Spiffy 1927 Monterey Colonial in San Roque

Noteworthy new listings….

Despite having recently questioned whether there’s a market for $4 million houses in San Roque, I wouldn’t be surprised if 219 Toyon Drive ($3.695 million) can get close. The 1927 house is rich with character—the 2017 renovation has aged nicely—and in the prime part of the neighborhood. Because it’s pushed up against the property line, however, most of the usable space is in front, and to reach the side terrace from the kitchen, you have to pass through the dining room and living room. Another reason to rethink all that lawn?

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Over in Mission Canyon, 870 Windsor Way ($3.65 million) makes a less convincing case for a similar price. The 1930 house has tons of historical charm, too, but it needs updating; the floor plan is quirky, with two bedrooms flanking the foyer and everything else upstairs; and Mission Canyon is a lot scruffier than San Roque. That said, the deck off the living room is a peach, and you don’t feel hemmed in by your neighbors, thanks to the motor court and garage/ADU on the eastern side. Hidden behind the palm tree in the first photo below is a double-height spiral staircase that leads to the ADU’s very cool roof deck.

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301 San Ysidro Road ($8.3 million) was built in 2008 but it has the handsome, boxy lines of something decades older. Personally, I’d be inclined to treat it as a gallery—i.e., paint the interiors white and go on a spree at Espasso—rather than try to pass it off as homey. (The beam-me-up dining room hardly seems appropriate for a family dinner.) Aesthetic concerns, however, may be trumped by the three-bedroom, three-bath floor plan and walkability to Montecito Union School. P.S. The travertine floors are heated.

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The amateurish photos do 141 Rametto Road ($9.5 million) no favors—unless the kitchen really is atilt, of course. The location, at the end of a private lane and overlooking the Montecito Club golf course, boasts fantastic views; while freeway noise is always a concern on this part of Eucalyptus Hill, it may help drown out the thwack-thwack-thwack of the club’s pickleball courts.

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1212 East Valley Road ($6.5 million) has a rather avant garde roofline, as you’ve probably noticed while stopped at the intersection of Sycamore Canyon Road. Whatever points the listing earns by acknowledging that the architecture has a sense of humor are subsequently canceled out by the use of the word “masterpiece.” Surprises abound: the yonic entrance, the intense kitchen hood, the manmade stream, the recessed ceilings that remind me of when my mother-in-law installed literal catwalks—seriously, for her cats—along her living room walls…. In the property’s favor, the one-acre lot is in a convenient location, the dipper-shaped floor plan is single level, and there’s a freestanding guest house.

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The current state of Montecito real estate: $5.2 million asking price for 1190 Dulzura Drive, a humdrum fixer on a peripheral street. But hey, there’s a pool.

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The 1978 house at 756 Hot Springs Road ($4.997 million), on 1.08 acres, seems destined to get scraped, so savor it while you can. Maybe the guest house, which is in much better shape, can be saved.

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And a few others worth checking out:
••• 2708 Montrose Place ($2.375 million): 1947 three-bedroom in Mission Canyon.
••• 20 Abigail Lane ($1.995 million): 1955 fixer on Eucalyptus Hill.
••• 546 Rancho Alisal Drive ($1.895 million): Flip of a three-bedroom in Alisal Ranch (below); the seller paid $950,000 in April 2021. Already in escrow.

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