellar”), guest house, office/workshop, and garage.
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I don’t know how 232 Las Ondas ($4.125 million) can be considered “oversized”: the main house has three bedrooms (one of which holds a twin) and one bath (if I’m understanding correctly), with another bedroom and bath in the garage-turned-ADU. And a fair amount of the .17-acre lot is front yard. It reads as fresh and clean, but the design is inelegant, with that hallway fireplace, corner kitchen, and painted concrete floor in the ADU. Four million dollars! Five years ago, you could buy a house in Montecito for that.
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The two 1994 houses at 91 Hollister Ranch Road ($9.995 million) are underwhelming, but holy cow, look at the setting. The listing says it’s “walkable to Drake’s Beach,” if you pack light. Also: there’s a 40-year-old commercial macadamia orchard.
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It’s probably just me, but the pool at 4585 Via Maria ($4.395 million)—a 1992 five-bedroom off San Antonio Creek Road—looks like an internal organ, or perhaps an external one.
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