Passport Magazine Santa Barbara Winter 2011

help you design your own handblown ornaments.

Before we leave Santa Barbara for the lush coastal community of Montecito where celebrity residents like Oprah Winfrey, Kirk Douglas, Rob Lowe and numerous other famous entertainers, artists and writers are often spotted in the area’s upscale boutiques, galleries, fine restaurants and world class hotels; we recommend a visit to Santa Barbara Winery, to enjoy the wine tasting room at the area’s oldest winery just two blocks from the beach at 202 Anacapa Street; and, if you need a break from your holiday shopping extravaganza, we suggest you visit the Santa Barbara Zoo that is known as one of the world’s most beautiful zoos and is home to 160 species of mammals, reptiles, birds and insects exhibited in open, naturalistic habitats overlooking Howard Connor, Santa Barbara Arts the Pacific Ocean, the Andree Clark Bird Refuge and the Santa Ynez Mountains.

Montecito is divided into the two areas shown on the map on page 16 of this magazine. The Upper Village near the corners of East Valley Road and San Ysidro Road is bordered by the historic San Ysidro Ranch, the luxury resort that is considered to be one of the most romantic hideaways in the world. The Lower Village on Coast Village Road between Olive Mill Road and Hot Springs Road is bordered by the palatial Four Seasons Biltmore that combines the glory of historic California with legendary Four Seasons service.

We’ll begin this phase of our holiday shopping adventure in the Upper Village at Wendy Foster in the Plaza del Sol at 516 San Ysidro Road, the flagship of four stores that this local fashion icon owns in the greater Santa Barbara area. Wendy Foster was raised in Montecito and this store has earned a national reputation for showcasing her classic luxury fashion collections from New York, Paris, Los Angeles and Asian based designers, and, her unique hand Healy Designs, The Yes Store picked jewelry selections in artfully designed displays. The Upper Village is also home to the Pierre LaFond Montecito Market at 516 San Ysidero RoadVillage where you’ll find a wide array of unique gift baskets, olive oil, vinegar and other culinary treats.

In the Lower Village, we suggest you visit the elegant Montecito Inn that was built in 1928 by the legendary Charlie Chaplin on the corner of San Ysidro Road and Coast Village Road before you explore the mix of high fashion and casual beach elegance with luxe collections of jewelry, knitwear, denim, swimwear, separates and handbags at Angel at 1221 Coast Village Road, the younger and more hip of the four Wendy Foster stores that showcases cutting-edge collections from designers like Joie, Nightcap and MK2K. Our holiday shopping adventure concludes with a visit to the charming seaside community of Summerland, just five minutes from downtown Santa Barbara, where the Bikini Factory, at 2275 Ortega Road, has been offering all shapes and sizes of mix & match bikinis for over 40 years along with cover-ups, shoes and colorful beachwear.

Happy Holidays! ­19