Life at the Top of Picacho Lane

Noteworthy new listings….

The seller of 880 Picacho Lane ($36.5 million), at the northern end of the prestigious street, paid $20 million for the 3.5-acre property in April 2021. You know those Paris homes you see in design magazines, where someone has taken a gorgeous old building and given it a spare-but-luxe interior? I think that’s what this one is going for, with its mix of rustic (e.g., all those beams, the barn doors) and polished (e.g., herringbone floors, a dumbwaiter). But this doesn’t have the patina of a 19th-century Haussmann-style structure; built in 2014, it smacks of newness. And there are some interesting choices, such as “temperature-controlled wine room with glass ceiling visible from main level den” (why?) and a windowless “bunk room” that Charlie Munger would’ve admired.

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The French country aesthetic of 630 Stonehouse Lane ($12.795 million), built in 2002, feels a bit démodé. But there’s plenty to like in the bones: 6,669 square feet, with a comfortable floor plan (including a ground-floor primary and home theater); moreover, the lot is 1.67 acres, at the bend of an L-shaped cul-de-sac, with a guest house, pool, fancy gazebo, and pickleball court. (Unless you’re hoping to show off your dink game, you might want to screen out the neighbor to the south.) The right interior designer could take this to the next level.

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Located within Carpinteria’s Sandyland Cove enclave, 4315 Avenue del Mar ($12.5 million) is an unfussy, old-school beach compound. Even those committed to the way things were will likely feel the desire to update everything, and enlarging the kitchen is a must. P.S. For the love of all things holy, if you can see your roof from prime spots, such as the sweet deck off this primary,  do not use asphalt shingles. (I like CeDur, particularly when it’s installed in a slightly erratic pattern.)

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The seller of 2297 Featherhill Road ($7.975 million) paid $5.25 million in November 2021, and the four-bedroom, three-and-a-half bath house on a Romero Canyon cul-de-sac got a renovation that improved the property in many ways. It’s hard to shake the suspicion, however, that the money ran out, especially in the bathrooms.

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The 1970 house at 4660 Via Roblada ($6.995 million), on Hope Ranch’s prime Bendita/Roblada loop, has been cleaned up so that it almost looks like an East Coast colonial if you squint. (Love the white brick on the facade and the red brick coping around the pool.) And I bet it’s very livable. But popping some of those flat ceilings—or doing something to break up all that flat, white expanse—would’ve made a huge difference.

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Blah 1961 architecture that needs a complete overhaul, 585 Stone Meadow Lane ($6.2 million) benefits greatly from the convenient location off Picacho Lane. I’d like it more if a neighbor’s driveway didn’t wrap around the back the property.

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First up in this week’s time-capsule parade: 1480 Monte Vista Road ($5.5 million), on a cul-de-sac off San Ysidro Road (i.e., near the Hedgerow but not part of it). The street was developed in the 1950s, and while everything at 1480 Monte Vista needs to be redone—including the bedroom part of the floor plan—you can catch glimpses of how cool the house could be if brought back to its midcentury roots. Plus: fire pit seating for the entire block.

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The parade continues in the hills above San Roque at 3770 Foothill Road ($6.5 million), built in 1990 on 13.28 acres but looking much older on the inside. Such devotion to turquoise! P.S. Staged? Not staged? Either way, wherefore the llama?

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Nearby is the 1952 three-bedroom at 3750 Foothill Road ($4.188 million), on 5.65 acres. If only Jonathan Adler were to follow Jenni Kayne’s footsteps into the house-flipping world—he could build an entire collection around the doorknob in the last photo.

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And a few others worth checking out:
••• 342 E. Padre Street ($2.95 million): 1918 four-bedroom at the corner of Laguna Street.
••• 45 Rubio Road ($1.897 million): Lower Riviera house that just sold for $1.849 million two months ago.
••• 1057 Estrella Drive ($3.8 million): Hope Ranch fixer/teardown with an “extra bath off kitchen not listed on the tax rolls.”
••• 3021 Samarkand Drive ($2.395 million): Three-bedroom spec reno that last sold for $1.5 million just three months ago; the succulents embedded in the backyard walls look like outies.
••• 129 W. Mountain Drive ($4.195 million): Four-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bath Mediterranean built in 2006.
••• 484 Barker Pass Road ($2.095 million): Semi-constructed—literally—three-bedroom on .91 acre (below).

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Comment:

3 Comments

BW

The two kitchen island trend is so weird. It never looks good and always looks like a glitch in the simulation.

Reply
JB

“A windowless ‘bunk room’ that Charlie Munger would’ve admired” on 880 Pichacho is priceless. Your quips are the best Erik!

Reply
Andrew

880 Pichacho has no chance of selling for their purchase price in 2021, nevermind the 36.5m.

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