••• As rumored, an LLC whose agent is architect Marc Winnikoff paid $5.6 million for the Bottle Shop property at 1200 Coast Village Road, which will surely be redeveloped in time. “We signed a lease beforehand and most likely will be here for a good while due to permits/planning,” said someone at the store when I asked on Instagram. That’s a very prominent corner—here’s hoping we get something more interesting than the safe bet of more Spanish Lite architecture.
••• The 33-unit apartment complex proposed for 428 Chapala Street (Gutierrez/Haley) is on the Historic Landmarks Commission agenda for this Wednesday. When I first posted about this, Barry Schoer commented that the “building was declared a structure of merit and then back in 2018 the owners at that time appealed the designation and prevailed.” (Edible Santa Barbara shared a 1940s postcard of the building when it was the Casa de Sevilla restaurant.) Only the little sandstone wall was granted landmark protection, so only it will survive.
••• The Montecito Trails Foundation says that work on the upper part of San Ysidro Trail—closed for many months due to storm damage—is set to begin next month.
••• And W. Mountain Drive has reopened, says the Montecito Fire Department.
••• The Jewish Federation of Greater Santa Barbara‘s renovated building at 524 Chapala Street is done. I suppose it’s more welcoming and contextual than before (which I kind of liked), but this could pass for a BevMo. Mature landscaping will help.
••• No one guessed last week’s Where in Santa Barbara…?, so here’s the answer:
••• A documentary about the filmmaking team of Ismail Merchant and James Ivory starts at the Riviera Theatre on August 30, and there will also be screenings of two of their best-known films, Howard’s End and A Room With a View. The latter is perfect, in my opinion. As frosting on the cake, here’s video of a very young Daniel Day-Lewis talking about his role.
••• I finally made it to Emily Joubert in the Montecito Country Mart: such pretty things! And there’s much more than the “home & garden” tagline indicates. Go see for yourself.
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It’s a shame they didn’t finish the mountain drive repair to match the matilija sandstone that all the other retaining walls are made out of. The cinder block, while practical, looks pretty rough
Your newsletters are so delicious! Your dry wit is always appreciated (don’t think it goes unnoticed, ever!).
The Federation building DOES look like a BevMo so I hope they’ll zhuzh it up a bit.
And I agree on Room With a View.
Now go get a knish! xo