“The Best Summer I Ever Spent Was The Winter I Spent In Santa Barbara.”
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The American Riviera

Santa Barbara County is a jewel along the coast of California. The south facing coastline of Goleta Valley, Santa Barbara, and Carpinteria Valley is unique, being separated from other areas and counties by the East-West aligned Santa Ynez Mountain Range. The Pacific Ocean encloses miles of coastal plains that include the Goleta Valley, Santa Barbara area, and Carpinteria Valley. The combination of desirable climate and geological attributes have helped the area become one of the most desirable and sought after “playgrounds,” hideaways and residential communities in the world. The Santa Barbara Lifestyle embraces the outdoors and easy living as the overall mode of living. World renown people and “just plain folk” comfortably mingle on the tree-lined streets and at the many outdoor restaurants. The American Riviera, overlooking the city of Santa Barbara, offers outstanding views of the city, and Channel Islands just 20 miles away. Here it is: swim, sail, fish, camp, hike, bike, golf, explore wineries, sing, celebrate...

Climate

Temperatures are mild and the average rain fall is less than 18 inches. El Nino caused the year of 1997 – 1998 to be the wettest on record for this area with rainfall around 55 inches. The temperate climate and informal manner of living give rise to the reference: Santa Barbara Lifestyle. Residents and visitors find they can enjoy the outdoors nearly everyday of the year and homes reflect the designs of sharing nature with the interior. Floor plans provide for “bringing the outdoors in, and the indoors out” by the utilization of many glass doors, large windows, patios and decks. When considering choosing a new home, it is wise to select an Agent (from Coastal Properties!) who knows the area quite well because Santa Barbara is noted to have many “micro-climates” that differ widely in the type of weather experienced.

Flora & Fauna

Together with cooling ocean breezes and early morning moisture, this area easily supports most kinds of world wide flora imported and planted here. It is a botanist’s heaven! Pines and cactus, orchids and ferns grow along side acacia and oak trees, just to name a few species. Abundant local and mountain wildlife includes fox, squirrel, skunk, raccoon, deer, coyotes, possum, fish, bobcat, bear and mountain lion. Approximately 300 species of birds have been identified in the area. Along the coast, dolphins can often be seen playing at the surf line and following boats in the Channel. Whale watching from large boats that cruise from the harbor through the Santa Barbara Channel is a popular activity much of the year.
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"Clear, sunny weather, beautiful beaches, and picturesque mountains..."
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Carpinteria

This quaint beach town of approximately 14,000 people, affectionately known as having “The World’s Safest Beach,” is located just 10 minutes south of Santa Barbara on Highway 101. With a long history of agriculture and flower growing, Carpinteria is presently adding a light industrial (smokeless) facet to the community with the latest state-of-the-art high tech businesses such as computer software 3-D animation and a work in progress movie production company. Also, tourism is a major industry, also. The residential market within the City consists of apartments, 60 year old bungalows and 30 year old tract homes; surrounding areas offer custom homes with ocean views, and avocado and horse ranches. Adjacent, upscale communities of Rincon Point, Shepherd Mesa, Sandyland Cove and Padaro Lane feature outstanding estates and “getaways” beach second homes. To purchase a home, call one of our Realtors at Coastal Properties to request a specially prepared Beach Sales List. Highway 101 gently splits the town and Amtrak train stops here.

Summerland

This small, unique, beach community of a few hundred residents is located between Carpinteria and Montecito and contains many older homes on small lots with ocean and freeway views. Along the ridge are expensive custom homes priced well over $1,000,000. Summerland began in the late 1800s-early 1900s as a spiritualist community; it may still retain remnants of those same roots today. Once, oil derricks dotted the hills and shoreline, and lemons groves were common.

Montecito

One of the most fashionable, and famously exclusive areas in California where homes range from $1,000,000 to $50,000,000. Montecito grew in the late 1800’s as a result of wealthy people looking for a beautiful area with mountain and ocean views, mild climate, and mineral hot springs. It has long been home to industrial barons, politicians, movie stars and assorted socialite multi-millionaires.  Two smaller business districts service Montecito. First, The Lower Village, is located along Coast Village Road running parallel to Highway 101. Second, The Upper Village, is located a 1.5 miles north-east of the Lower Village. Both Villages offer a full array of fine dining and shopping. Stringent building codes continue to protect and preserve the natural state and privacy of the area.

Verdant Montecito provides private schools, golf and country clubs, beaches, quiet and secluded living, mountainous hiking trails with creeks and waterfalls, biking and much more. Here, there are elegant condominiums for easy living and residences ranging from remodeled, older custom homes to palatial estates. It is difficult to capture the splendor of the area beyond the many tree-lined narrow, winding streets that meander throughout the community’s most elegant, spacious estates that lie hidden from view.
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"Refreshing, romantic, exciting, wonderful, outstanding, dramatic, healthy!"
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Santa Barbara

Proud of it’s natural beauty, resources and renowned architecture, this city of 95,000 fun-loving people boasts an environmental sensitivity known throughout the world. Few places in the world can compare to this area for year-round living. The Santa Barbara Lifestyle is reflected in both casual attire and friendly people. It can be said that the city’s motto is “Easy Living.” This boundless opportunity for a wonderful quality of life brings with it a high price tag: higher than expected home prices. For instance, the median price of homes in the South Coast region was recently over $1,250,000.

Santa Barbara sports a wide variety of micro-climates offering a great variety of choices for every climatic and economic preference. The east-west running (don’t get confused here!) Santa Ynez Mountain Range protects the valley and plains that pour down to the shoreline. Following a major earthquake in 1925, the city adopted a strict architectural control policy over the style of the buildings to be constructed in the downtown sections; Spanish-Moorish-Mediterranean with al fresco influences prevail.

A thorough way to explore Santa Barbara is to follow this map and visit all the many parks and recreation areas that are distributed throughout the many distinct neighborhoods. Suggested neighborhoods to visit (in no particular order) are: The Upper & Lower Riviera, Sycamore Canyon, Mission Canyon & Mission, Eastside (Upper & Lower), Oak Park, San Roque (older and newer areas), San Roque Gardens, Samarkand, “Northside,” San Roque Gardens, Hope Ranch, Hidden Valley, Veronica Springs, Bel Aire Knolls, Campanil Hill, The Mesa, Harbor Area—West Beach & East Beach, Westside (Upper & Lower), and Downtown.

Goleta Valley

Lying west of and adjacent to Santa Barbara is the Goleta Valley extending for several miles “between the mountains and the sea.” Originally a rural farming and ranching community, in the 1960s the Valley exploded with new housing and today reflects the building boom that changed the face and lifestyle of the valley. Goleta Valley is still somewhat rural and is home to a University of California campus and the Santa Barbara Municipal Airport. Located here also, is a large complex of light industrial, high-tech businesses with national and international connections. Research and Development is a keynote resource of business endeavors here.

Santa Ynez Valley