POLO, BECAUSE YOLO by Montecito Journal

JOURNAL

ontecito SUMMER 2022

POLO, BECAUSE YOLO

GREATER SANTA BARBARA ELEVATES ITS POLO GAME

PLUS

MONTECITO BALLERS: MARCY CARSEY & DICK WOLF SCORE YET AGAIN!

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Wedding Invitations

ontecito Volume 15 Issue 2 SUMMER | 2022 CEO Gwyn Lurie gwyn@montecitojournal.net

President & COO Tim Buckley tim@montecitojournal.net

Editor Les Firestein les@montecitojournal.net Art Director Trent Watanabe trent@montecitojournal.net Magazine Managing Editor Gina Zondorak Terlinden Copy Editor Lily Buckley Harbin Photography Edward Clynes, Kim Reierson, Kevin Scanlon Layout/Design Assistant Stevie Acuña Administration Jessikah Moran jmoran@montecitojournal.net VP Sales & Marketing Leanne R. Wood leanne@montecitojournal.net Account Managers Tanis Nelson: tanis@montecitojournal.net Susan Brooks: sue@montecitojournal.net Elizabeth Nadel: elizabeth@montecitojournal.net Contributors: Jim Buckley, David Freed, Richard Hecht, Kelly Mahan Herrick, Gabe Saglie, Denise Sanders, Katherine Stewart, Stacie Stukin, Anthony Wall, Carly Williams, Jeff Wing

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Contents 46.

I s the Carsey-Wolf Center the Best Media Studies Center in the United States? Founded by the legendary media juggernauts Marcy Carsey and Dick Wolf (as inThat ’70s Show and Law & Order), unlike other universities’ film schools, UC Santa Barbara’s Carsey-Wolf Center’s focus is collaborative interdisciplinary research on media.

58. 80. ontecito SUMMER 2022

Rebecca Riskin’s Legacy The legendary founder of Riskin Partners Estate Group was the personification of “Old Montecito” culture. Though she perished in the 2018 debris flow, her core values have lived on, and the company is thriving.

PHOTO BY KIM REIERSON

JOURNAL

Santa Barbara Polo. Because YOLO. Top local players and patrons are doubling down on Santa Barbara polo, with some dreams of unseating Palm Beach as the North American epicenter of the sport.

88. 96. 100.

Kenneth Rexroth Though the “Father of Beat Poetry” made his name in the heyday of the San Francisco Renaissance, he eventually spent his final years in Montecito. As we all want to do. Tim & Monica Babich Along with Katrin Ericson, this couple helped found the RUNX1 Research Program, which is searching for a cure for the genetic disease RUNX1 Familial Platelet Disorder. What do you do in your spare time?

ontecito SUMMER 2022

PHOTO BY DELFINA BLAQUIER (COURTESY OF NACHO FIGUERAS)

JOURNAL

Sacred Threads Oaxacan textile artist Porfirio Gutiérrez uses age-old methods to create tapestries and rugs that are contemporary interpretations of traditional motifs influenced by the architectural modernism and urban spaces of California but also harken back to the pre-Columbian archaeological site Mitla.

108. 112.

Balance. Harmony. Integrity. Mindy Horwitz’s Simpatico Pilates’ core values combine various elements of physical and spiritual strength to transform people’s lives. Because of a Dog The National Disaster Search Dog Foundation’s Denise Hess Sanders explains how canine heroes are essential in searching for survivors amid disaster.

COVERS:

We were so lucky to get to talk with two of the greatest names in polo. We couldn’t decide which was the better cover, so Montecito gets both. There’s the one with Memo and Meghan Gracida, which is what me and my wife look like in my mind’s eye. Then there’s the one with Nacho Figueras with his hair tousled – apparently bed head or helmet head. It must take guts to walk out of the house looking like that. We hope you enjoy both covers!

SUMMER 2022

Contents

124.

From Sideways… to Straight Up When the world throttled down due to COVID, as things reopened and people started getting out and about again, the Santa Ynez Valley shone especially bright, like a beacon ushering in a more curious, more hungry, more savvy traveler.

156.

A Taste of Italy in the Santa Ynez Valley Restaurateurs Mike and Kathie Gordon (founders of the über popular Toscana Group in Los Angeles) have repeated their success in Santa Ynez and Los Olivos with S.Y. Kitchen and its new sister restaurant, Nella.

164.

Creating Leaders to Heal the World Israel’s Givat Haviva International School – which has strong ties to our town’s Congregation B’nai B’rith – teaches students to cross cultures and aims to help heal age-old ethnic conflicts. One former student is now the student body president at Santa Barbara City College.

174.

The Shared Crossing Project Makes Eternal Goodbye Obsolete William Peters’ groundbreaking and rigorously researched new book, At Heaven’s Door: What Shared Journeys to the Afterlife Teach About Dying Well and Living Better, explores death as a point on a continuum rather than “The End.”

182. 186. 194. 202.

Retreat to Wellness Some top local places and products for self-care.

Planes, Puppies, and Steve McQueen’s Hangar An awesome day trip to see some aero history at the family-friendly Santa Paula Airport.

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Contributors Stacie Stukin – Stacie is a journalist and essayist whose

Anthony Wall – Anthony is a retired business lawyer and

Gabe Saglie – Gabe is the wine columnist for the Montecito

Kim Reierson – Kim is a California native who was raised

David Freed – David is a screenwriter, Pulitzer Prize-winning

Katherine Stewart – Katherine’s work has appeared

byline has appeared in publications including Architectural Digest, W Magazine, Los Angeles Magazine, Vegetarian Times, and the Los Angeles Times. Her work runs the gamut from feminism to cults, art, design, food, and history. She loves to cook, garden, and travel.

Journal and has been covering the Santa Barbara County wine and food scene for more than 20 years. His storytelling approach aims at making the culinary industries more accessible to consumers and at highlighting the personalities behind the labels. A former morning weatherman for Santa Barbara’s KEYT-TV, Gabe is also the senior editor for the global travel media company Travelzoo, covering destinations and travel trends as a contributor for network TV stations, radio, and major print publications across the country. When he’s not on the road or popping a cork, Gabe can be found biking, jogging, hiking, swimming, or cooking for his family – his wife, Renee, and their three kids, Gabriel, Greyson, and Madelyn.

reporter for the Los Angeles Times, a creative writing instructor at Harvard University’s Extension School, and author of the aviation-themed Cordell Logan mystery series of novels. An avid, instrument-rated pilot and proud owner of a 1965 Piper Cherokee based at the Santa Barbara Airport, he’ll find virtually any excuse to go flying.

amateur historian who has published numerous articles on professional and historical matters. He is a member of the International Society of Olympic Historians. Anthony lives in Montecito with his wife, Nancy.

in Bolivia. After graduating from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in fine arts, she worked as a photojournalist for various newspapers, winning several awards. In 2000, she moved to New York City where she has been represented by the Robin Rice Gallery since 2001. She is best known for her 2007 photography book Eighteen: A Look at the Culture that Moves Us, a visual documentation and an homage to America’s 18-wheeler truck drivers that has been featured on ABC News, CNN, and in National Geographic. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, and her clients include Art and Auction, Forbes FYI, Bloomingdale’s, Ralph Lauren, the Smithsonian Institute, and Vogue Mexico, to name a few. When she’s not behind the lens, as an avid cyclist, you’ll find her climbing Gibraltar mountain on any given day.

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in The New York Times, NBC, and the Montecito Journal, among others. Her latest book, The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism, won the Excellence in Nonfiction Books award from the Religion News Association. When she’s not on deadline, you’ll find her hiking the San Ysidro Trail.

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Contributors James Buckley – Jim founded the Montecito Journal

Edward Clynes – This Brooks Institute graduate and

Richard Hecht – Richard is Professor Emeritus at

Kelly Mahan Herrick – Kelly is originally from

in 1995 and retired at the end of 2019. He now spends his time golfing, studying the French language, and tracking down weekend getaways and other travel possibilities. He also writes a weekly column at jimb.substack.com, where he invites readers to enjoy his conservative-leaning political and travel ideas.

UC Santa Barbara where he taught in the department of religious studies for 47 years. He is the author of several books, including Sacred Texts of the World: A Universal Anthology with Ninian Smart, To Rule Jerusalem with Roger Friedland, and Religion and Culture: Contemporary Practices and Perspectives with Vincent Biondo. He writes the “Everyday Sacred” column for the Montecito Journal that focuses on how religion impacts daily life.

Denise Hess Sanders – Denise is a Ventura-

based writer and senior director of communications and handler operations for the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation (SDF). Starting her career in public service as an emergency dispatcher for the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department, she has continued her work in emergency management and leadership through SDF for the past 14 years, collaborating with agencies around the world to ensure canine resources are ready to respond when disaster strikes. Sanders serves on the advisory board for the Women in Leadership Executive Program at University of Riverside and is often joined by her office companions including her senior chocolate Labrador Retriever, Diesel, three-year-old German Shepherd, Zuma, and one-year-old three-legged Golden Retriever rescue, Nova.

Carly Williams – This UC Santa Barbara graduate, who

just earned her degree in Political Science, has been writing for the Montecito Journal since January. Next step: She is packing up and moving to Spain to pursue her dream of being a journalist abroad.

local freelance photographer has been a steady contributor to the Montecito Journal for the past six years. When not working commercial gigs, his love of the natural world drives him to explore local and faraway hiking trails in search of the next great vista to photograph.

Newbury Park, California, but has called the Santa Barbara area home for 23 years. A graduate of UC Santa Barbara, she has been reporting on local news and real estate issues for multiple media outlets since 2006. Kelly is currently a contributing editor for the Montecito Journal’s weekly newspaper, writing about new businesses, new residential and commercial developments, school district happenings, and other issues that affect our neighborhoods. Kelly is a partner with the real estate team, Calcagno & Hamilton, with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services. Kelly and her husband, Jason, a local business owner, live in the Santa Ynez Valley with their young daughter.

Kevin Scanlon – Since 2001, this award-winning

photographer has shot an impressive array of celebrities, artists, musicians, athletes, everyday people, and business luminaries for editorial, entertainment, and advertising clients. When he doesn’t have a camera hanging from his shoulder, he has his ’63 Fender Jazzmaster or his set of golf clubs to take its place. Kevin splits his time between Los Angeles and Brooklyn.

Jeff Wing – Jeff truly believes that everything in this world

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is weird and stirring and deserving of an overwritten explication. When not grotesquely hunched over his keyboard, neither will he be found fishing, “playing ball,” or laughing delightedly with his head thrown back and hands raised like Carol Channing. Jeff’s north stars are McGuane, Mancini, Nick Laird, Blossom Dearie, Marc Chagall, Saul Bellow, Michel Legrand, Cheever, and Philip Larkin.

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The property information herein is derived from various sources that may include, but not be limited to, county records and the Multiple Listing Service, and it may include approximations. Although the information is believed to be accurate, it is not warranted and you should not rely upon it without personal verification. Not intended as a solicitation if your property is already listed by another broker. Affiliated real estate agents are independent contractor sales associates, not employees. ©2022 Coldwell Banker. All Rights Reserved. Coldwell Banker and the Coldwell Banker logos are trademarks of Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. The Coldwell Banker® System is comprised of company owned offices which are owned by a subsidiary of Realogy Brokerage Group LLC and franchised offices which are independently owned and operated. The Coldwell Banker System fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act.

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Musings from the Executive Editor Montecito – the Small Town…and Global Brand?

new Montecito restaurant opened offering California farm-to-table fare. The place looks kind of minimalist Zen meets vertical garden meets avocado toast. It didn’t make a big splash over here nor should it have. Even though the restaurant is literally called “Montecito.” That’s because Montecito opened in the 2nd arrondissement near trendy Rue Saint-Honoré in Paris, in the Kimpton Hotel, a 10-or-so-minute walk from the Louvre. I think it’s kind of a big deal. Why? Because it signifies that even if it had to be dragged kicking and screaming, Montecito has become a global brand. It was not long ago you’d meet people in other parts of the world who’d ask where you were from. You might say “80 miles north of L.A.” or “Santa Barbara,” which some people knew because of the TV series. But few people knew where Montecito was, or they confused it with Mendocino. Today, people all over the world know what Montecito means – and they should. Yes, it’s a small place, but here, we’re doing worldclass work. We’re starting to get our well-earned Michelin stars both literally and metaphorically.

Memo Gracida, featured in this issue, is the greatest player to ever play the sport of kings, and he’s local now, building polo fields as good as he is, but taking them “next level” thanks to Montecitan Kevin Brine’s regenerative soil science. So goodonya, Kevin. The Montecito restaurant in Paris would do well to emulate many of the Santa Ynez Valley restaurants we talk about, such as Mike Gordon’s Nella in Los Olivos as well as his S.Y. Kitchen. The valley is elevating its food game with great new wines and eateries opening seemingly daily. And let’s not forget it was our own Pierre Lafond who was one of the original Pinot pioneers here. We also have a fascinating feature about the Carsey-Wolf Center for Media Studies at UC Santa Barbara. Founded by some of the biggest and smartest figures in media – like Dick Wolf and Marcy Carsey – the Carsey-Wolf Center has become quite possibly the best and most important media studies institute in the country. UCSB never ceases to amaze me. And we happen to know they have other world-class projects in the pipeline as well. A lot more. As always, a shout out to so many busy people who took the time to chat with us: special thanks to Dick Wolf, Marcy Carsey, Scott Frank, and Memo Gracida. And Nacho Figueras for sharing his incredible passion for polo – and his photos! Somehow all this incredible work gets done here quietly, methodically, and generally humbly. Thanks to the people featured in this issue, I no longer think of us as 80 miles north of L.A. Los Angeles is 80 miles south of us. Gwyn Lurie CEO & Executive Editor, Montecito Journal Media Group

Montecito goes global at the Kimpton St. Honoré in Paris

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Is the Carsey-Wolf Center the Best Media Studies Center in the United States?

It is, according to the legendary media juggernauts who are backing it Interview by Les Firestein

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he relatively new field known as “media studies” has never been more important than in our news-bifurcated country. The good news is one of the best media studies programs in the nation is actually right here on the Central Coast: the UC Santa Barbara Film and Media Studies department. Which is a function of our proximity to the info-tainment capital of the world 80 miles south. But it’s also largely a function of multiple major media players who all reside right here in the 805. One such player is Rick Rosen, head of television at the William Morris Endeavor Agency and arguably one of the most powerful people in show business. Rosen is a UCSB poli-sci grad, and when he’s not brokering deals for the biggest players in Hollywood, he’s actively involved on the board of the Carsey-Wolf Center – UCSB’s center for media studies. Says Rosen, “UCSB is as good or better a program at preparing people for a life in media – any media – than UCLA or USC.” Recently I had the opportunity to sit down with the foundational members of Carsey-Wolf at this particularly poignant moment in our nation’s media sojourn – when media power is being consolidated into the hands of so few while, simultaneously, media consumers are increasingly narrowcasting what they are willing to see in their infinity mirrors, from CNN and Fox down to 4chan. I felt blessed to hear what so many media visionaries have to say at this particular time.

Marcy Carsey

n the 1980s, the Carsey-Werner name was the gold standard for TV comedy. For decades, Carsey and her producing partner Tom Werner ran a veritable primetime comedy hit factory. Producing multiple number-one shows such as The Cosby Show, A Different World, Roseanne, Grace Under Fire, 3rd Rock From the Sun, and That ’70s Show, to name just some of their successes. I had written on a few of Carsey’s shows back in the day, so it was fun to catch up. I was also a fan of her Just Folk art gallery in Summerland. LF: Can you tell me why you went so all-in with the Carsey-Wolf Center at UCSB? MC: Well because I really believe in public education. I think we must support it because the states are not supporting it sufficiently. I’m also involved with public education at the University of New Hampshire, which is where I went, where I’ve endowed a school of public

Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher starred in That ‘70s Show long before they moved to Montecito (Photo courtesy Fox Network)

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policy. Dick Wolf and I think it’s critical to our society. Education and opportunity can’t just be for the elites. LF: Media studies are particularly important right now. It seems like we have two separate media nations, or I should say each party seems to have its own media, which, to me, seems to make the country less governable. I don’t know if you agree with that. There’s that old saying “You’re entitled to your own opinion but not your own facts.” However people do seem entitled to their own media, and those extremes on both sides are driving the national conversation. Or should I call it the national pro wrestling shouting match. MC: Oh my God, yes. It could destroy us. I don’t know what you do when you have a population with two separate sets of news based on two different sets of facts. It’s the opposite of common ground. But I’m surprised and aggrieved by the fact that – I don’t know – that people could be led like this by algorithms basically. The algorithm is what’s driving the echo chamber and facilitating people to only hear more of what they want to hear. LF: But I’m guessing you already had a keen sense of the power of the moving image because you did it so well and for so long. MC: Of course I already knew television was powerful, but we knew it from the positive side. Like when Carsey-Werner was in its prime time, we used our platform the opposite of an algorithm. Instead of showing people more of what they already liked, we exposed people to families and lifestyles with which they weren’t necessarily already familiar. We had a lot of positive representations of gay people on our shows, positive images of Black families – and important shows featuring working women, which revealed how circumstance of birth just plants certain people where they are, but that doesn’t by any means mean they’re lesser. I grew up among the people we portrayed on Roseanne, and they were smarter than most people I’ve met who have PhDs, but it was just an accident of birth. However, in our portrayals of the working class, I was well familiar with the positive effects TV could have on the broader culture. But today, seeing TV’s power used as a cudgel the way it so often is now, this is an unfortunate surprise to me. LF: And how does the Carsey-Wolf Center plan to correct this? MC: If students can think critically, they can communicate effectively. I think at the Carsey-Wolf Center, they’re doing a topnotch job of training students to do both. LF: I know you’re personally also going back into television with your reboot of That ’70s Show called That ’90s Show. Will that help? MC: Laughter is always good. Right now, the holy grail for people in my field is to put a show on television – a comedy in my case – that could show our divided America in a perspective that models ways to talk to each other about it. LF: Like your fellow New Englander Norman Lear used to do, right? With so many great shows like All in the Family, The Jeffersons, Good Times, etc. MC: I have my family in Massachusetts, I go back to see them every summer and they’re a fairly reliable bellwether of how politics are going in the country. My brother and I were raised by moderate Eisenhower Republicans, which would now be considered a far-left Democrat. So my family is a mix of moderate Massachusetts Republicans and moderate lefties like me. When my crew has opinions different from mine, of course things can

“ UCSB is as good or better a program preparing people for a life in media – any media – than UCLA or USC.”

– Rick Rosen, William Morris Endeavor Agency

Film still from Grace Under Fire, starring Brett Butler and Dave Thomas (Photo by Frank Carroll)

get tense, but we still listen, we all love each other, the political bias doesn’t matter. My brother and I used to yell at each other something fierce, but after a good exhausting argument, we’d go get a sandwich. LF: Is that because you grew up in Sandwich, Massachusetts? MC: No, I grew up in Weymouth. Sandwich is about an hour away.

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Dick Wolf

t approximately the same time Carsey and Tom Werner were killing it in primetime comedy, over in drama, Dick Wolf was just beginning what would become his Law & Order police procedural empire. Wolf ’s shows not only became the gold standard for network one-hour, but ultimately the tentpole of the entire NBC network. (Today, Wolf has nine hours of programming on network television – six on NBC and three on CBS.) On the day I sat down with Wolf, two auspicious events in the world of media occurred at the same time. Netflix stock lost a third of its value as the streaming network announced they’ve started to lose subscribers, and Elon Musk announced his pursuit of Twitter. Both of which naturally led to discussions about entertainment as a business, the Carsey-Wolf Center, and media “sustainability.” LF: From your perch, where do you think “the media” is going and what is the role the Carsey-Wolf Center for media studies will play in all this? DW: The entire business has changed over the last five years, and it’s going to go through the same upheaval again over the next five. If I had to define it, the Carsey-Wolf Center is hopefully a petri dish that will be evolutionary, but also revolutionary. We should

Mariska Hargitay (Captain Olivia Benson on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit) with Wolf (creator of 456 episodes and counting)

Poster from the original “mothership” Law & Order series that launched a procedural empire (Photo by Frank Carroll)

be – and I think are – the defined leader in figuring out what “new media” is going to be and where it’s going. What’s wonderful about the center is it’s not just a film school. It’s really media sociology. LF: Does the study of media at Carsey-Wolf have anything to do with finding a path through what I’d call “post-truth society”? Is that an important part of what the center will look at? DW: It’s an unfortunate period in our political and sociological history. I watch CNN for two hours, and then go over and watch Fox for half an hour. It’s startling that it’s the same country. I don’t know how you bridge that gap – but I believe the only way it’s going to be successfully accomplished is through forms of media. After all, media is what people are going to be exposed to – it’s what they consume. And it should be and is one of the main functions of the center to discover more of the actual truth and disseminate it. If we can play a part in that healing – great. LF: It’s a big deal that you’re putting your time, energy, and funding into this. I’m sure with the same effort you could have hatched another Law & Order or two. DW: Well, you know how important I think this is. And it just

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dropped into our lap – unscrambling where media is going. But we’re actually the ones best suited to tackle it. Because I don’t care who comes out looking good or bad, I just want things to improve. Which is the best way to go about these things. LF: But Law & Order will soldier on. Will you keep making them ad infinitum? DW: I certainly hope so. It took me 35 years to get to the point where people say yes. Why would I hang it up now? I want to ride all nine horses until they die under me. LF: Why do you think your shows have remained so successful amid all this turbulence in media? How is it that our divided country is somehow unified in their viewership of Law & Order? DW: Firstly, apparently the shows are good and they’re resonating. But on top of that, we’ve always adhered to an actual business model. They’re profitable. Unlike things like, say, Netflix, where the product has always been deficit financed and it’s unclear where and when the revenue would arrive. LF: I always found it fascinating that Netflix kept their viewership information to themselves. And their Dick Wolf with Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Detective Odafin Tutuola, aka Ice-T stockholders seemed to be okay with that. DW: Yeah – big surprise. Until today. The greater fool theory is great until you run out of fools. LF: They’d say, “This performed really well for us.” And we’d all take their word for it. DW: Yeah, well the only one, in my humble opinion, entitled to do that is HBO, because they’ve been so successful for so long, and their marketing machine is so awesome. When you think back about what TV shows have been truly memorable, many of those shows are HBO series. They just have an incredible track record spanning literally decades. Netflix, on the other hand, this is their second time in the tank as a corporation. LF: So the emperor has no clothes? DW: More like the emperor and his whole court are buck naked. Now, mind you, this isn’t me saying, “I told you.” I’ll be the first to tell you I don’t understand algorithms and advanced math. And everyone knows I have no intellectual pretensions about how things should be done. But if you hand me a financial statement or a business plan, I read every one the same way – I turn to the last page and look at the bottom right-hand corner. And I look and say “Oh, that’s good” or “Oh, that’s not so good.” Numbers – well I’m going to say something really stupid here – the numbers do lie. The numbers can be made to lie. So the important thing is getting at the unfiltered numbers and, by extension, getting at the truth. Whether it’s cops or reporters, interrogation is a profound skill. To get people’s information out of them and then knowing how to synthesize it so it leads to some greater irrefutable conclusion – that’s something to be admired. So, yeah, I guess with our TV shows but also, importantly, with Carsey-Wolf, in both cases I guess an obsession of mine is –Dick Wolf, getting to the truth. TV super producer LF: So when they do the miniseries about the precipitous fall of Netflix, who will do that miniseries? Hulu? DW: Like I said. HBO. And I have no doubt they’ll do a great job.

“Interrogation is a profound skill. To get people’s information out of them and then knowing how to synthesize it so it leads to some greater irrefutable conclusion – that’s something to be admired. So, yeah, I guess with our TV shows but also, importantly, with Carsey-Wolf, in both cases I guess an obsession of mine is getting to the truth.”

SUMMER 2022

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Patrice Petro

f the UCSB Film and Media Studies department is one of the elite media studies programs in the nation, one of the MVPs getting the school into that rarefied air is Patrice Petro, the Dick Wolf Director of the Carsey-Wolf Center and presidential chair of media studies at UCSB. Petro is a particularly good fit to lead the center – not just because she was a double-major in film studies and history and earned her master’s degree here as a Gaucho – but she also went on to serve two terms as president of the Society for Cinema and Media Studies, the largest U.S. professional organization for college-level educators, filmmakers, historians, critics,

Patrice Petro with actress Mya Taylor following a screening of Tangerine

“We’re very fortunate in our funding, benefactors, and human resources. Plus we have our secret weapon – very few people don’t want to come to Santa Barbara.” – Patrice Petro, and scholars devoted to the study of the moving image. Which means she basically knows everyone who’s anyone in media studies and has a quarterback’s grasp of the many forces converging on her field all at once. LF: William Morris Endeavor honcho Rick Rosen was talking about the program here. He said, “People commonly know about the UCLA and USC film programs. But we’re definitely in that league if not at the very top.” Do you agree with that statement? PP: Yes, absolutely. LF: But you’re also doing something different here that they’re not doing down in L.A. It seems like your programs are more expansive rather than just straight-up film or TV production. Would you say that’s a fair characterization?

Patrice Petro and Dick Wolf

Chair of Media Studies at UCSB

Petro with Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht director Werner Herzog

SUMMER 2022

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PP: I think that many California film schools are much more oriented toward Hollywood, whereas our programming is first of all more international. Second, we talk about our north star being “collaborative interdisciplinary research on media.” Interdisciplinary is key for us. We believe it’s essential to develop our students as critical thinkers first who then express their ideas through various media. You could say we’re focused on the synthesis of the ideas behind the craft first and the craft is secondary.

“ When Hitler is saying ‘ease up’– that probably means you have a problem.” – Les Firestein LF: Would you say it’s a unique time in our nation’s history to be grappling with issues of who has control over media and who gets to control what images get seen and by whom? PP: It’s an exciting time and a complicated and troubling one. On the other hand, it’s certainly not the first time our nation has been confronted with issues of censorship, the iconography of fascism, and who gets to decide what images and information get seen and by whom. LF: Are you saying there’s an historical American context for what we see happening today? PP: Very much so. In 2017, I curated a film series for the Carsey-Wolf Center called Hollywood Berlin. Our country had just dealt with the Charlottesville attack, and among other films, I showed Fritz Lang’s Fury from 1936, which is all about lynch mobs and mob violence in America. This was Lang’s first Hollywood film made shortly after he fled Nazi Germany for Hollywood. Although critics at the time argued that Lang brought his feelings about his country’s encroaching fascism along with him, we should not forget that Hitler himself looked to U.S. race policy when crafting his own Nuremberg Laws. Nazi praise for American racial restrictions was continuous throughout the early 1930s. And it should be noted that when the Nazis rejected American practices, it was sometimes not because they found them too enlightened, but too harsh. Although released in the ’30s, Fury raises issues – about race, technology, mob violence, the corruption of political and legal institutions – that remain remarkably current for us today. LF: That’s fascinating. There’s that book, Hitler’s American Model, that came out like two years ago that said Hitler based his Nuremberg Laws on our Jim Crow as the shining example of how to codify marginalization. But sometimes he thought we went too far. When Hitler is saying “ease up” – that probably means you have a problem. PP: After World War II with the formation of the United Nations and the crafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the one really difficult thing was getting countries to agree on what was the definition of “freedom of information.” The concern at the time was: How do we create a nonfascist citizenry? A big part of that remedy was education. Investment in public education. Which I know is a big driver for Marcy Carsey, and I know Dick Wolf is concerned about this, and so am I. So coming back to the Center, a big part of what we do is grapple with how we evolve freedom of information. Access to media? Censorship in the media? And how do we teach about it? That’s something we grapple with every day. LF: And how do you do that? How do you physically manifest that? PP: The cornerstone of our program is five main research rubrics: Environmental Media, Global Media, Information Media, Media and Democracy, and Media Industries. We present screening events in the evening in the beautiful Pollock Theater, which was generously supported by the family of Dr. Joseph Pollock and his son, producer/director Tom Pollock. These events are open to both the campus and the community. Our post-screening discussions with media-makers and scholars are recorded for presentation on UCTV, where they have been streamed more than 16 million times. We also put on academic conferences, fund faculty research projects, and create innovative programs for undergraduate and graduate study of media. LF: The moving image has certainly come a long way from the days when film production was outlawed from most parts of the country and there was a seven-year delay in broadcasting the Zapruder film for the public. PP: Absolutely. LF: And you guys are on the leading edge of centrifuging it all out and providing clarity. PP: We’re very fortunate in our funding, benefactors, and human resources. Plus we have our secret weapon – very few people don’t want to come to Santa Barbara.

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Scott Frank

riter/director Scott Frank has had quite the storied career, pun intended. The screenplay he developed while an undergrad Gaucho became the Jodie Foster vehicle Little Man Tate. Frank has penned many acclaimed films along the way, including Get Shorty, Minority Report, and Out of Sight. More recently, Frank wrote, produced, and directed the highly acclaimed The Queen’s Gambit. Frank notably received his film training at UCSB, to which he credits much of his success and where today he sits on their external advisory board. LF: Tell me how you found yourself at UCSB. I know you’re originally from Los Gatos. SF: I had to stay in California. We couldn’t afford to go out of state. We came and looked, and I just liked the campus and, really, I just felt closer in vibe to UCSB than I did to any of the other universities. LF: And then you had, I take it, obviously a good experience here. SF: Oh, very good. It changed my life. LF: How so? SF: A couple things. It was certain teachers. It was Paul Lazarus, who used to teach screenwriting there many, many years ago (he passed away). And it was Chuck Wolfe, and a third teacher named Dana Driskel, who really changed my life in terms of what I thought about film. Paul Lazarus was the first person to tell me I The Queen’s Gambit actors Moses Ingram, Marielle Heller, and Anya TaylorJoy with writer/producer/director (and UCSB grad) Scott Frank

The 2002 film Minority Report written by Scott Frank and featuring Tom Cruise

should write scripts and I should just go for it. I was too young to have a fallback. I’d written a sample for him, and Chuck Wolfe taught me about the history of cinema in a way I’d never explored it, and he taught me to think about it in ways I’d never thought about it – what was happening beyond the storytelling and all the different ways stories could be told. And Dana Driskel, in terms of production, because we didn’t have a lot of money. So it was good because we really had to focus hard on the basics, and he really taught me about editing. They were all tremendous influences on me. LF: That sounds great. SF: I ended up as a film studies major. And the other thing about the film program here was because it was so small, it wasn’t competing with the production programs at UCLA or USC. It was more a film studies program, but it was very interdisciplinary. And that was a huge thing for me, because I was taking other liberal arts classes, which, as a writer or any artist, is really helpful because you’re not just focused on movies. You’re not just focused on American art forms. You’re focused on all different languages, films from other countries, literature, history, art history, and all that plays into your creative sensibilities and your creative reservoir. And so I felt really lucky that I had that experience. It really changed everything for me. And it’s the design of the program even to this day. LF: Interestingly, in my opinion, it really comes across in your work that you have a breadth of knowledge, that you’re not just a geek who can move hardware.

SUMMER 2022

Les Firestein: “ It really comes across in your work that you have a breadth of knowledge, that you’re not just a geek who can move hardware.”

Rene Russo, Gene Hackman, Danny DeVito, and John Travolta in Get Shorty, written by Scott Frank (Photo courtesy MGM)

SF: I probably am just a geek who can move hardware, but UCSB’s film studies program definitely had a profound effect on me. It changed the way I thought about stories and storytelling, and it also changed just how I thought about where stories come from and how to source your stories – not thinking purely in terms of copying other American movies, but just really trying to be influenced and be open to influences from other places. That interdisciplinary part of it, really, has been with me since that time. LF: Well, that probably helped you get going so early. You filled your tank early so that you were able to do Little Man Tate, stuff like that. SF: Well, I don’t know. I wrote Little Man Tate while I was at UCSB. Basically a version of it for sure – not the version of it – but it was definitely in my head at the time. I was just very motivated. And I think I was just singularly focused on being a writer. And so I did whatever it took to make that happen. LF: Why do you think that was? I’m just curious. SF: I just loved it. It felt like the thing I’d always wanted to do. I’d been doing it my whole life and didn’t really understand, until Paul Lazarus told me that I could do it for my life, and, really, since I was 24 – going on 38 years now – it’s all I’ve ever done. I’ve only done one thing in my life, and that is all sourced to my experience here in Santa Barbara. LF: Tell me about your involvement with Carsey-Wolf and what you think they can do. Or is it just an extension of what you were doing there as an undergraduate? SF: Well, early on, I was involved with the university and with the film program in an advisory capacity, and we’d begun talking about having some center that combined various media because they could see, even then, that it was all becoming one thing. So to have a place where you could look at and examine everything together seemed like a really good way to go. That’s what we focused on. Then we began raising money and we involved Dick Wolf and Marcy Carsey,

Scott Frank: “ I probably am just a geek who can move hardware, but UCSB’s film studies program definitely had a profound effect on me.” and they became hugely instrumental in making it happen, both in terms of their energy, charisma, and their financial support. There would be no Carsey-Wolf Center obviously without Carsey or Wolf, and it goes well beyond simply writing checks. They were really involved and part of all those initial meetings and had a lot to say in terms of the design and organization. I think everybody understood that this center was going to be an unusual place to study media, and there was nothing like it happening. And, again, I was hammering the whole interdisciplinary aspect of it – that this must be something where we’re really focused on the unique design of the program and blending other programs. And so you’ll see there are programs with environmental studies, there are programs with communication, and there are programs with all sorts of other departments within the university. LF: It’s interesting. I went to NYU film school for a year and didn’t love it. And then I went to Columbia Film for a year, which was also meh. NYU, Columbia, UCLA, USC, they feel more to me like, I shouldn’t say this in the article, but they feel more like trade schools to me than UCSB. SF: Well, I’ll say it in the article. My problem with film schools is that they’re so expensive and to justify the cost of the curriculum – most of which is useless – they create all these courses that don’t matter instead of creating a workshop situation where it’s set up for you to try things and fail, not learn about how to outline a comedy, or how to pitch, or writing a half hour. None of that is a part of it. It’s all about doing it and then looking at it and examining it and talking about it, and it all is a conversation that doesn’t begin with craft, it begins with intention. And that’s something I learned working, now for 30 years, with the Sundance Screenwriters Lab. Craft becomes a part of the conversation, but it doesn’t lead the conversation. The UCSB program isn’t organized around things

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anybody can learn. It’s organized around artistic intention, which is a major difference. LF: That is a major difference, yeah. SF: And film schools don’t do that. The American Film Institute, I think, is more of a workshop environment. But these other classes, you can learn by watching or reading, and they’re not important, and you listen to podcasts and lectures that are all teaching you very craft-oriented things that you can learn elsewhere. And, worse, it’s reverse engineering. It’s looking at something and talking about how it was made, which is, creatively, not such a good thing. And the preponderance of film schools, I find – both undergraduate and graduate – are focused on that. If you want to be a writer, the best thing you can do is read, and the best thing you can read is not scripts. Read books. And you can read scripts to learn a little of how...if there’s a movie you like, read that script, and see what they do, but you don’t need to spend a fortune on film school. LF: Do you think the media is in crisis? SF: I think media may always be in crisis, but storytelling is thriving, and stories are thriving. And the delivery system and the monetization questions, all those things are in flux and seem to be changing weekly, but I do think that the desire for stories has never been greater. LF: Interesting. SF: Two places I look at and see as really interesting examples of thriving storytelling are documentaries because not that long ago,

it was very hard to get anyone to watch a documentary. It felt like medicine. And it was very difficult to get young people to watch them. Now docs are some of the most unbelievably compelling stories, and once you get in the habit of watching them, they’re right up there with the other genres of things people want to go watch. LF: Why do you suppose that is? SF: The reason is because they’re telling really good stories, they’re curating characters and events and incidents, and they’re turning that into a story. Instead of coming up with some concept and then backing into it or designing something, they’re gathering what makes stories, which is information, cultural detail, all the things that you learn in a liberal arts education, to consume and digest, and then they figure out the story. And, oftentimes, the story they think they’re telling – when they finish the documentary – is very different, and people love these stories. And the second example, I would say, are podcasts. Podcasts are really popular. Why? Because they’re telling stories, and they don’t even have a visual component. It’s like old-time radio. But people love them, and I think that’s a huge thing. And I think that really is an important factor for what’s happening in the world in terms of story. Now how those stories get delivered, how those stories get financed? Dick, I think, is right, in a sense that it’s all in flux right now, and one could argue in a crisis. Fortunately, no place is better poised to unscramble that media miasma than the UCSB Carsey-Wolf Center. And the great news is: It’s just a $20 Uber from wherever you’re reading this.

The 2020 Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit starring Anya Taylor-Joy and written, produced, and directed by Scott Frank SUMMER 2022

SANTA BARBARA

BECAUSE

THE SANTA BARBARA POLO & RACQUET CLUB (PHOTO BY MICHELLE LAUREN)

Top local players and patrons are doubling down on Santa Barbara polo, some with dreams of unseating Palm Beach as the North American epicenter of the sport

SUMMER 2022

POLO. YOLO.

STORY BY LES FIRESTEIN

KEN BURNS, the documentarian extraordinaire, has said of

Ralph Lauren’s polo brand, “It is about the aspiration – it’s ‘dreaming forward.’” And The Rake Magazine of London (“The Modern Voice of Classic Elegance”) has said of Ralph Lauren’s version of the polo shirt, “It’s so much more than a piece of clothing…[it’s] the point of entry into a dream world.” There’s a reason polo became the poster child of aristocracy and “the sport of kings.” And there’s a reason that from the entire universe of things, Mr. Lauren chose a polo player as the insignia for his aspirational brand, to convey – in the blink of an eye – quality, elegance, and power. And there’s a reason that image has endured. That reason is: It works. But even before Ralph Lauren embroidered his first polo player on a piece of fabric a half-century ago, Santa Barbara had been going hard on polo – since 1894 – with a local flavor that today is more robust than ever, surprisingly economically integrated, and taking it to the next level. In fact, Santa Barbara polo is getting ready to explode. I’m not suggesting a polo-ponysian war against Palm Beach, the current epicenter of North American polo. But there’s every reason to believe the Central Coast could ultimately make a better home base for American polo in the long run. And we will quite possibly get there.

SUMMER 2022

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THE SANTA BARBARA POLO & RACQUET CLUB (PHOTO BY MICHELLE LAUREN)

ENTER MEMO GRACIDA, STABLE GENIUS

uillermo “Memo” Gracida – one of the greatest (if not the greatest) polo players to ever live – recently told me our modern climate has been kinder to Santa Barbara than it’s been to Palm Beach, from a polo perspective. “Florida is often too humid for polo. And there are too many rainy days,” he says. “It’s not great for the players, and it’s worse for the horses. Santa Barbara and Santa Ynez are simply better for polo year round. Really, there’s no comparison.” And Gracida should know. He and his brother Carlos won virtually every important tournament in international polo for decades, making Gracida the acknowledged Player of the Century, perhaps all centuries. He is also a perennial favorite of the perennial Queen, Elizabeth.

MEMO GRACIDA, PERHAPS THE GREATEST HORSEMAN EVER, WITH HIS WIFE, MEGHAN, ALSO AN ACCOMPLISHED POLO PLAYER. OF COURSE. (PHOTO BY KIM REIERSON)

SUMMER 2022

THE SANTA BARBARA POLO & RACQUET CLUB (PHOTOS BY MICHELLE LAUREN)

MEMO GRACIDA WITH QUEEN ELIZABETH

SUMMER 2022

MONTECITO MUD IS MORE THAN JUST WHAT MY WIFE CALLS MY COFFEE

oday, Gracida has gone from playing the best polo on Earth to making the best earth for polo. He is spending this chapter of his life crafting the finest polo fields known to man. And, oddly enough, Gracida is fabricating those fields with mud from Montecito’s 2018 debris flow. Doesn’t that just figure? If you’ve ever wondered, Where did all that mud go from our January 9, 2018 flood? A lot of it went out to sea, but 1,000 or so truckloads of Montecito mud made their way up to our polo-playing friends in Santa Ynez. That dirt has been cleaned and optimized and compacted within an inch of its life. Garden of Eden dirt may not have been this virgin.

SEBASTIAN, TENNYSON, AND EMMANUEL BRINE HAVE TAKEN THEIR DAD’S INTEREST IN POLO ONE STEP FURTHER (PHOTOS BY KIM REIERSON)

MEMO, KEVIN BRINE, AND LA HERRADURA

oday, Gracida is putting his money (and some of the money of others) where his mallet is. He has founded La Herradura Polo and Equestrian Center in Santa Ynez, where he is building the best polo fields that can be built, training people and horses, and generally trying to elevate the Central Coast to the polo center of this country. If you doubt Gracida can do this – don’t. There is literally nothing Gracida has not achieved in the world of polo. And he has done this sort of thing before in Florida, Mexico, and Argentina. Having Gracida engineer your polo fields is like having Tiger Woods design your golf course. Or Elon Musk build your EV. Isn’t that the Santa Barbara way? To have the best work in the world done quietly by the best people who can do it? Who’s that changing your oil? Mario Andretti. La Herradura has 45 acres of everything a polo player needs and can service everyone from the top players in the world to someone who has never been on a horse. Gracida sometimes calls La Herradura “Memo University” – a one-stop facility that offers stabling, the best equine training known to man or animal, and charity events and clinics. You can even have your horses trained by Gracida himself. The idea is La Herradura takes care of everything so the clients can just enjoy polo. More importantly, La Herradura is doing all this with the unique Central Coast environmental regenerative flavor because one of Gracida’s biggest advocates in all this is Kevin Brine, a financial wizard whose three sons are being trained at “Memo U.” Prior to meeting Memo, Brine’s entire experience with polo was wearing the Ralph Lauren polo shirt. However, fortuitously, Brine originally trained in agriculture and soil science and devotes much of his time to exploring the cutting edge of sustainable agriculture and best soil practices, as with a charity he deeply supports, the White Buffalo Land Trust. White Buffalo “promotes and develops systems of regenerative agriculture for local, regional, and global impact.” Brine also cofounded Artemis IV, the successful fund for sustainable agriculture. Says Brine, “Right now, Santa Barbara and Santa Ynez polo are benefitting from this incredible convergence of the top people using the most advanced environmental science in a booming region with great weather.” So the table is certainly set for the Santa Barbara region’s ascension toward America’s #1 spot for polo.

SUMMER 2022

THE INFINITY LOOP OF CENTRAL COAST POLO PROGRESS

rine and Gracida are two of the key players propelling Santa Barbara County polo into the next echelon. “La Herradura polo fields are outstanding and world class,” says Joel Baker, himself a legend of American polo who lives in nearby Buellton. And as local investors and stars elevate polo in the valley, the rising tide is also lifting neighboring Santa Ynez. In turn, as Santa Ynez, Buellton, and Los Alamos level up (with better hotels and restaurants, see “From Sideways…to Straight Up”) – with even the habitually quaint Solvang expanding its offerings – this makes our enclave yet more attractive for the polo cognoscenti. But Brine and Gracida aren’t the only polo game in town. There’s another team shining a light, helping to elevate polo in the region. This year, at the Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club in Carpinteria, the big draw is the Los Padres polo team. Specifically its leader – the most famous polo player in the world, face of the sport (and face of Polo Ralph Lauren), and quite possibly the face my wife sees when I turn out the lights – is the ever-swarthy Nacho Figueras. THE SANTA BARBARA POLO & RACQUET CLUB (PHOTOS BY MICHELLE LAUREN)

SUMMER 2022

WE TRIED TO GET NACHO TO TAKE A BAD PICTURE. WE STRUCK OUT AGAIN.

SUMMER 2022

igueras, who spends each summer here, tells me, “I believe Santa Barbara polo can eventually get to the same level as Palm Beach.” Nacho points to our no-longer-referred-to-as “sleepy” enclave having the backbone (and now the infrastructure) to support polo being played at the highest level – especially the burgeoning number of tournament-level fields (we’re approaching 15). And Figueras also notes the wide and deep crop of impressive local upcoming talent, including the Brays (Jesse and Graham) as well as the Klentner boys (Luke and Jake) who ride for their dad, Justin, for Klentner Ranch. Not to mention our local Westmont polo team is really, really good and sometimes the national champion. Figueras is also quick to point out that part of the California flavor – but especially our local SB flavor – is “you don’t have to be rich” as the Artist Formerly Known As Prince used to sing. Figueras points to himself and many others as examples of accomplished polo players who did not emerge from aristocracy. Claire Hobika, the barn manager for Klentner Ranch, tells me her own story of learning polo in a college club – but emerging from college flat broke, then working at various stables, then going to work as a journeyman groom before working her way up to barn manager at Klentner. Along the way, Hobika not only got to borrow horses and learn polo, but she was exposed to pretty much the crème de la crème of the sport. Hobika says there are, in fact, advantages to not being born into the polo-stocracy. “Take a player like Jesse Bray,” she says. “He wasn’t born into privilege, he had to work with a lot of horses that are not so nice. And learning to work with difficult horses in turn makes you a better and more strategic polo player.” CLAIRE HOBIKA, BARN MANAGER FOR KLENTNER RANCH, IS UP FROM BOOTSTRAPS (PHOTO BY HAYLEY HEATLEY)

SUMMER 2022

KAREEM ROSSER LEARNED THE SPORT THROUGH WORKTORIDE.NET (PHOTO BY LEZLIE HINER)

THE SANTA BARBARA POLO & RACQUET CLUB (PHOTO BY MICHELLE LAUREN)

PHOTO BY TERRY FINCHER PRINCESS DIANA ARCHIVE - GETTY IMAGES (COURTESY OF ASSOULINE)

SUMMER 2022

SBPRC'S SUMMERTIME CREW: CASSIE WALKER, CAMERON BRUNO, SYDNEY FELDHAUS, SEAN WILLIAMS, BELLA ABUSAID, AND TAJ PETERSON

(PHOTOS BY MICHELLE LAUREN)

SUMMER 2022

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n fact, adds Figueras, “Sometimes the least advantaged make it to the very top.” Figueras tells of his own middle-class background (his dad was an agricultural engineer like Kevin Brine), and he points to the incredible work of organizations like Work to Ride that bring inspired stories of people such as Kareem and Daymar Rosser and Malachi Lyles who started life in the most disadvantaged neighborhood in Philadelphia called, aptly, The Bottom, then went on to become championship players and eventually Ralph Lauren models just like Figueras. Of course there’s one other person on the Los Padres polo team who can’t help but shine a light on Santa Barbara polo and help elevate it. He sometimes goes by the name Harry Wales (no relation to The Outlaw Josey Wales), though he is of relation to the Queen of England. Prince Harry, Montecito’s most famous ginger (aside from Conan O’Brien) is Figueras’s teammate. What interests us for the

purpose of this story is: Is Harry Wales actually good at polo? And, just as importantly, is he good for the sport? Figueras tells me that Harry – whom he has played alongside and been friends with for almost two decades – is in fact a great guy, and I hear from others like Justin Klentner that Harry Wales is “100% cool” and “does not require any special handling.” Okay, so HRH Harry is apparently a good guy. But can he play? In fact, a lot of people say Harry is a very good player – and also exceptionally brave. Which shouldn’t be surprising. After all, the man was a helicopter pilot and gunner in Afghanistan who not infrequently engaged Taliban insurgents. Did you do that? How cowardly could the man be?

SUMMER 2022

THE IRRESISTIBLE FOMO OF POLO

have consumed an absurd number of coffee table books in my lifetime. Almost as many coffee table books as coffee. But I have to say, undoubtedly one of the best and most sumptuous and action packed is Assouline’s Polo Heritage by Aline Coquelle and Nacho Figueras. When a coffee table book succeeds, it takes you on a journey that perfectly encapsulates a time or a place or a vibe. You feel like you can smell the horses and practically feel the thundering hoofbeats. Nacho is not just a great rider but a great writer.

’m also a sucker for books that are just about a single object, but where that object is expressed maybe 1,000 different ways. Who knew the “common” polo shirt was imbued with so much meaning? Obviously Ralph Lauren did, but a lot of fascinating theories are put forth by a lot of other interesting people as well. Rizzoli’s Ralph Lauren’s Polo Shirt – with an introduction by Ken Burns – has many great pictures of the sport along with various luminaries in their Polo regalia from Kanye West to JFK Jr. and Mark Zuckerberg. Oh, and in case you were jonesing for more: Nacho Figueras. – L.F.

SUMMER 2022

PHOTO BY DELFINA BLAQUIER (COURTESY OF NACHO FIGUERAS)

POLO RALPH LAUREN LOGO EMBROIDERY (COURTESY OF POLO RALPH LAUREN )

SUMMER 2022

oel Baker says of Figueras and Harry’s Los Padres team that Figueras is playing very high-level polo – especially for a guy that good looking. Baker also confirms that Harry is an excellent rider and strategist and still has many years to develop. Remember, average longevity in Harry’s bloodline is something like a century, so give the man some time. It’s annoying when the privileged are also talented, and both Baker and Gracida agree that beyond the attention Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, bring to Santa Barbara polo, they confirm his horsemanship (and the whole Windsor family for that matter) is actually pretty blessed from an equestrian perspective. Gracida has played with – and in many cases trained – many of the royals, and he speaks of them all as “from very capable to truly excellent,” including Prince Charles but especially Prince Philip, who had an extremely legit 5-goal handicap. Signs indicate Santa Barbara polo is most definitely on the rise. All of our local programs are seeing record enrollment. There are capacity crowds at the matches. There is beaucoup press coverage (thanks, Nacho and Harry). And there is no dearth of name-brand sponsors. We benefit from the long-view vision of mavericks and disruptors like Kevin Brine and Memo Gracida. Once upon a time, Deauville was the center of polo in Europe, now it’s not even the center of polo in France, losing its crown to Chantilly. Could Palm Beach and Santa Barbara experience the same kind of polo supremacy dosey-doe? PHOTO BY ALINE COQUELLE (COURTESY OF ASSOULINE)

THE KLENTNER CLAN (HERE, JUSTIN WITH HIS SON JAKE), IS MAKING QUITE THE NAME FOR ITSELF IN POLO (PHOTO BY MICHELLE LAUREN)

SUMMER 2022

SANTA BARBARA POLO & RACQUET CLUB 2022 18-GOAL SERIES (Tournament games are on Fridays and Sundays) For more information, visit www.sbpolo.com. July 8 to 17 Rosewood Miramar Beach Robert Skene Trophy July 22 to August 7 Farmers & Merchants Banks USPA Silver Cup August 7 USPA America Cup August 12 to 28 Netjets Pacific Coast Open

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LA HERRADURA POLO AND EQUESTRIAN CENTER USPA TOURNAMENTS For more information, visit memogracida.com. June 23 to July 3 USPA Congressional Cup Carlos Gracida International Challenge 12-goal August 11 to 14 USPA Centennial Cup 6 to 8-goal August 24 to 28 USPA Pacific Coast Circuit Women’s Challenge 5th Annual Sunny Hale Invitational A Flight 16 to 20-goal, B Flight 8 to 12-goal

SPECIAL EVENTS July 9 10th Annual Santa Ynez Valley Polo Classic benefiting People Helping People September 21 to 25 Anything Goes Finale Tournament 0 to 12-goal (played on handicap)

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SUMMER 2022

igueras chimes in, “Palm Beach and Santa Barbara are both outstanding; I don’t think it has to be one or the other. The U.S. is a big enough place where you can have east coast Palm Beach and the west coast Palm Beach which is Santa Barbara-Santa Ynez. Santa Barbara may have better weather for year-round playing, but it’s more a matter of which location is closer to you and your horses. And which vibe you prefer.” There are the clichés of polo we all know – pageantry and hat contests. The whole thing can seem like an extended Grey Poupon ad meets Easter. But in reality, the polo crowd does not wear monocles or pince-nez, and I’ve only seen one person there who looks like the Community Chest guy from Monopoly. Him aside, some of the best and most famous practitioners of this ancient sport – not to mention many of the best of these magnificent equine creatures – are all making Santa Barbara their home. So, once you’re done ogling the high-goal Argentinian players (and the equally attractive spectators) in July and August at the Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club, check out La Herradura in Santa Ynez. There, you can go up to see the Michael Jordan of the sport, enjoy some of the best polo being played in the world, then approach Gracida and shake his hand. Just like Queen Elizabeth does. Then simply appreciate that you just touched the greatest athlete to ever play this thousandsof-years-old sport and soak in his class and infectious enthusiasm. It’s definitely worth the drive.

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Rustic open beams adorn the great room, and an expansive display of windows and doors invite the outdoors to infuse the interiors. The upper level overlooks the 17th Fairway of the Valley Club Golf Course, and captures the glow of the Santa Ynez mountains. French doors throughout the home open onto a resortlike pool area. The 1 acre property also includes a 20+ tree orchard, mature landscaping, and a 4 car garage. Ennisbrook is one of Montecito’s most desirable gated communities, providing gate guards, 50(+/-) acres of open space, and access to hiking trails. Located just minutes from The Rosewood Miramar Resort, Butterfly Beach, and world class dining and shopping on Montecito’s Upper and Lower Villages. Ideally located in the Montecito Union School District.

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SUMMER 2022

Rebecca Riskin’s Legacy The legendary founder of Riskin Partners Estate Group was the personification of “Old Montecito” culture and values Story by Les Firestein

It’s hard

to believe it’s been five years since the drought that led to the Thomas Fire and the subsequent Montecito debris flow. A lot has happened since then. That was a whole pandemic and eight variants ago. In early 2018, Montecito suffered some significant losses. We lost 23 citizens. But we came back stronger than ever thanks to the resolve and quiet strength that seem to be woven into the very fabric of this enclave, a strength that doesn’t necessarily reveal itself till the chips are down. That understated strength and grace was nowhere better exemplified than in the life and legacy of the late real estate maven Rebecca Riskin. My friend Vicki Riskin (her cousin) who created the memorial for Rebecca at the new Randall Road debris basin had this to say: “Rebecca was simply the most effervescent person I ever knew. She saw only the best in people and at the same time was a strong and effective businesswoman and wonderful mother.” Rebecca was also the number one real estate agent here for many years running. The story of how Rebecca’s eponymous team retained its premier status despite its founder’s passing speaks to the foundation Rebecca built and legacy values that always endure. “We lost our founder but not our foundation,” says Jasmine Tennis, a partner at the real estate group who was mentored by Rebecca.

SUMMER 2022

The story

of Rebecca Riskin and the story of Montecito are inseparable. Rebecca originally trained as a ballerina and danced for the American Ballet Theatre in New York until an injury cut her career in dance short. As a result, Rebecca brought the grace and work ethic of ballet – while making it all look effortless – to her second career as a realtor. Indeed real estate was in Rebecca’s blood. There’s a showbiz side of the family, but her mother, Ruthie, was also one of the original house flippers of Los Angeles before flipping was a “thing” – before there were 30 reality TV shows with the word “flip” in their title. Rebecca was known as the “First Lady of Luxury Real Estate,” leading more than $2 billion in deals of Santa Barbara prime filet, but this was not to say she was precious or pompous or pretentious. “She treated everyone with dignity, that was part of the culture she created,” says Dina Landi, the Riskin Partners Estate Group managing partner. “She treated everyone with equal respect – from the owner of the $20 million house to the gardeners who worked there. Nor did she consider herself above the fray.” Landi tells the story of arriving with Rebecca to show a home whose owner was clearly struggling with mental illness and where the condition of the home could only be described as abject squalor. “The place was in as horrible condition as anything I’ve ever seen. Let your imagination paint the picture – it was that. And Rebecca just grabbed a broom and some trash bags and said, “Ladies, we’ve got 15 minutes to make this place perfect. That was her work ethic.” Rebecca when she danced with the American Ballet Theatre

Robert

Riskin, Rebecca’s son who came into the business in 2014, says, “Montecito is all about lifestyle. And my mom would sometimes put in an incredible amount of effort to make that fantasy come to life, of a place that’s effortless. She nailed presentation. She used to say, ‘We’re selling Santa Barbara. We’re selling sunshine.’ She was also a seven-day-a-weeker, 365 days a year, always reachable, and always responsive. If you’re wondering the secret of my mom’s success, it was simply that.” “On top of all that she was an incredible mentor and role model,” says Sarah Hanacek, another partner. “Dina and I came into the company as Rebecca’s assistants but she always had bigger plans for us – she was always grooming us to be full-on associates.” “And we, in turn, were trying to help Rebecca carve out more time for her family,” continues Landi. “Ironically, that Monday night of January 8 to 9 when Rebecca died was Rebecca’s first ever Monday off from work.” Rebecca and Robert Riskin – the mother and son seamlessly worked alongside each other with deep love and respect

SUMMER 2022

Rebecca (middle) poses with Montecito’s top realtors in the early 1990s

I ask the partners if celebrities love Montecito because it’s a great place to pretend you’re normal and cosplay a normal life. “There’s not a scene here,” says Tennis. “So only a certain kind of celebrity actually puts down roots here. And that tends to be a person with ‘Old Montecito’ values.”

WINTER 2021

The five Riskin Partners in 2016: (left to right) Jasmine Tennis, Dina Landi, Rebecca Riskin, Robert Riskin, and Sarah Hanacek

When

the mudslides took Rebecca’s life, Dina and her husband were staying in the Riskin guest house and were eventually rescued by helicopter. As the debris finally got cleared, there were those who thought Rebecca’s business might dry up without her. Some thought Riskin’s founder was as critical to Riskin Partners Estate Group as Steve Jobs was to Apple. However, in both cases, the founders built something that could survive – and even grow – in their absence. That was by design. “In fact, Rebecca had a succession plan already in place,” says Landi. “She was spending fewer days at the physical office or at

showings and more days with her grandkids. They were her big motivator to step back…a little.” Those concerned Rebecca had taken her special sauce with her – the truth is Rebecca’s work ethic and actual ethics had already been implanted in her four junior partners. “Rebecca’s secret sauce was integrity,” says Hanacek. “And putting the right people in the right house. That gave her joy.” Landi continues, “Rebecca was aggressively thorough but not aggressive with people. Even with other agents. It just wouldn’t make sense since 95 percent of our deals involve another broker.” Says Hanacek, “Rebecca simply implemented the ‘Old Montecito’ values of treating everyone with fairness and respect and assuming good intentions.”

SUMMER 2022

The Riskin Partners team in 2022: (left to right) Samantha Joyner, Jasmine Tennis, Robert Riskin, Sarah Hanacek, Dina Landi, Erin Lammers, and Eliza Murray

“ Montecito is all about lifestyle. And my mom would sometimes put in an incredible amount of effort to make that fantasy come to life, of a place that’s effortless.”

– Robert Riskin

The results

speak for themselves. Riskin Partners Estate Group has retained its leadership position and is the number two small real estate group in the nation, completing nearly $1 billion in sales last year alone. I asked them if Montecito’s frothy market has changed the composition of Montecito and if “Old Montecito” Rebecca would have liked the “new” Montecito. With the influx of money that has come into the 93108, the folks at Riskin Partners Estate Group see only positives. “What was good about Montecito before is better now,” says Hanacek. They see more money flowing in for public schools and for public works. They say there’s better food, and just generally a higher level of already good resources. Everyone has upped their game. Sure, the cars may have changed from clanky Wagoneers to 600-hp sleek Italian stealth wedges, but thanks to businesses such as Riskin Partners Estate Group and the ethos of its founder, maybe this place is slightly more showy but it’s also open a little later. “I also feel like in the ether, just as it was before, this community is as ready as ever for anything life throws at us and ‘build back better’ is more than just a slogan,” says Landi.

SUMMER 2022

Las Armas, a 1929 Spanish colonial revival estate located at 770 Hot Springs Road and currently offered at $18,500,000

Can

the market continue? “People who could live anywhere continue to choose to live here,” says Robert. Look at Adam Levine (the singer is a Riskin client). “Adam and his wife, Behati, were very intentional about not wanting to raise their kids in L.A. And Adam should know – he was raised in L.A. I think Montecito will always be an optimal marinade for a family.” The founder’s son continues

that celebrities have always liked and always will like Montecito. I ask the partners if that’s because it’s a great place to pretend you’re normal and cosplay a normal life. “There’s not a scene here,” says Tennis. “So only a certain kind of celebrity actually puts down roots here. And that tends to be a person with ‘Old Montecito’ values.” I ask for an example. “Actually, Ellen [DeGeneres] is one of those people,” says Robert. “We crossed paths several times before January 9, 2018. But after everything happened with the debris flow, Ellen would check in with me pretty regularly. In real life, she has this huge heart and she really cares. We just kind of created a friendship that way. Then eventually she started working with us. And I think she’s a big part of us being able to continue with all the success we’ve had.” Since Rebecca’s passing, the Riskin group has taken the baton handed to them by their legendary founder and built something stronger than physical; they have built something meta-physical. When you stop by the Randall Road debris basin memorial or take a sit on a Riskin-dedicated hiking trail bench, consider doffing your cap to Rebecca. She, and the values she lived by, are a big part of Dedicated by the Santa Barbara Bucket Brigade, Rebecca Riskin’s memorial bench is located along the main trail through the what makes this place so special. Ennisbrook open space. The bench was built and installed by David Moseley, a local craftsman.

SUMMER 2022

PHOTO CREDIT: ROGER DAVIES

SUMMER 2022

Kenneth Rexroth A poet of Montecito Story by Anthony Wall

f I had to pick a favorite park in the world, it would have to be the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris. Not just for its rolling green lawns, ornamental fountains, and sycamore-lined promenades, but for its marvelous statues and busts. Instead of honoring the typical senators and soldiers, the Jardin du Luxembourg also features memorials to French poets – Verlaine, Baudelaire, Murger. If Montecito were to follow the lead of the Parisians and memorialize a poet, it should be Kenneth Rexroth. While Rexroth is more generally associated with San Francisco, he lived in Montecito for the last 14 years of his life – more than enough time for Montecito to lay some claim to him. And it would be a claim well worth making, as Rexroth was a seminal figure in 20th-century American arts and letters. A true Renaissance man, Rexroth not only was an innovative and influential poet but a talented painter, editor, translator of

Japanese and Chinese poetry, educator, social critic, outdoorsman, and raconteur, as well as a notorious lover of wine and women (he married four times). Although Rexroth’s body of work stands solidly on its own, he is perhaps best known today as a mentor to several younger writers who would go on to play significant roles in some of the most important West Coast literary and cultural movements of the last century. While living in San Francisco in the 1940s, having already established himself as a highly regarded poet, Rexroth presided over lively bohemian soirées in his Potrero Hill flat. At such events, a swirl of young writers, artists, and intellectuals would hotly debate literature and politics, passionately recite their poetry, drink wine, and dance through the night. Such an important number of poets and intellectuals emerged from this Rexroth-inspired milieu of the late 1940s that this cultural moment is now referred to as the “San Francisco Renaissance.”

SUMMER 2022

ightning struck again in the mid-’50s when a group of wildly irreverent young writers from around the country trekked to San Francisco to be part of its creative environment. They included Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and Gary Snyder. The then middle-aged Rexroth took these rowdy iconoclasts under his wing. He was one of the first recognized writers and critics to support and promote what became known as the Beat Generation. Yanking poetry out of the staid halls of academia, Rexroth and his Beat cohorts often performed in dimly lit Tenderloin jazz cellars, passionately reciting their poetry on stage as shades-wearing jazzmen improvised floating sax lines in the background. TIME magazine anointed Rexroth as “Father of the Beats.” Rexroth’s seminal influence continued into the 1960s, as he was one of the first important American writers to integrate into his works themes of Buddhism, pacifism, love of nature, and liberated sexuality. All were themes that would inspire and shape

Gary Snyder

Allen Ginsberg

ewly inspired by this retreat, Rexroth decided to leave the overheated urban scene of San Francisco and move to Santa Barbara. However, he did not relocate here to slip into quiet retirement. In addition to pursuing new themes in his writing, Rexroth wanted to pass on the benefit of his considerable erudition and unique insights in other ways than writing. Ed Loomis, then chairman of the English department at UC Santa Barbara, was a great admirer of Rexroth and gave him a teaching position at UCSB for the 1968-1969 academic year. Rexroth moved into a house on Pimiento Lane in Montecito near Manning Park. His initial impressions of Santa Barbara life were not entirely positive, as he felt that other than among the college students, the then-prevailing social environment was less than completely friendly to his left-leaning politics. However, Rexroth eventually settled in, and in 1969 moved to another house nearby that ended up being where he would spend the rest of his life. Dower House on East Pepper Lane had been the servants’ quarters of a large estate that now faces Schoolhouse Road. No one had lived there for more than 40 years. With an 1895 house and separate cabin that Rexroth

the hippie culture then beginning to blossom in Haight-Ashbury. However, by 1967 Rexroth, then 61, looked to new horizons. He felt the outlandishly extroverted, psychedelic hippie scene in San Francisco, which he admittedly had helped inspire, had become more limiting than liberating for him. After an inspiring trip to the serene Buddhist garden temples of Kyoto, Japan, Rexroth sought a new, quieter environment in which to pursue his interests in Eastern religion, contemplation, and nature. He took a meditation retreat to a Benedictine monastery – Mount Calvary – then high up on Gibraltar Road in Santa Barbara. Rexroth found new inspiration in the serenity of that quiet retreat, with its sweeping views of the Pacific below. While there he wrote A Song at the Winepresses. Pursuing themes of nature, East-West integration, and the inward journey, the poem blends scenes of Kyoto, Japan, with images of the arid Santa Ynez Mountains “looking out over fogbound Santa Barbara.”

Jack Kerouac

s befitted the free-spirited A Rexroth, and the ’60s, his teaching methods at UCSB were unconventional, to say the least. Formally listed as Poetry and Song, his class was better known among UCSB students as Rexroth’s Night Club.

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Kenneth Rexroth Place in San Franciso (Photo by Beatrice Murch)

converted into a study, Rexroth transformed Dower House into not only a comfortable living space but a true cultural center. Rexroth installed in the house much of his library of more than 15,000 books, covered its walls with Edward Weston prints and Juan Gris paintings (as well as Rexroth’s own art), and filled its shelves and ledges with Tibetan statues and other exotica. As befitted the free-spirited Rexroth, and the ’60s, his teaching methods at UCSB were unconventional, to say the least. Formally listed as Poetry and Song, his class was better known among UCSB students as Rexroth’s Night Club. Rather than just giving lectures and having his students regurgitate them back in tests, Rexroth’s class was interactive. Students were encouraged to make presentations of their “art,” which could be to recite a poem, play a flute, or perform a skit. Rexroth would comment on each presentation and then expound on some aspect of music, literature, philosophy, or religion. Although the class was unstructured, Rexroth was not without his standards. In a letter to a friend, he wrote that his initial impression of UCSB students was that they are “all stoned and they’re all illiterate.” But Rexroth and his students eventually warmed up to each other and he became quite a hit. During the following academic year, rioting UCSB students looted and set fire to the local Bank of America, which stood on the site of today’s Embarcadero Hall. Unfazed by the campus disruption, Rexroth moved Poetry and Song to St. Mark’s Catholic Church in Isla Vista. Ed Loomis would later comment

If Montecito were to follow the lead of the Parisians and memorialize a poet, it should be Kenneth Rexroth. that he had found Rexroth’s time at UCSB to be a delight but acknowledged that it was regarded with “rage and shame” by the more conservative members of the English department. In the meantime, Rexroth’s Dower House on Montecito’s East Pepper Lane – like Potrero Hill before it – had become the scene of lively cultural gatherings. A San Francisco friend bemoaned Rexroth’s move to Montecito: “You never know whom you might meet in his living room: LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka), Gary Snyder, Ken Kesey, or maybe [poets] Kazuko Shiraishi or Nanao Sakaki from Japan. When Kenneth moved to Santa Barbara and took a teaching position at the university, it was as if San Francisco had lost not just Kenneth, but the vital, dazzling world that belonged to him.” In addition to famous poets and artists, young aspiring writers, students, and random hippies began making pilgrimages to the now-sacred grounds of Pepper Lane. They would show up

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a t r a D i t i o n o f e xc e l l e n c e i n M o n t e c i to & s a n ta B a r B a r a r e a l e s tat e J o h n M c G o wa n & a s h l e y M c G o wa n 805.637.8661 w w w .M c G o wa n P a rt n e r s . c o M c a l Dre 0 0 8 9 3 0 3 0 / 0 2 0 4 1 0 5 5 ©2022 Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties (BHHSCP) is a member of the franchise system of BHH Affiliates LLC. BHH Affiliates LLC and BHHSCP do not guarantee accuracy of all data including measurements, conditions, and features of property. Information is obtained from various sources and will not be verified by broker or MLS. Buyer is advised to independently verify the accuracy of that information.

uninvited at Rexroth’s door hoping to be asked in, and often were, just so they could sit in the presence of the sage. Despite the steady stream of visitors, Rexroth continued to produce new poetry while in Montecito, further developing his shift toward Eastern philosophy and aesthetic form that would characterize his later work. In the mid-’70s he wrote an extended poem, The Silver Swan, in which he intermixed Asian themes with images of coyotes in the hills above Montecito as he walked naked in the moonlight through his garden at Dower House.

exroth suffered a severe heart attack in late 1980, followed by a stroke in early 1981. But the then 76-year-old Rexroth continued to rage against the dying of the light. Later in 1981, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art mounted a major retrospective of Rexroth’s modernist paintings curated by Beatrice Farwell – “Kenneth Rexroth: Life at the Cultural Frontier.” In commenting on why Rexroth, who painted throughout his adult life, was not more widely recognized as a painter, Farwell’s gallery notes said Rexroth “has not sought to make a living by the art of painting. He has kept a large number of his paintings and pastels with him, the best of them on the walls of his home – presences manifesting the life of feeling at many periods in his history, and mementoes dedicated to a life of art.” Despite his ill health, Rexroth not only attended the museum exhibit’s opening, but

Rexroth’s Signal Cat. No. 8

Young aspiring writers, students, and random hippies began making pilgrimages to [Rexroth’s] now-sacred grounds of Pepper Lane. They would show up uninvited at Rexroth’s door hoping to be asked in, and often were, just so they could sit in the presence of the sage. Rexroth’s Hornpipe in Half Lotus Cat. No. 4

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also a celebration dinner that followed at one of his favorite local restaurants, Suishin, a sushi restaurant then on State Street. Rexroth suffered another heart attack in June 1982, and this time did not survive. While he had not abandoned his long-held Buddhist beliefs, Rexroth had converted to Catholicism late in life. His funeral was held at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church in Montecito. In a fittingly universalist ceremony, a Catholic priest delivered a eulogy, nuns from the Hinduinfluenced Vedanta Temple in Montecito chanted in Sanskrit, a former student played music, and a friend recited from Rexroth’s poetry. Memorial services were also held in both Tokyo and Kyoto, where Rexroth was both well-known and highly respected. While little remains of Rexroth’s presence in Montecito today, that was not his intent. Rexroth wanted the art-filled Dower House and its massive library to become a research center in his memory, a small-scale Huntington Library if you will. Unfortunately, it was not to be. Rexroth ended up bequeathing the house, library, and paintings to an order of Jesuit Catholic priests, who were to set up and administer the proposed center. However, the Jesuits decided that the project was more than they wanted to handle. In a cultural tragedy for Montecito, the house, art, and furniture were sold. Rexroth’s grand library was sold to a Japanese university, and today the “Rexroth East-West Collection” can be viewed at Kanda University of International Studies outside Tokyo, instead of at Pepper Lane.

Kenneth Rexroth (1905-1982) – another incredible legend you didn’t realize was a Montecitan

he Mount Calvary monastery that first attracted Rexroth to Santa Barbara is also sadly no longer with us. It was engulfed in the 2008 Tea Fire, and the property was subsequently sold by the Benedictine monks. There remains, however, one small memorial to Rexroth in Montecito: his gravesite in the Santa Barbara Cemetery on Channel Drive (Sunset section, Block C, Grave 18). His grave is in a beautiful location overlooking the water and is well worth visiting on a sunny day. While all the surrounding gravestones face inward toward the approaching driveway, the gravestone of Rexroth – ever the iconoclast – faces out to sea. Another well-known writer with a Santa Barbara connection, Pico Iyer, has said of Rexroth that he “is one of the lyrical and lucid inspirations of the past century, and also, ever more, one of the tragically overlooked figures in the ongoing project to bring America into contact with the larger world, through history and across the globe. He remains a national – and international – treasure, and the more people know him, the richer our world will be.” Perhaps one day Montecito will take inspiration from the Parisians’ Jardin du Luxembourg and place a memorial in Manning Park to Kenneth Rexroth. The original Mount Calvary monastery before it was destroyed in the Tea Fire in 2008

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TIM AND MONICA BABICH WITH THEIR SONS, ONE OF WHOM HAS THE GENETIC DISEASE RUNX1-FPD, WHICH ULTIMATELY GAVE RISE TO THE RUNX1 RESEARCH PROGRAM

TIM & MONICA BABICH When life threw this Santa Barbara couple a curve, they learned to hit a curveball Story by Katherine Stewart

ike so many stories of world-changing innovation, this one got its start when things didn’t go according to plan. When Monica and Tim Babich decided to relocate from London to Santa Barbara, the idea behind the move was to slow down and seek a healthier lifestyle. For Tim, this was critical, as he is the fourth-generation carrier of a heritable mutation that causes a rare blood disorder. His health was waning because of his fastpaced, high-stress career in London, and Monica insisted it was time to make a change. Tim had done well in the world of finance while Monica pursued a career in arts management, art history, and design – and now they were starting a new chapter in life

and raising a family. But in 2015, when their eldest son, now 11, was diagnosed with the same rare blood disorder, suddenly the disease Tim had been living with hit them in the face. The disease is called RUNX1 Familial Platelet Disorder, or RUNX1-FPD for short. The disorder is characterized by prolonged bleeding and/ or easy bruising and it leads to a 30-fold increased risk of fatal blood cancers. Faced with these significant health challenges, most wellresourced families would focus on obtaining the best treatments available. But Tim and Monica Babich were no ordinary couple. Tim’s career in finance had taken him from Goldman Sachs

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in New York City, to running a hedge fund in Greenwich, Connecticut, followed by running a hedge fund and his own investment fund in London. Monica started her career in consulting then moved to Sotheby’s Auction House where she worked in various divisions, eventually serving in management. The pair were uniquely positioned – not just to access the best existing medical care for themselves, but to help advance knowledge and research among the wider community so that others might benefit too. “My whole life I’ve been interested in reading the meanings behind things and trying to understand things deeper,” says Monica. “So, when I looked at my child, I was trying to be one step ahead.” The signs that something was amiss began shortly after their son’s birth. “As a mother you see and know things on your own regarding the specifics of your child before the doctors do,” Monica notes. His health complications included low platelets, allergies, difficulty sleeping, and food protein-induced enterocolitis. After their son received his diagnosis, Tim and Monica began to read up on RUNX1FPD and soon recognized that there was a lack of meaningful research in the field, in particular with respect to the links to cancer. At first, they thought they might give money to others and let them lead the research. “But we realized there aren’t enough resources in cancer prevention, and this felt personal and immediate,” Monica says. “So we had to do it ourselves.” Fortunately, she notes, “Tim and I are both type-A, driven people.” Tim’s business acumen and Monica’s ability to communicate effectively with different types of people proved a fortuitous combination of skill sets. Thus, the RUNX1 Research Program was born. But since neither had professional expertise in scientific research, they of course needed help. As luck would have it, help was nearby. Enter Katrin Ericson, a seasoned scientist and PhD in blood cell biology with a string of career successes in the research, corporate, and nonprofit sectors – including eight years at Amgen. Ericson and the Babiches met in Santa Barbara, and the path forward was clear. “The Babiches are passionate, thoughtful people and had already granted significant funds to the who’s who in the hematology/oncology space,” says Ericson. “It was clear to me that together, we could make a real impact.” The goal of the RUNX1 Research Project is not only to prevent cancer in those with this familial blood disorder but also to study how cancer initiates from the very first cell and ultimately progresses to full-blown disease. The organization is presently riding a wave of scientific innovation thanks to the Human Genome Research Project and the ability to sequence cancer genes to detect mutations. It is the hope of the Babiches and the RUNX1 Research Program team that their findings will have broad-reaching implications. The Babiches codirect the organization and Ericson serves as both executive director and chief scientific officer. Other staffers include Dr. Amanda Eggen, director of patient engagement and clinical programs; communications associate Catherine Pelton; and Alex Gonzalez, a director of development with more than 20 years of fundraising expertise. With various and sundry associates, board members, and interns from top medical institutions around the country, the team is lean and mean. But they are already having an outsized impact on the world of cancer research.

KATRIN ERICSON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND CHIEF SCIENTIFIC OFFICER OF THE RUNX1 RESEARCH PROJECT

Because the area of blood cancer prevention research is so niche, the RUNX1 research community the Babiches founded here in Santa Barbara has become national and even international. One of the first challenges with mutations in genes such as RUNX1 is diagnosis. But in order to pinpoint the problem, patients need access to genetic testing. “And there are barriers there – healthcare disparities,” Ericson says. “RUNX1 mutations are agnostic to ethnicity, but if we look at our patient community, roughly 85 percent are Caucasian.” So this year, the team reached out to 60 of the 71 comprehensive cancer centers to say “please help us raise awareness of this disease and sister diseases. Fifteen percent of blood cancers are caused by heritable mutations, and effective treatment requires an accurate diagnosis, not to mention the chance at diagnosing at-risk family members.” Because the area of blood cancer prevention research is so niche, the RUNX1 research community the Babiches founded here in Santa Barbara has become national and even international. The RUNX1 Research Program works with scientists at many institutions including Stanford University, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania’s medical center, and Harvard. “We love being able to do this important work from Santa Barbara

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The RUNX1 Research Program works with scientists at many institutions including Stanford University, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania’s medical center, and Harvard. “We love being able to do this important work from Santa Barbara and are eager to find likeminded individuals or organizations in the community that see the value in stimulating cancer prevention research,” Ericson says.

MONICA BABICH, TIM BABICH, DR. AMANDA EGGEN, DR. KATRIN ERICSON, CATHERINE PELTON, AND ALEX GONZALEZ

and are eager to find like-minded individuals or organizations in the community that see the value in stimulating cancer prevention research,” Ericson says. In many ways, the Babiches remain an ordinary family – ordinary for Montecito, that is. They contribute to local nonprofits including Lotusland, the Santa Barbara Zoo, the Wolf Museum of Exploration and Innovation (MOXI), and Angels Foster Care. “If you care about your town, you have to throw your hat in the ring,” says Monica, who has also served as a docent at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art.

The children recently obtained black belts in hapkido and the entire family is spending the year in Princeton, New Jersey, to be closer to extended family members. But for Tim and Monica, raising a child with unique health challenges necessitates honesty as well as attentiveness. “It’s interesting to have a child where, as he gets older, you have to talk about this,” says Monica. “I try to focus on the ownership we have. We let him know that the reason mom and dad do this work is because we are doing everything that we can to help him – and so many others like him.”

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Sacred Threads For Oaxacan textile artist Porfirio Gutiérrez, creativity has no borders | Story by Stacie Stukin

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n 1970 Tanya Atwater, an emerita professor at UC Santa Barbara, published a groundbreaking paper that earned her the title “The Mother of Plate Tectonics.” She theorized that millions of years of friction between plates on the Earth’s mantle reshaped the planet’s geography. Her focus: the origin of the San Andreas Fault and how this infamous fracture impacted the formation of California’s mountain ranges, valleys, and islands.

Atwater determined that Santa Barbara and San Diego were once neighbors, and that California, Baja, and southern Mexico were a single landform. But five to 10 million years ago, the fault caused a rift; Baja split off from Mexico, moved north, and created the Gulf of California. Perhaps Atwater’s exploration of ancient intercontinental links and fissures offers us a new way to think about the geography of art and the very meaning of borders. For Ventura-based artist Porfirio Gutiérrez, who migrated to the United States from Mexico in 1997 when he was 18 – and continues to work in both Oaxaca and California – concepts of land sovereignty and blurred borders are central themes of a body of work that’s rooted in the ancient practices of indigenous Zapotec textile artists from his hometown, Teotitlán del Valle. “A lot of plants we use from Oaxaca can be found in California, so the plants and the land do not have borders. Our new manmade borders can get in the way of the process of creating. The role of weavers in Mesoamerica is storytelling,” Gutiérrez adds from his studio at the Bell Arts Factory in Ventura, where he produces the dynamic wool textiles now included in the collections of the Smithsonian Institution and Palacio de Cultura Citibanamex in Mexico City. “The story I tell is about the history of ancestral knowledge and wisdom and how that culture is not just in the past. It is a story of indigenous technology and wisdom in the present day, and how it’s a relevant art form that can express a modern aesthetic.” Gutiérrez’s studio walls are adorned with tapestries and rugs offering contemporary interpretations of traditional motifs influenced by the architectural modernism and urban spaces of California and also harken back to the archaeological site Mitla,

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near Oaxaca. This sacred monument for the Zapotec people is known for its complex, geometric mosaic fretwork. Gutiérrez makes his pieces by hand on an upright pedal loom in the same manner his family has weaved for generations. On the ground nearby, volcanic stone metates (grinding stones) – vessels for precious ingredients such as indigo for vibrant blue dyes – show wear caused by hand and muscle. On the wall, a cochineal farm of

hanging nopal cactus foraged locally from Lompoc are inoculated with the cochineal insect, which when harvested and ground into a fine powder create the scarlet, saturated reds that give Porfirio’s textiles their explosive vibrancy. Gutiérrez approaches his art practice ceremonially, with a mission to preserve traditional natural dyeing techniques. He forages in places like Ojai where mule fat – a native, sticky shrub with a bright grassy smell that transforms wool into shades of golden yellow, orange, and olive green – can be found streamside. Mule fat (yashi in Zapotec) is a blooming shrub native to the sage

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scrub community and desert southwest of the United States and northern Mexico, as well as parts of South America. Gutiérrez’s dyeing expertise has earned him accolades and awards from esteemed organizations including Harvard University. Last year, he received the Ojai-based Carolyn Glasoe Bailey Foundation Art Prize, a $10,000 grant that included an exhibition of his modern works woven from ancient traditions. This spring

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an exhibit entitled “To Dye For” at the TextielMuseum in the Netherlands, which runs through October, focuses on natural dyes. Gutiérrez’s piece Transmigration/Diaspora in red is a reminder of the impact that cochineal – brought to Europe from Mexico by the conquistadors – had on European painters like Peter Paul Rubens, Paul Gauguin, and Vincent van Gogh, who all used the pigment in their work. This summer he’s included in the “Futures”

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ABOUT MITLA

approximately an hour outside Oaxaca City, Mitla was established in the ninth century as a religious center for the Zapotec people. Originally named Mictlán, translated as “underworld,” it was believed to be the gateway between the living and the dead. The intricate, geometric fretwork that adorns the clean architectural lines of the site’s temples and palaces has influenced generations of Zapotec weavers, who, like Gutiérrez, incorporate Mitla symbolism into their textiles – including triangles for the butterflies that flutter like the soul on its journey and dot patterns that suggest the seeds of ceremonial foods like corn and beans. In addition, Western modernism owes a debt to Mitla, which was extensively excavated in the 1920s and ’30s. Frank Lloyd Wright’s mansard roof lines and textured concrete block ornamentation have been traced back to Mesoamerican influences, and Bauhaus artists like Josef and Anni Albers made many pilgrimages to Mexico – Mitla in particular – an influence easily recognized in the geometry of Josef’s paintings and Anni’s textiles. As Josef Albers once said of Mexico, “[It] is truly the promised land of abstract art. For here it is already thousands of years old.” – S.S.

exhibit inside the Smithsonian’s Arts + Industries building. Gutiérrez will also serve as an advisor for a Getty Foundation Pacific Standard Time (PST) grant focusing on the intersection of art and science that will culminate in a 2024 exhibition. John Connelly, director of the Atkinson Gallery at Santa Barbara City College and one of the curators of the PST exhibit, says, “We tend to have a prejudice that science has to be something new, technological, but if you look back at indigenous technologies that have been around for thousands of years, work like Porfirio’s is more suited to adapt to climate change.” For Gutiérrez, environmental sustainability is about more than preserving the earth and eschewing polluting chemical dyes. “In art and life, when I think about racism, it starts with disrespecting nature and the native people who honor the land… We are so detached from the natural world; I hope my work helps bring that force of nature back into our lives.” Standing with one foot rooted in his ancestral home and the other in Ventura County, alongside the other 20,000 indigenous Oaxaqueños who live and work here, Gutiérrez’s goal is to expose a new generation to the art of their origin culture. “Sometimes when we think about a culture, we only think of them as indigenous when they are in their land of origin,” he says, “but for those of us who have left, I need to remind people I am still home. I have just changed the address.”

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BALANCE. HARMONY. INTEGRITY. STORY BY CARLY WILLIAMS PHOTOGRAPHY BY EDWARD CLYNES

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MINDY HORWITZ’S SIMPATICO PILATES COMBINES CORE ELEMENTS OF STRENGTH TO TRANSFORM PEOPLE’S LIVES

fter being a modern dancer since the age of 8 and a ballet, jazz, and modern dance instructor for most of her life, Simpatico Pilates owner Mindy Horwitz began developing pain throughout her body. “Without internal strength, I was always getting injured,” she says. In 1995, Horwitz was teaching 10-plus dance classes per week and started having severe pain in her lower back and hips. A physical therapist recommended she try Pilates. “When I started to experience relief from my pain, I decided I needed to become a certified instructor,” she says. “Over the last 25 years, I have stress fractured my neck, had toe surgery and a hip replacement, and completely ruptured my left Achilles,” she says. “I have managed my physical therapy with Pilates.” Pilates focuses more on intrinsic strength, meaning the idea that a healthy body starts with joint stability. Then you target the larger muscle groups. But it’s joint stability that is necessary to support these movements. “One of my first clients came in with stage 2 osteoporosis and did not like to exercise,” she continues. “With no medication – just through weightresistance Pilates – we got her down to stage 1.” And this is just one of many stories of healing through movement.

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hrough fluid motions, change of mindset, and meditation, Simpatico Pilates – perched above Coast Village Road since 2011 – helps transform lives, strengthen the inner and outer body, and buttress the soul by moving from pain into balance, harmony, and integrity. “We educate and condition our clients’ physical needs while facilitating a mindbody connection,” says Horwitz, who has studied with world-renowned Pilates instructors and specializes in working with individuals with rehabilitative or health concerns. Her intuitive training also inspires and uplifts clients, offering an individualistic journey of recentering and replenishment. “I wanted to create a feeling of no judgment in the studio – it’s a space open to bodies of all kinds.” Filled with a range of equipment – five reformers, five towers, a Wunda chair, the Cadillac, and an original GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM®, along with floor space for body movement workshops – the Simpatico contemporary studio offers a variety of ways to train different parts and dynamics of the body to promote length, strength, flexibility, and balance. Simpatico offers private sessions, duets (limited to two people), and group classes – each individually tailored to the client’s specific needs and capabilities. “The studio prides itself on having seven trainers with diverse experience and knowledge,” says Horwitz, “ensuring that we cater to the needs of our clients at any physical level.” To complement the studio’s offerings, Simpatico provides onsite therapeutic bodywork. Amie Leichtfuss, the studio’s massage therapist, uses a blend of Hawaiian Lomi Lomi, deep-tissue massage, triggerpoint therapy, and joint mobilization. Her soothing touch has brought relief from many conditions including sciatica, TMJ, scoliosis, whiplash, back pain, joint pain, and more. “Simpatico offers a well-rounded experience to keep the workouts fresh and effective,” says Horwitz. “The history and core values of Joseph Pilates are important to maintaining the integrity of the work we do.”

HORWITZ DEMONSTRATING A SPIRAL MOVEMENT ON THE GYROTONIC® PULLEY TOWER COMBINATION UNIT

SIMPATICO PILATES CONDITIONS THE ENTIRE BODY AND IS FAITHFUL TO THE PRECEPTS ORIGINALLY PIONEERED BY JOSEPH PILATES

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Because of a Dog The National Disaster Search Dog Foundation’s Denise Hess Sanders explains our canine heroes who somehow find courage in the face of disaster

Every dog in SDF’s program has individual needs and motivation, taking a mix of both science and art to determine – and the reward of seeing each canine transform from rescued to rescuer keeps us humans inspired to continue our work

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A Beautiful Dance

s I answered 911 calls in my job as an emergency dispatcher on January 10, 2005, I kept an eye on the small television in our emergency communications center in Santa Barbara. We knew the heavy rains would cause flooding, but we all watched in disbelief as the news crews captured the cliff behind the beachside village of La Conchita sliding down the hill, smothering the homes, streets, and even the freeway. In the days that followed, hundreds of rescuers from all over California painstakingly removed mud and debris to reach those buried below. That was the first moment I personally saw a disaster search dog in action. I had seen them in videos from Ground Zero following the attacks on September 11, 2001, but I had never seen a working dog actively search for victims amid destruction – and certainly not so close to home. These canines worked deliberately and intensively yet with an effortless even balletic air about them. Working alongside their handlers, I observed the playing out of an impromptu dance in the middle of the otherwise devastating carnage. That day was the moment that I knew I needed to be part of this emergency response machine in a more significant way.

I68 Is Forever Engraved on my Heart

xactly 10 years before that moment, another handler and her black Labrador Retriever responded to an incident that would change the lives of many. On April 19, 1995, Wilma Melville – a retired physical education teacher from New Jersey and mother of four boys – answered the call to respond to the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, with her search dog, Murphy. When Wilma Melville at training with Murphy Wilma returned, she too realized that while she was able to help, she needed to do more in contributing to disaster response. Only a handful of certified canine disaster search teams were available to the nation in 1995, meaning they could not scour the search area for survivors as efficiently as they would have with more canines trained to work in urban disaster environments.

Search dogs work tirelessly alongside two-legged rescuers during a deployment like the La Conchita mudslide response in 2005

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Wilma has shared the story of Oklahoma City with me many times, describing the life-changing moment when she knew something had to change: “As I was leaving the search area, a young man walked toward me and put his hand on my shoulder. I looked up and he said, ‘Sorry, can you tell me if you’ve located her?’ And he showed me a photo of a lovely woman with dark hair down to her shoulders. It was like he was sharing his pain with me. I reached out to him. I put my hand on his arm and said, ‘We won’t leave until we find her.’ And then we parted. But I carry that with me. It is certainly part of why the National Search Dog Foundation had to be born. We simply had to reach for a better way to do things.” Though she and Murphy did not find the woman, Wilma made a vow that she would create an organization to train and certify 168 canine disaster search teams – in honor of each of the lives lost that day in Oklahoma City. And at that moment, the idea of the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation was born.

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September 11, 2001

s Debra Tosch watched her canine partner cover the area – with office paraphernalia strewn about and papers that had floated down from what once was a tower above – the recently recovered oxygen tank with the firefighter’s last name etched in the metal sat nearby. It is rare that a canine team searches a scene of this magnitude for a known individual, but as Debra looked into the hopeful faces of that firefighter’s crewmates, she knew she and her search dog, Abby, had to try. As they watched, the sleek black Labrador Retriever zig-zagged across the rubble of the World Trade Center, following her nose and less so her eyes, covering every bit of the space through scent. Bypassing the odors of jet fuel, burned and melted debris, and even the scent of the other rescuers in the area, Abby knew she was searching for the human scent that she

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could not match to anyone she could see. Finally, she paused amid the bleak, dusty scene and locked eyes with her handler. She knew, with certainty, no one was left alive in the area. While this heartbreaking news would devastate the firefighter’s friends and family, the trust in this dog and handler would also help them to move forward. Debra became the first paid staff member at Search Dog Foundation (SDF), the first female handler to graduate from SDF’s program, and the first executive director to take the helm after Wilma’s initial retirement in 2005. Before taking her new position, Debra and Abby had searched for those buried beneath the twisted metal and debris at Ground Zero – and had combed miles of abandoned, flooded homes in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. Debra and Abby were also the team that I had seen moving together across the thick mud in La Conchita in 2005. Debra Tosch and her search dog, Abby, seen here at Ground Zero in New York City following the terrorist attacks in September 2001, were one of the first teams I recognized as a canine disaster search team, inspiring me to choose a path in emergency response that would one day lead me to the Search Dog Foundation and working side-by-side with strong female leaders like Debra, Abby, and founder Wilma Melville Search dog Harley and handler Rob Cima share a quiet moment together while taking a break from combing the wreckage of the World Trade Center in September 2001

Becoming Part of the Search

aving found the National Search Dog Foundation through an advertisement for a program manager position on Craigslist, Debra was one of the first to greet me when I walked into the organization’s tiny office in Ojai three years after I saw her and Abby on television. During my interview, Debra jokingly asked me if I wanted to be a handler and my serious reply was, “Not yet.” I wasn’t sure what the job entailed, much less whether I wanted to be out in the field working a search dog. In time – nearly 14 years to be exact – I have come to find that my place is at home base, helping to support the teams, much like I did in my former role as an emergency dispatcher. If I could have handpicked strong female leaders to mentor me in my journey of public service and emergency response, I could not do better than Wilma and Debra. I could so clearly see how the hands that created and grew the Search Dog Foundation were the same strong and calloused hands that had held the leashes of hundreds of canine candidates over the years. The single-minded drive and determination in the handlers and the dogs they work with are truly one and the same.

Human-Canine Bond

am often reminded of a quote passed along by SDF’s founding trainer, Pluis Davern: “We are only limited in training by our own imaginations.” As SDF grew its roster of search dogs trained to find live human scent in the wreckage of disasters, it also

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expanded its training methodology. Today, handlers learn that while their canine partners are working dogs, they are sentient beings that require needs to be fulfilled, just as humans do. Both human and dog bring equal parts energy, motivation, and effort to the relationship. Disaster search dogs, and many working dogs, are motivated by play and the interaction with their partners. The power of play is much like a moth to a flame – an insatiable need to just keep going, no matter the obstacles. This “desire for the toy” is what keeps the dogs engaged, and often, the dogs are what keep us humans from falling into despair.

TRANSFORMING FROM RESCUED TO RESCUER THE TRAINING OF A SEARCH DOG

hile all dogs’ noses are more exacting than our own, not every dog uses them to the best of their abilities or wants to traverse debris. Therefore, finding the right dogs for the job and teaching them how to utilize their natural talents is essential when preparing them to

help others in the aftermath of disasters. Traditional working breeds such as Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers, Border Collies, German Shepherds, and Belgian Malinois (or mixes of these breeds) tend to possess the innate qualities we look for in search dog candidates – intense hunt and toy drive, laserlike focus, and the natural athletic ability to strategically navigate rubble. The majority of SDF canine candidates are former rescues between one and two years of age that oftentimes find themselves in the shelter due to their incompatible behaviors that do not make for good pets. Unfortunately, when dogs first come through our gates, they often will not make eye contact and do not connect with humans, as humans in their past likely ignored or even mistreated them – just for being themselves. However, after a few days or weeks of working with our team, we start to see these same dogs learning that our humans not only want them to bark for the toy but want to tug and play and engage with them when they do find someone. That seemingly simple toy play is the glue that becomes the connection between human and dog – a conduit for engagement, trust-building, and communication that forges a lifelong bond. With every dog, there is always a “light bulb” moment when they realize that not only are they rewarded with the toy for finding the human scent and barking to alert their handler, they are also told they are a “good dog,” possibly for the first time ever. From that moment on, they know, without a doubt, that they are a good dog, just by being who they’ve always been and channeling that talent into a life-saving game of hideand-seek. They just needed a little help, time, and trust to get there.

Humans and working dogs learn to work in sync with each other, almost as one, in every move they make – this unbreakable bond makes each pair a stronger, more effective search team when it comes time to save lives

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Montecito

hough we are used to our teams responding to disasters, it is a very different feeling to be directly affected by one. Just weeks after the Thomas Fire ravaged much of Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, including parts of SDF’s National Training Center, rain began pouring down over the burn area as an incoming storm formed in the tri-county area. Two SDF-trained search teams, composed of one search dog and one handler, prestaged in southern Santa Barbara County in case of a mudslide, but no one could have imagined what we would awaken to in the early morning hours. Just before 4:00 am on January 9, 2018, a massive mudslide rolled down from the foothills above Montecito and pushed boulders, trees, and homes toward the sea as the flow searched for its release into the ocean near Butterfly Beach. Twenty-three lives were lost and countless others changed forever. In total, 18 SDF-trained canine disaster search teams responded to Montecito’s January 9 event, alongside hundreds of rescuers from all over the state to help with the rescue and recovery efforts, searching for more than a week. While there were many stories of heroism that touched each of

These canines worked deliberately and intensively yet with an effortless even balletic air about them. Working alongside their handlers, I observed the playing out of an impromptu dance in the middle of the otherwise devastating carnage. That day was the moment that I knew I needed to be part of this emergency response machine in a more significant way. us, it is also important to recognize the closure search dogs can provide, letting us know when there is no one to be found so that rescuers can move on to keep searching in other areas. And that extra time is an invaluable gift that sometimes means the difference between life and death.

Trainees Huck, Tanker, Rugby, Riley, and Pearl. These incredible animals may not know how important they are in the work they do, but each one enjoys every moment at their handler’s side.

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It’s not uncommon to see a human and canine perfectly in step with each other as they complete their lifesaving work

ust a Human and a Dog

could not help but see the parallels between Montecito’s 2018 debris flow and the La Conchita mudslide so many years before it. And again, there on the ground – now shown on both TV and social media – were the four-legged heroes and their human partners. The hallmarks of this type of heartbreaking disaster response were ever-present – the mud-caked boots, paws, and pants with the mud line up to handlers’ waists and the canines’ chests, the exhausted faces creased with the burden of wanting to ensure that everyone is found. We saw these teams search for survivors for hours before cleaning up, eating, and maybe getting a few hours of sleep before starting again. But in between these routines during disaster search deployments were the moments when a firefighter becomes just a human and a certified search dog becomes just a dog. When all the uniforms and gear and titles and rank are stripped away, at the end of the day, we are all human, and in this case, these courageous first responders were humans dealing with a tragic situation and powerful emotional distress. In those moments, we

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watched a dog walk up to a human and rest its chin on her leg, or place a paw on his boot, offering a small comfort with just a touch and maybe a wag of a tail. While these dogs are trained to search for live human scent, they are not trained therapy animals. Sometimes, though, the instinctual need to provide companionship in our darkest moments kicks in and that’s when we see humans and dogs, in their simplest forms, become extraordinary, together. By honoring the drive and work ethic of these incredible creatures rather than attempting to harness it, we increase our own potential by having canines at our side to help us in even the hardest of times. I am grateful to Wilma and Debra for breaking that rubble – not a glass ceiling in their cases – and leading the way for so many of us who have followed. We have barely scratched the surface of our capabilities when we combine our energy and strengths with the canines that give us just as much, if not more, than we give them. So, we forge ahead to continue learning, limited only by our imaginations, drawing the strength and courage to continue from the resilient canines at our side.

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Photographs courtesy of Search Dog Foundation

Waterhouse Gallery

Celebrating 38 years of Fine Art in Santa Barbara

Representing Distinguished Artists Peter Adams Rebecca Arguello Aldo Balding *Ann Shelton Beth *Bela Bacsi George Bodine Suchitra Bhosle Eli Cedrone Casey Childs Alezander Chistov John Cosby *Steve Curry *Nancy Davidson Rick Delanty *Camille Dellar *Gil DiCicco *Ellie Freudenstein *Rick Garcia *Derek Harrison *Wyllis Heaton *Ray Hunter Sung Eun Kim *Irene Kovalik Mark Lague Jeremy Lipking Kyle Ma Jim McVicker John Modesitt Craig Nelson Jesse Powell *Ann Sanders Eric Slayton Matt Smith Ezra Suko *Thomas Van Stein Hsin-YaoTseng Jove Wang *Nina Warner *Ralph Waterhouse *Santa Barbara Artists

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Straight Up

The

A new day is dawning in the Santa Ynez Valley – and it’s glittering

. . .to

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world shut down during the pandemic, and life, in so many ways, stood still. In the beautiful rolling stretches just north of Santa Barbara, however – where vineyards and ranches stretch as far as the eye can see – change was afoot. A new spirit – imaginative and entrepreneurial at once – rolled in. It made the dust settle, it buffed the edges, it raised the bar. Suddenly, as the world began to emerge from its COVID cocoon, the Santa Ynez Valley shone especially bright, like a beacon ushering in a more curious, more hungry, more savvy traveler. Much of what return visitors are finding, of course, is familiar – it is as it’s always been in this rustic corner of Santa Barbara: wide open spaces, bespoke experiences, warm welcomes. This has always been, and will always be, an escape, a sanctuary, where time slows, breaths deepen, and smiles grow more broad. The new Santa Ynez Valley experience, though, is buoyed now by a fresh new energy. A pandemicera influx of creators and dreamers brought along a worldly perspective. Where to stay has gone from nice to posh. What’s on the plate has gone from great to world-class. What to see and do has gone from lovely to awesome. The Santa Ynez Valley experience, put simply, has gone from moving to transformative. The world has already taken notice: Travel & Leisure and Forbes both named the Santa Ynez Valley among their top places to visit in 2022. And just in time, one of the area’s top culinary events – Taste of the Santa Ynez Valley – is back on the calendar for November 3 through 6. Like a new chapter in a story that’s wonderfully familiar, here’s a snapshot of what’s new and exciting in the Santa Ynez Valley.

(PHOTO BY CRAFT & CLUSTER)

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Buellton Its

super convenient access – historic Highway 101 dissects it – makes Buellton the unofficial threshold to the Santa Ynez Valley. Ever the quintessential pitstop for north-south commuters, the brand new Inn at Zaca Creek now makes spending the night – or a few nights – more than tempting. The property sits on a ranch once owned by the Buells, a family of farmers who settled in the area in the 1860s and inspired the town’s name when Buellton was established in 1920. The spot, which sat abandoned for 20 years, has now been reimagined as a mini-resort. Its six specialty suites feature luxe amenities like rainfall showers, hand-carved headboards, and 4K resolution TVs. And though the rooms are bookable on their own, the vision of co-owner Chelsea Rushing, a valley native with a background in wedding and event planning, is to tap the post-pandemic surge in multigenerational vacationists. “This is a boutique country resort that a group of 20 people could buy out and have to themselves,” she says. “Intimacy and luxury right in the heart of the valley.” Tucked into the hillsides and close to myriad activities, from wine tasting to horseback riding, “the aesthetic here feels like a

THE INN AT ZACA CREEK (PHOTO BY LENA BRITT PHOTOGRAPHY)

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Pierre Lafond & Wendy Foster

ruly exemplifying the Santa Barbara lifestyle, Pierre Lafond and Wendy Foster’s brand extends well into the Santa Ynez Valley, with local businesses including Lafond Winery and Wendy Foster in Los Olivos. Wendy Foster Los Olivos reflects the laid back, rugged, yet refined style of the Santa Ynez Valley. From handmade leather bags to straw hats, flowy dresses, and vintage inspired denim, the shop is a beloved haven for simplified, elevated dressing. After shopping, escape to Lafond Winery & Vineyards, which is tucked away in the pristine Sta. Rita Hills. Spanning over 175 acres, the vineyard features sustainably farmed and renowned exemplars of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Syrah, Grenache and more cool-climate varietals, plus a welcoming tasting room and idyllic picnic grounds. First planted in 1971, Lafond Vineyards was established by local wine country pioneer, Pierre Lafond, and was among the first vineyards in the area. For more information, visit www.wendyfoster.com and www.lafondwinery.com.

– Kelly Mahan Herrick

(PHOTO BY BLAKE BRONSTAD)

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CHELSEA RUSHING AND STEPHEN VILLA AT ZACA CREEK (PHOTO BY MICHELLE RAMIREZ PHOTOGRAPHY)

natural part of the environment,” she adds. The onsite Tavern at Zaca Creek, helmed by new CIA-trained chef (not the top-secret agency in Washington but the top culinary agency in New York) chef Anthony Minniti, features hand-cut steaks, fresh seafood, and produce from local purveyors; the bar hosts curated spirits flights every Thursday and what may be the area’s most impressive lineup of cordials. The Buellhouse and La Arboleda buildings – stunning in their stonework and flanked by a flowing stream and olive trees – host weddings and special events.

THE INN AT ZACA CREEK (PHOTO BY LENA BRITT PHOTOGRAPHY)

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Solvang The

town founded by Danes in 1911 has long laid claim to a singular charm defined by colorful wooden buildings, walkable streets, and a plethora of sweet treats. A gourmet movement afoot for several years, though, seems to have been hastened by the pandemic. The Solvang classics – family-run outposts for baked faves from aebleskiver to kringles – remain. But today’s savvy foodie crowd can now find a fresh wave of gastro experiences. The new peasants DELI & MARKET (the play on letter cases is deliberate – a way to emphasize the hometown purveyors, the “peasants,” behind the scenes) opened up this year right across from its sister eatery, peasants FEAST, also a pandemic-era arrival. The deli’s best seat in the house? The red bench out front, a nostalgic touch from chef-owner Michael Cherney’s childhood days in the San Fernando Valley “when my dad and I would visit delis after a baseball game and just sit on the curb and eat,” he says. The fresh leg of jamón Ibérico that stands steadfastly on the counter is a conversation piece, to be sure, but is also a clue that the cured meat, cheese, and caviar offerings inside are “the best money can buy,” according to Cherney, who was formerly at Joel Robuchon’s L’Atelier at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. At peasants FEAST, more than 75 local purveyors are represented on the menu. “I know the name of every farmer and each person that our ingredients came from,” says Cherney, who also curates an impressive craft beer list. His wife and general manager, Sarah, keeps a varied and locally driven wine list. An all-things-local approach is also a priority for chef Nathan Peitso, the mastermind behind Solvang’s new Sear Steakhouse – soon to be renamed Crawford’s after his mother’s family name, and his own little-known first name. “Produce wise, what we have

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SEAR STEAKHOUSE’S NATHAN PEITSO (PHOTO BY EDWARD CLYNES)

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November 3-6, 2022 www.TasteSYV.com

Our annual four-day celebration of food, wine, and more returns this November across the towns of Solvang, Santa Ynez, Los Alamos, Los Olivos, Ballard, and Buellton. Come experience curated wine tastings, chef-driven long table dinners, lunches, and activities, all celebrating the incredible offerings of this California wine country destination.

(PHOTOS BY EDWARD CLYNES)

access to in the valley is second to none anywhere in the world,” he says. The prime meats – from the 22-ounce rib eye to the 55-ounce bonein tomahawk – are buoyed by game, seafood, and salads. An elevated steak experience makes sense in the heart of the Santa Ynez Valley since “this is where Californians come to enjoy California,” adds Peitso, a transplant from the Los Angeles dining scene. “People come here for a sense of belonging and for authenticity. There’s a lack of that elsewhere these days, especially in the L.A. scene, where things are so jaded.”

nother new Solvang dining arrival, Coast Range, focuses on meat and seafood along with weekend brunch offerings. And the adjacent Vaquero Bar has become a buzzy cocktails destination. At the nearby Hotel Corque, a new dining concept, Craft House, is opening in phases this year. COAST RANGE (PHOTOS BY JEREMY BALL)

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olvang’s wine scene continues to grow impressive new arrivals. It’s all about wines by the glass – an eclectic mix of Central Coast greats – at Arrowsmith’s along bustling Mission Drive. This European-inspired bar also pours craft beers and serves up cheese and meze plates along with a variety of toasted croissants. The ongoing open mic nights here have become a true locals’ hangout. ARROWSMITH’S WINE BAR (PHOTOS BY HEATHER DAENITZ | CRAFT & CLUSTER)

block away, a brand-new development, PARc Place, is onestop shopping for gourmet enthusiasts. It includes the new location for Cailloux Cheese Shop, a proverbial pre-picnic stop, and Via Gelateria, a family-owned business that taps local ingredients to produce Italy’s greatest contribution to the world of desserts. And for oenophiles, two serious labels not to be missed. Alma Rosa, with its award-winning vineyard-designate Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir and Chardonnays, has a brand new bar here; the inaugural releases by its new winemaker, Bosnia native Samra Morris, launched this year. Across the courtyard, Cordon of Santa Barbara features the handcrafted handiwork of winemaker Etienne Terlinden, including phenomenal Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah, and Burgundian wines as well as creative blends. With a production of just 1,000 cases CAILLOUX CHEESE SHOP (PHOTOS BY HEATHER DAENITZ | CRAFT & CLUSTER)

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The Winston

he Winston is an upscale, 14-room, boutique hotel that opened in summer 2020. Built in the charming Danish village of Solvang’s historic Old Mill Clock Tower, the repurposed building adds old-world charm to the new hotel, while vibrant and daring décor, outfitted with pieces personally collected from around the world, gives a contemporary feel. Each room is uniquely designed with oversized headboards and bold colors, interesting textures, and contrasting patterns. The Winston prides itself in offering an invisible guest service model. This hands-off approach to hospitality enhances the safety and security of guests while still providing all the luxuries and personalized touches guests seek from an upscale hotel experience. There is no traditional front desk; guests receive their room number and door code via email ahead of their stay, but for any immediate questions or needs, The Winston’s staff is reachable 24/7 via text.

VIA GELATERIA (PHOTOS BY EDWARD CLYNES)

For more information, visit www.thewinstonsolvang.com. – K.M.H

ALMA ROSA PROPRIETOR RICHARD SANFORD (PHOTO BY EDWARD CLYNES)

(PHOTOS COURTESY THE WINSTON)

(PHOTO BY EDWARD CLYNES)

a year, these wines are a snapshot of Santa Barbara County’s seven recognized growing regions, or AVAs, and Terlinden aims to draw from Solvang’s thirsty post-pandemic foot traffic. “The valley has grown exponentially,” he says, “and marketing has helped Solvang maintain its Danish roots but also become more uplifted, more modernized.” McClain Cellars has a substantial footprint on this property, where, more than the wines, it’s the artsy rock-and-roll vibe that may be the biggest draw.

(PHOTO BY EDWARD CLYNES)

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ZFolio

Folio Gallery was opened in 2006 by designer Zdena Jiroutova with her husband and business partner Michael Mendizza. Located in the heart of downtown Solvang, the gallery boasts an award-winning collection of American and European designer jewelry, art glass, and photography. ZFolio centers on design, and considered is among the best in the United States by the design community for its collection of contemporary jewelry. Walking through the door of the gallery is like stepping into a wonderland of bright colors and graceful shapes, as the store has been carefully curated to present the work of over 100 leading American and European jewelry designers and Czech and American glass artists.

ROWAN LEIGH BOUTIQUE (PHOTO BY EDWARD CLYNES)

For more information, visit www.ZFolio.com.

PHOTOS BY MICHAEL MENDIZZA

– K.M.H.

he lifestyle-vibe at PARc Place is heightened by outposts like Heritage Goods, a homestead run by three mom entrepreneurs who thoughtfully source apparel, skincare products, and home goods; Rowan Leigh Boutique, a purveyor of women’s clothing inspired by the country lifestyle; and Forage Florals, committed to selling local, in-season blooms and foliages that grow on farms within a five-mile radius.

FORAGE FLORALS (PHOTOS BY EDWARD CLYNES)

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quick drive inland toward Solvang’s Ballard Canyon delivers a postcard wine-country experience, in large part thanks to Rusack Vineyards’ brand-new visitor center, the Canyon Terrace. Featuring lush landscaping and a pleinair design, the new stepped tasting deck features upscale furniture and endless vistas of green rolling hills. Tastings are by appointment only and offer tableside service and customizable wine menus. All of Rusack’s wines, made by longtime winemaker Steve Gerbac, are at visitors’ disposal. It’s the ultimate personal sipping moment.

CANYON TERRACE AT RUSACK VINEYARDS

THE WINSTON (PHOTO COURTESY THE WINSTON)

THE VINLAND (PHOTO COURTESY THE VINLAND)

HOTEL YNEZ

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olvang’s new hotel options include The Vinland and The Winston, joining other downtown offerings. The new Hotel Ynez just east of downtown, in a rustic two-acre garden setting dotted with oak trees and bonfires, features 18 unique guestrooms. And look for an expansion of Solvang’s sophisticated Landsby hotel in 2023.

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Santa nY ez (PHOTO BY CRAFT & CLUSTER)

Santa Ynez

may be the preferred place to stay for those who feel like stepping back in time. This historic cowboy township retains its vintage charm, but a cluster of destination restaurants and boutique shops have modernity. ForFriends Inn is a cozy but upscale bed-and-breakfast that’s walking distance to the heart of town. The farmhouse-style inn expanded this year, opening the doors to six brandnew California Craftsman self-standing bungalows that each offer 650 square feet of living space and amenities such as walk-in showers and kitchenettes. The signature three-course homemade breakfast still comes standard. The pandemic saw the gastronomic experience expand at Roblar Winery. Proprietors Kevin and Niki Gleason, who also became the new owners of Solvang’s Buttonwood Winery this year, brought new talent into the barrel room – winemaker Max Marshak and assistant winemaker Kat Gaffney – who look after a portfolio that includes Chardonnay, Grenache, and several sparkling offerings. There’s a new chef here, too – Santa Barbara native Peter Cham – who features produce from the three-acre Roblar Farm next door on menus for a variety of guided wine-tasting experiences as well as brunch on the property every Sunday. Look for new club member casitas on the farm soon.

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ROBLAR WINERY (PHOTO BY REBECCA NUSS)

Taste of the Santa Ynez Valley

n 2019, Visit the Santa Ynez Valley held its inaugural fourday, food, wine, and experiential event across the six wine country towns in the Valley: Los Alamos, Santa Ynez, Los Olivos, Solvang, Ballard, and Buellton. The event featured immersive experiences meant to serve as an introductory course to the edible and imbibe-able bounty of the burgeoning food, wine, and beer destination of the Santa Ynez Valley. After a two-year hiatus, Taste of the Santa Ynez Valley is back, and will take place November 3 to 6, 2022. Among the many highlights of the Taste are curated wine tastings, chef-driven long table dinners, lunches and activities, and events hosted by editors of lead sponsor, Sunset Magazine. The events over the four-day period will showcase the many special offerings of this powerhouse California wine country destination.

THE BAKER’S TABLE (PHOTO COURTESY VIVIANA CONTRERAS)

For more information, visit www.tastesyv.com. – K.M.H.

couple of Santa Ynez stalwarts are growing, including a new location for The Baker’s Table, the beloved artisan bakery that also offers gourmet breakfast and lunch service, and an expansion for Santa Ynez General, with its stylish selections of men’s and women’s fashions, along with fancy wares for the home. New businesses here include Queen Cup Coffee, serving upmarket java inside the popular Lucky Hen Larder deli and cheese shop, and The Victor, a new soon-to-open restaurant concept adjacent to the luxe Santa Ynez Inn.

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Ballard

he smallest community in the Santa Ynez Valley is also the oldest – Ballard Township was founded in 1881 by George W. Lewis, however, it was named after his friend William N. Ballard. The Ballard Inn is one of the handful of AAA 4-Diamond hotels in Santa Barbara County. During the glocal shutdown, it changed hands, and new renovations have included the restaurant, lobby, and living room(s). And there’s more to come: an inviting outdoor venue with a fire pit and pizza oven, a new craft cocktail menu, and a country-inspired breakfast menu that will be available to the public. The breakfast and lunch scene is really buzzing right across the street, at the newest location for Bob’s Well Bread. The much-loved bakery has long been a venerable stop for lovers of all things bread and pastry in the town of Los Alamos, to the north. The expansion to Ballard has created a baked goods haven not only for visitors but for valley locals too. And it’s proven to be refreshingly accessible. “Ballard is this little epicenter of the valley,” says owner Bob Oswaks. “We’re right on Baseline Avenue, which cuts right through the valley – Refugio and Alamo Pintado are on either side of us. It’s five minutes to Solvang, five minutes to Santa Ynez, five minutes (PHOTO BY KIM REIERSON) to Los Olivos. It’s a very convenient place for a lot of people.” The new Bob’s took over a historic spot: the Ballard General Store, built in 1939, once stood here. The menu – including breakfast and lunch sandwiches, pastries, and daily breads – is a carbon copy of the list at the original Los Alamos location, where all the baking takes place.

Los Olivos

istory meets luxury this year in the charming town that was the main stagecoach stop between L.A. and San Francisco during the Gold Rush era. Felix Mattei developed his namesake tavern in the 1880s and now, after extensive renovation that paid careful attention to heritage, it has become an Auberge property. “We are excited to tell the story of Mattei’s Tavern as the original social hub of Los Olivos, and introduce the property and destination to new and returning guests alike,” says general manager Dave Elcon. The main 1886 tavern has been preserved, along with five historic cottages, one of which operates as the welcoming farmhouse while the other four serve as guest suites. New buildings blend seamlessly with the original structures, all surrounded by amenities like an herb garden,

(PHOTO BY KIM REIERSON)

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1990 TULAROSA ROAD LOMPOC | MOUNTAIN + VALLEY VIEWS 40± Acres | Santa Ynez Valley AVA 1,500±SF Home | 5000±SF Warehouse Zoned RR-10 | Possibility to Subdivide Into Four 10 Acre Parcels Offered at $2,499,000

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MATTEI’S TAVERN (PHOTOS COURTESY OF AUBERGE RESORTS COLLECTION)

fire pits, and pool. The property will feature The Lavender Barn, an Auberge Spa, as well as various event spaces. There are also multiple dining venues, including The Tavern, with a 3,000-bottle wine cellar, a coffee shop, a fireplace-helmed cocktail lounge, and Gin’s Tap Bar. “We are honoring the inn’s original chef, Gin, paying homage to his Chinese roots throughout the menu,” adds Elcon. Guests will also have access to bikes and the house car. NELLA KITCHEN & BAR (PHOTO BY BRI BURKETT)

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t the town’s other high-end stay, the Fess Parker Wine Country Inn, a new chapter in Los Olivos’ growing gastronomic allure. Nella Kitchen & Bar opened its doors during the pandemic, another tour de force from the team behind Santa Ynez’s acclaimed S.Y. Kitchen, including chef Luca Crestanelli. Local fare drives Italian classics here – from branzino and cioppino to Muscovy duck and lamb chops scottadito. And the pinsas – artisan flatbreads featuring a crispy, flaky, Romanstyle crust – have quickly garnered a cult following. Nella is part of the Toscana Restaurant Group, which also includes Toscana in Brentwood and Nerano in Beverly Hills. The inn is also home to the town’s newest boutique, Coco-Belle Cabana, a pet project by chef Crestanelli’s wife, Pearl, and a haven for curated fragrances, jewelry designed by her mother Sabine Brouillet, and laid-back clothing and home decor inspired by Pearl’s international upbringing.

ROB, EMILY, AND WAYLON DAFOE OF DAFOE WINES (PHOTO BY REBECCA NUSS FROM OLIVE AND GRAIN PHOTOGRAPHY)

among newcomers like DaFoe Wines. Anchored by a quaint outdoor patio, pro snowboarder turned winemaker Rob DaFoe’s wines attract with clever nomenclature – Siteseer, Suspect Device, Suntoucher – and deliver on mouth feel and flavor, not to mention a bevy of 90+ scores.

BAR LE CÔTE (PHOTO BY BONJWING LEE)

ar Le Côte opened during the shutdown and has quickly become Los Olivos’s seafood tavern of record, a fresh culinary concept from the same team behind Los Alamos’s celebrated Bell’s restaurant. Blending Central Coast catches of the day with techniques inspired by Mediterranean eateries in Portugal and Spain, the menu spotlights oysters, sea urchin, crab claws, and shrimp along with a cavalcade of local produce and wines. Down the street, on the other side of the famous flagpole, Knife & Barrel has opened as the town’s ultimate gathering spot – a large woodfire grill manned by chef Jason Tuley ushers in hungry crowds with pizza, barbecue, and rotating internationally inspired bites, all of which washes down so easily with delicious proprietary wines, like Grenache Blanc and Syrah by Andy Kahn.

ot far from downtown, set along pastoral Foxen Canyon Road, Fess Parker Winery has unveiled a newly renovated visitor center – comfortable chairs and a communal table flank the floorto-ceiling fireplace and the outdoor exhibition kitchen now features state-of-the-art experiences. Among the decorative touches on the wall is the guitar that founder Fess Parker used to audition for the TV role of Davy Crockett that made him famous. A menu of new tasting experiences elevate the way the public can enjoy the winery’s impressive portfolio. “After 30-plus years, it was definitely time for a refresh,” says proprietor and Fess’s daughter, Ashley Parker-Snider. “We knew we wanted to create an environment that would feel a little bit grand, yet still welcoming and comfortable.”

he sheer number of wine options in this tiny town has always impressed, but quality prevails, including

FESS PARKER WINERY

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Los Alamos

BELL STREET – THE MAIN DRAG IN LOS ALAMOS

PRIEDITE BBQ (PHOTO BY JOHN TROXELL)

he valley’s northernmost town was, not too long ago, a dusty exit off the 101 that many would have missed. Now, it’s a foodie destination of choice. The Michelin star just earned by Bell’s, which opened in 2018, certainly proves that – the only Michelin star in the valley and one of just two in all of Santa Barbara County. Dinner is prix-fixe and by reservation only. The culinary draw at Bell’s has been further enhanced by the recent pop-up of Priedite BBQ – chef Nicholas Priedite draws an oft-sellout crowd with sensational tacos and smoked meats such as brisket and pulled pork. An online calendar showcases the spontaneous Saturdays and Sundays when Priedite visits Bell’s, as well as sporadic events throughout the valley.

BELL’S (PHOTO BY DATSU FILMS) DAISY, HENRY, GREG RYAN OF BELL’S (PHOTO BY AUBRIE PICK)

PRIEDITE BBQ (PHOTO BY JOHN TROXELL)

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own the street, The Maker’s Son opened last year and still showcases the three pumps that opened as the California Garage gas station in 1926. This historic locale now doles out food by chef Matthew Wheeler – a concise menu that includes barbecue chicken, seared ahi, and short rib orecchiette – and creative libations made with locally sourced premium spirits.

THE MAKER’S BURGER AT THE MAKER’S SON

To load up on the season’s offerings, visit the new Elder Flat Farm Shop, a parade of organic produce, fresh eggs, meats, and wool harvested on the 102-acre farm managed by farmer Carla Malloy. And for an immersive farm-inspired experience, check out Dirt Shepherd Tours, which aims to elevate the public consciousness around sustainable agriculture. Day tours for groups of two to eight last about six hours and visit regenerative farms and biodynamic vineyards – barrel tastings included.

Lompoc

hile Lompoc is not officially part of the Santa Ynez Valley, its proximity to the valley’s six towns – and the fact it’s home to some of the county’s premier wineries and farms – makes mentioning some of its own new arrivals well worth it. The new Barn at The Hilt Estate is elevating Santa Barbara wine tasting with reservation-only experiences showcasing the cultish The Hilt and Jonata labels. The wines, made by phenom Matt Dees, one of the most sought-after and celebrated of Santa Barbara’s new generation of winemakers, are spectacular. And the tasting room, set inside a farmhouse built with wood reclaimed from the 3,600-acre estate original 1914 barn, is gorgeous.

I THE BARN AT THE HILT ESTATE (PHOTOS BY CARY WILTON)

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n the mood for brews instead? COLD Coast Brewery in Old Town Lompoc is brand new and getting buzz for its Tropical IPA and the English-style ale, The Guv’na. Follow them on Facebook for updates on what’s on tap and periodic grub pop-ups. Lompoc’s modest, unassuming vibe makes its new arrivals an extra accessible extension of the Santa Ynez Valley’s culinary personality.

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A TASTE OF ITALY IN THE SANTA YNEZ VALLEY Thanks to restaurateurs Mike and Kathie Gordon, the American Dream is alive and – even better – it’s serving Italian! STORY BY GABE SAGLIE PHOTOGRAPHY BY EDWARD CLYNES

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“ Our success is due to our wonderful team, whom we’ve made part of our family, and who are dedicated to making our customers feel like part of our family as well.”

h, how times have changed! Once upon a time, restaurants in the 805 touted themselves as “Paris in Santa Barbara.” Today at the upscale hotel Kimpton St. Honoré in Paris, the restaurant serving “fine California cuisine” is called… wait for it…Montecito. A recent foodie article in the Los Angeles Times regales how at SOLA restaurant in London – and at equally fine establishments

from Munich to Milan – “California cuisine” has become a thing and “it isn’t just avocado toast.” If California cuisine is going global, certainly two of the restaurateurs most responsible for elevating our kitchens are Mike and Kathie Gordon. The Gordons have infused Mediterranean ingredients with California casual, Golden State Pinot, and the freshest ingredients on Earth. “A plate of pasta is a plate of pasta,” admits restaurateur Mike Gordon. “So it’s our people who’ve really made our success.”

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– MIKE GORDON It’s with a fair share of humility that the man behind the burgeoning Toscana Restaurant Group describes the success of his small restaurant empire – achievements that reach back more than 30 years (an eternity in the restaurant business), and, with new roots firmly planted in the Santa Ynez Valley with S.Y. Kitchen and Nella, are ongoing. “I think Kathie and I are just really good at picking the right people,” Mike continues, tipping his hat to his wife and business partner. “People who share our vision and passion for outstanding food.”

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he Gordons were not restaurant people when they entered the world of commercial Italian cuisine. They weren’t even Italian. Mike was a business manager in the entertainment biz, while Kathie was an accomplished writer and landscape designer. But their social circles led to a friendship with Wolfgang Puck, which whet a love for all things regional and fresh. And the move into epicureanism was sealed by the couple’s mutual love for all things Italian. “In the beginning, we went to Italy many times,” recalls Kathie. “We took pictures of restaurants we loved, we tasted lots of food, we fell in love with the farm-to-table concept that’s so real there. Italians grow their own food. And that became very important to us – simple, clean, very tasty food sourced as locally as possible.” RESTAURATEURS KATHIE AND MIKE GORDON

With a name that paid homage to the Italian way, the Gordons launched Toscana in 1989, a trattoria rooted in northern Italian fare in the upscale Los Angeles neighborhood of Brentwood. Toscana is still there, at the busy corner of San Vicente and Darlington, and continues to draw a very loyal repeat clientele more than three decades later. Toscana would eventually give rise to Bar Toscana next door as well as two buzzy outposts in Beverly Hills – BG and Nerano. A gutsy foray to the Santa Ynez Valley in 2006, though, introduced the Gordons to brand-new gastronomic potential –

idyllic weather and a cavalcade of regional ingredients. A burgeoning wine region to match. And, most importantly, people who shared their vision. “We were lucky to find excellent chefs, in particular, Luca,” says Kathie, referencing the culinary mastermind – Luca Crestanelli, a Verona native – who helped the Gordons launch Bar Toscana in 2010 and who’d partner with them three years later to open S.Y. Kitchen in the historic town of Santa Ynez. The Italian-inspired eatery, consistently rated as one of the best places to eat in Santa Barbara County, can hang its success on those same priorities that

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mattered most to the Gordons decades ago: simple, clean, very tasty, and very fresh food. Dishes such as wild mushroom pappardelle and pan-roasted Mediterranean sea bream, and locally driven craft cocktails like the passion fruit mojito and cilantro margarita. The wine list leans Italian but also honors Santa Barbara – neighbor vineyards and regional AVAs. “We buy most of our produce from local farms – even chef Luca supplies the restaurant with things he grows,” says Mike. “It sounds trite sometimes perhaps, but actual farm-to-table – that’s just what we do.” They just happen to do it extremely well.

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nd that intimate connection to their partner chefs – that’s also a Mike and Kathie Gordon signature. “The idea of family, that’s a concept we adopted more than 30 years ago, and something we’ve based running our operation on,” says Mike. Kathie continues: “The genesis for our restaurants comes from us, and we’re family oriented. We’ve embraced our employees as family, and our chefs have adopted that family concept. Look at S.Y. Kitchen – the staff are friends, they hang out, they go out together. And that gets translated into the food. Customers feel welcome. It all contributes to a memorable experience.” While the Gordons have hired several outstanding Italian chefs at the Toscana Restaurant Group, they also notably recognize and reward talent and passion in their non-Mediterranean employees…at every level. Miguel Martinez began his journey as an immigrant from Mexico and dishwasher in 1999 who today has worked his way up to executive chef at the “mothership,” Toscana. Similarly, Justino Quirino came to the United States at the turn of the century from Oaxaca and worked his way up from dishwasher to executive chef at sister restaurant Bar Toscana. The fundamentals of farm-to-table and family values are critical to the Toscana Restaurant Group, but part of its success is also that they continue to adapt and grow. The Toscana Group grew in 2020 when the team behind S.Y. Kitchen took over the lobby kitchen at the Fess Parker Wine Country Inn in Los Olivos and launched Nella, as much a bastion for fresh, authentic, local cuisines as its predecessors. Says Mike, “The pandemic contributed to the popularity of the Santa Ynez Valley. People wanted to travel, but no one was getting on planes. Suddenly, places you could drive to from L.A. were being rediscovered – Palm Springs, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and the Santa Ynez Valley – a wine country nook just far enough from the city. People would come here and be knocked out by the influx of excellent chefs and restaurants to the point that the food even started to overshadow the wine. Some just came to visit. Some loved what they saw and decided to sell the ranch…or buy one here!” Mike is partial to pinsas (artisan flatbreads featuring a crispy, flaky, Roman-style crust). “Maybe we find a spot in Solvang and sell them by the slice?” he asks his wife, almost apologetically, as if his voracious appetite for something new is something she knows well. “He’s always churning good ideas,” she admits. “He never stops!” The growing food scene in the Santa Ynez Valley – that’s something the Gordons are eyeing with enthusiasm. Over the years, some of their partner chefs have moved on to launch eateries of their own, “often right down the street from us,” says Kathie. “But we’ve learned that one good restaurant begets another. So we’re excited about what’s coming.”

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While the Gordons have hired several outstanding Italian chefs at the Toscana Restaurant Group, they also recognize and reward talent and passion in their non-Mediterranean employees… at every level.

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CREATING LEADERS TO HEAL THE WORLD THE GIVAT HAVIVA INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL AND ITS STRONG TIES TO SANTA BARBARA Story by Richard D. Hecht When 21-year-old Liberian national Chernor Diallo was elected student body president at Santa Barbara City College this spring, it was the pinnacle of a journey that had taken him around the world via an innovative two-year baccalaureate degree and leadership program headquartered in Israel. Givat Haviva International School (GHIS), has enjoyed strong sponsorship from Santa Barbarans since its inception and is proving to be a true disruptor in helping heal age-old ethnic conflicts.

avit Kavkasyan stood in front of an audience of 100 other high school students at GHIS and read his family’s history reaching back to the first genocide of the 20th century. In 1915 and 1916, militant Ottoman Turks murdered roughly 1.2 million Armenian Christians. Many of the students knew little of these events. Kavkasyan told a group here in Santa Barbara in a Zoom meeting that before he came to GHIS, he never thought he would be able to voice his family’s pain – certainly not to a peer his age from Turkey. More so, Kavkasyan never imagined his closest friend would be from his family’s historical foe, Turkey.

THE VISIONARIES

DAVIT KAVKASYAN

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ut these astounding events are daily business at GHIS in Israel. Located between Tel Aviv and Haifa in a rural inland area surrounded by both Jewish and Arab villages, the school, which offers the rigorous International Baccalaureate degree, opened in 2018 after two years of planning and certification. There are now 120 students from 22 countries – including Armenia, Colombia, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Liberia, Mexico, Russia, South Sudan, Turkey, and Ukraine. The student body consists of 25 percent Israeli Jews, 25 percent Israeli Arabs, and 50 percent international students of any denomination. Many of the students’ home countries are nations where there are long intercommunal conflicts. GHIS marks this at a special event called the Commemoration of Loss. Ritual events such as sharing deep personal and national pain have long been known to produce social solidarity. There is an enormous degree of honesty that goes with each story where memory and history come together in the nexus of an individual.

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urit Gery, executive director of GHIS and one of the founders of the school, began her professional life in the pharmaceutical industry. But six years ago, she came to a conclusion that she wanted to do something that “had soul” and involved children. She dreamed of building a unique educational institution that would meet the needs of society in Israel and also have an international impact through the students who would return to their own countries and bring with them their learnings. Gery emphasizes that the core of her vision for the school was that its students would be able to acquire an understanding to bridge the religious and political chasms in our contemporary world. This can only be achieved by helping students understand the power of narratives – not only their own narratives but also those of others who might be very different.

Gery emphasizes that the core of her vision for the school was that its students would be able to acquire an understanding to bridge the religious and political chasms in our contemporary world.

GHIS COFOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR NURIT GERY

GHIS COFOUNDER AND DIRECTOR YUVAL DVIR

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uval Dvir, director of GHIS and also one of its founders, began our conversation by underscoring that the International Baccalaureate program allows a school to develop its own curriculum to reflect its student bodies and localities. He and his colleagues set out to create a curriculum emphasizing human rights and equality with an educational design taking advantage of the existential diversity of the students. The language of instruction at GHIS is English, but students can study Arabic and Hebrew as well. There is a social science component represented by courses on global politics and social and cultural anthropology as well as courses in math and science. But Dvir stresses the critical role played by the arts in the curriculum. Art gives students a way to express the conflicts in their home countries and is a mechanism through which they represent their worlds and find validation. As for how the school trains leaders? His response: “Good leadership needs a strong value base.” The rigorous academic work is only part of the educational experience of GHIS. “The hard work is everything going on outside the classroom,” he stresses, “where students are learning to value others’ opinions and also have their perspectives validated.” Dialogue, encounters, and sharing is where the students learn that their classmates are individuals, friends, and humans – not just abstract representations of social or political groups. One of the most important characteristics of real leaders, Dvir explains, is an ability to bridge divisions in their societies or nations. But one could imagine the teaching and development of these kinds of skills is very difficult. Dvir responds, “You only need one Nelson Mandela to change a country.” The residential element is critical to the realization of the administrators and teachers’ vision. Hadas Talmon, director of boarding, explains that each dorm room has three students – one Israeli Arab, one Israeli nonArab student, and one international student. “The students come to GHIS because they want the experience of diversity,” she says. Talmon describes the extensive orientation that begins as soon as the students arrive – what it means to live in a diverse room. “We invest a

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great deal of time in developing relationships within each room,” she says, “and that begins with establishing the rules of the room.” For example, the students quickly learn that tensions can arise over playing music too loud or what music is played, and these tensions often mask more significant differences. Talmon and the staff help students develop processes to resolve conflict. GHIS believes the resolution of these micro conflicts holds the key to resolving much larger conflicts. For example, a disagreement arose in a room over the temperature of the air conditioning. But with the skills of conflict resolution, the students quickly understood the underlying issue was that one student had hung an Israeli flag above her bed and her Israeli Arab roommate put up a Palestinian flag. It required dialogue and discussion for the students to acknowledge the real issue was the flags and the narratives that the flags present. Hiba Younis is an administrator who handles all of the issues involving student passports and visas, and she also teaches Arabic at the school. The first problem teachers of Arabic face is the difficulty of the language. Younis says, “Of course it is difficult,” but she immediately transfers her enthusiasm to her students and proves to them that despite its challenges, they can enjoy learning Arabic. “It’s a beautiful language, and writing it is like drawing, and it is musical.” Her teaching career began in Israeli Arab high schools where the curriculum is oriented toward preparing students to pass the high school matriculation examination. At GHIS, the courses are more challenging and she is allowed to create syllabuses that draw the students into the subject matter. Of equal importance to Younis is the collegiality generated from the collaboration among faculty and students. For Younis, a class is not about memorization but preparing students for real life. She also notes something she sees among the students: “Arab and Jewish students actually begin to understand one another with respect and love.”

hristina Bazia has been a refugee most of her life. Her family was originally from Ethiopia but fled war to Sudan and eventually to Lebanon, where she was born in Beirut in 2001. Then the family fled the violence of Beirut to Cairo. Then they fled the corruption and economic stagnation of Egypt and made their way to Arad, Israel. She began to think Israel might be her home, but in 2011, her family was deported to South Sudan where there was a civil war. An Israeli nonprofit organization Become True was determined to aid the children who were deported and successfully brought a group of the kids to a boarding school in Uganda. When GHIS opened, they contacted the organization and offered four scholarships. The students were able to return to Israel because GHIS organized student visas for each. She explains the challenges when she came to GHIS began with the diversity of the student body. She had never lived with so many different people. She was fearful people would judge her because they thought she had run away from her country. Then she realized everyone came from a country with conflicts: “We were different in similar ways.” The level of academic work was difficult and she was unsure if the school was a good fit. But she slowly understood she had a wealth of knowledge none of the other students had – they knew nothing about East Africa. She lacked self-confidence, and since GHIS encourages people to talk about their life experiences, she often remained

STUDENT VOICES

ne of the first students I spoke with, Noga ben Yeshay, had grown up in West Bank settlements and had only studied in religious girls’ schools. Her mother hoped GHIS’s rigorous curriculum would challenge her daughter. But they were both worried about meeting new people. She has one roommate from Vietnam and the other is from Sheikh Jarrah, a neighborhood in East Jerusalem that has been a site of communal tension for several years. She observes Jewish dietary laws and the strictures of modesty in dress and behavior. She is often “one of a kind” in political discussions, and her politics have not changed but her appreciation for the opinion of others has. “Living with so many different people and their cultures allows you to immerse yourself in wider and changing norms,” she says. “It has allowed me to adapt to real differences, and this has given me a clearer vision of who I am.” A second female student was born in Israel but had lived most of her life abroad with her family. She wanted to continue to study in English at an International Baccalaureate high school and describes herself as a “local international student.” Before coming to the school, she expected being separated from her family in Ghana would be the most challenging aspect of coming to GHIS. The school – with its many different students – lessened the pain of separation, and she learned the importance of fully expressing herself.

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NOGA BEN YESHAY

The students live and learn together, and as they learn together, they recognize one another as people.

CHRISTINA BAZIA

silent. She was uneasy speaking to her fellow students. And then something happened in her global politics course: Her teacher told her she had good ideas and encouraged her to speak in class, which prompted a confidence that changed everything for her. For the first time in her life, she began to think about the future with hope. She is now in college in Israel and thinking about her own future. She wants to return to South Sudan and bring the confidence she learned in GHIS back to help her people see the future with hope. “For me, home became people,” she says. “People are my home.” Another student is from the village of Iksal near Nazareth. His father held a postdoctoral fellowship abroad, and as a child, he was exposed to people from diverse backgrounds. But when the family returned to Israel, he found polarization between the Jews and the Arabs. He wanted something different – a place that would challenge what he called his “communal responsibility.” He thought his responsibility was to understand people who were different from him – to really get to know them – and he found this at GHIS. His roommates were Jewish and Ethiopian. He admits the diversity is difficult: “Everyone carries their own political opinions.” He initially felt nervous about entering into dialogue with his roommates or other students, but as he pushed himself, he learned that “there was a real human behind the opinion.”

IBRAHIM HOGERAT

is closest friend at GHIS is from Bir al-Maksur, also a village near Nazareth. Ibrahim Hogerat explains that GHIS changed him as a person. He had never spoken with a Jew. “In our village, we did not know how to interact with them,” he says, “and I had very little interaction with others who were not exactly like the people in my village.” Now he has good friends who are Jews, and he takes his Jewish friends home to his village. For him, the Commemoration of Loss ritual in April had particular importance – he knew nothing about the Armenian genocide. The Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe) of 1948 was an important anchor point for him, and he knew very little about the Holocaust. The narratives touched everyone’s hearts and he felt a deep sense of sadness but also tremendous gratitude to the students who were able to articulate their peoples’ collective memories of suffering. But his personal transformation occurred before the Commemoration of Loss. On January 27 – International Holocaust Remembrance Day – he posted on his Instagram account “Never Again.”

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RABBI STEVE COHEN

THE PARTNERS

HIS has developed a network of partners in the United States. The partners provide funding for scholarships, but of equal importance, many function as tutors and mentors for students at GHIS. Some work with the students on their English skills via Zoom, others help develop basic research skills, connect students to various experts for their research papers, or help them develop essays for their college applications. One of these partners in Santa Barbara was an individual who had extensive experience as a “big brother” and said when COVID cases rose in Israel, GHIS sent its Israeli students home. He knew the other half of the student body – the foreign students – would need help to keep up with their work. This individual prides himself as someone who can bring people together, and he helped organize a group of volunteers to assist students with their academic work. Another volunteered to tutor a number of students, and she immediately noticed that the students live and learn together, and as they learn together, they recognize one another as people; learning together became yet another venue for the students to master the central educational value that leadership and recognition breaks down barriers. There is a growing number of religious institutions that have become partners with GHIS. Pastor Todd Stavrakos of Gladwyne Presbyterian Church in Pennsylvania was introduced to GHIS on an interfaith trip to Israel led by one of his closest friends, the rabbi of a nearby synagogue. He was immediately drawn to the vision of GHIS. He says, “There is something about bringing Jews and Arabs together and into dialogue with others from conflicted areas.” He describes the daring project at GHIS as an

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“audacious” attempt to transform the world. “The leaders share a real idealism – they are visionaries and understand the world needs new leaders.” In addition, Stavrakos says that working with GHIS has had an enormous impact on his small family church. Early in the pandemic, many in his congregation were despondent, but as they began to think of ways to support the school, “my people were revived,” he says. “The human spirit reemerged in my community. Supporting GHIS was a life-giving program.” Stavrakos sums up his experience with the school as “one of the proudest things I have done. It is what I hope for our world.” Santa Barbara has perhaps the most extensive network of support for the school. Led by Rabbi Steve Cohen, Congregation B’nai B’rith has made GHIS one of its main projects of social justice. Rabbi Cohen and the congregation refer to this as one of their efforts of tikkun olam – the repair of the world. What made Rabbi Cohen and the congregation so committed to their partnership with GHIS? He replies, “It began with Nurit Gery. It was just the encounter with her – with her great intelligence, her energy, her vision, and her commitment to the project CHERNOR DIALLO AT SANTA of creating a new generation of young BARBARA CITY COLLEGE AND HIS people who would heal the world.” CAMPAIGN POSTER FOR STUDENT He adds that education is the key to BODY PRESIDENT the solution of the conflict between Jews and Arabs – and probably many other conflicts that plague the world. Rabbi Cohen suggests one of the strongest points of GHIS is the proportion of Jewish, Arab, and international students. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is diluted so the students can really speak to one another. One of GHIS’s graduates, the aforementioned Chernor Diallo, is now studying at Santa Barbara City College and is president of the student body. As he was contemplating going to GHIS, all he knew about Israel was the conflict with the Palestinians. Israel may not be a stable place, but when he considered the international students who studied there, he concluded it was safe. What Chernor saw in Monrovia, Liberia, was the very same thing Rabbi Cohen saw as the key ingredient that makes GHIS’s educational model so powerful – bringing together diverse young people to bridge divisions and make the world a kinder place. With increased contributions, Givat Haviva can broaden its reach and scale. What the election of Chernor Diallo at SBCC proves is that GHIS’s goal is most definitely working. For more information on Givat Haviva International School, visit gh-is.org.

SUMMER 2022

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all it a validation of Cartesian Dualism, call it a tidy demonstration of the First Law of Thermodynamics. Whatever you do, don’t call it a Near-Death Experience. Angels, tunnels of light, the buoyancy of the startled flatliner as she delightedly sheds her body and heads for the ceiling – these conversation starters are not likely to earn one a second invite to the cocktail party. Earnest conversation about the afterlife is sometimes about as welcome as a wet sheepdog in Chez Panisse. Embarrassed throatclearing has long been the soundtrack to William Peters’ life pursuit. That may be changing. “The Near-Death Experience is gaining traction in our culture,” Peters says. “Not just anecdotally, but academically. There has been a plethora of scholarly articles written on the Near-Death Experience, and there is a growing sympathy with and sense of normalcy around the subject.” Peters is a licensed psychotherapist and grief counselor – with degrees from Harvard and UC Berkeley – at the Family Therapy Institute of Santa Barbara (FTISB). He is also a longtime Near-Death Experience (NDE) researcher. In 2011, he founded, and today directs, the Shared Crossing Project – an organization dedicated to end-of-life studies. In 2013, Peters rolled out the Shared Crossing Research Initiative (SCRI), a not-for-profit investigative initiative in collaboration with the FTISB. Board-certified emergency physician Monica Williams, MD, is SCRI’s medical director, and religious studies scholar Michael Kinsella, PhD, the institute’s chief of research. SCRI’s deep dive is specifically focused on the phenomenon, quite similar to the NDE, known as the Shared Death Experience (SDE). The SDE has momentous implications for the way human beings regard death, themselves, and each other. “Displays of conscious, connected, and loving end-of-life experiences offer a life-changing perspective,” Peters says. “Firsthand accounts of shared crossings can initiate significant personal transformations in the lives of those who hear them, which SCRI aims to

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The Shared Crossing Project Makes Eternal Goodbye Obsolete

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William Peters’ groundbreaking new book explores death as a point on a continuum rather than “The End”

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harness to effect positive transformations relating to end of life.” Peters is obliged to point out a crucial and undeniable distinction between the NDE and SDE. “Experiencing the life-changing awe and wonder of the NDE requires a brush with death,” he says. “By contrast, the SDE experiencer partakes of the wonder without the accompanying physical and emotional rigor of dying. The SDE can happen to anybody.” Peters’ new book At Heaven’s Door: What Shared Journeys to the Afterlife Teach About Dying Well and Living Better – an immersive collection of first-person SDE accounts – is the culmination of his years spent researching and quantifying these phenomena the world over. The “Shared Death Experience” nomenclature suggests a carefully tailored ceremony of joined hands, meditative chanting, and candlelight. Au contraire. To say the least. “Unsuspecting caregivers, loved ones, and even bystanders are broadsided by an experience they can’t explain in the moment,” Peters says of the SDE phenomenon, which, roughly speaking, involves someone being waylaid without warning and swept up into someone else’s technicolor demise. “Fifty-one percent of our SDE cases describe feeling – or seeing – the dying on a journey, transitioning from the human body to a glorious afterlife.” If “glorious afterlife” gives you pause, you’re not alone – though you hold membership in a curiously conflicted club. Today, the Pew Research Center reports that 73 percent of surveyed American adults believe in some form of afterlife, and a 2013 report by the National Center for Biotechnology Information found that some nine million Americans claim to have had their own NDEs. Despite this statistically heartening endorsement of the hereafter, revived returnees who report on postmortem journeys to the light are not often given a sympathetic hearing. It bears mentioning that the NDE is not like the UFO encounter in a remote forest clearing, or a glimpse of Scottish plesiosaur from the shores of Loch Ness. By its nature, the NDE often occurs in a hospital; by one definition a large box full of scientists. Often these specialists are clustered about the NDE experiencer amid stacked, beeping machinery that intently monitors the body’s every autonomic whimsy in real time. If the NDE is broadly (and

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somewhat approximately) classified as one or another species of “spiritual episode,” it is a spiritual episode encrusted with data. “We know these experiences happen,” Peters says. “You simply can’t discount the research.” One other thing: The Shared Death Experiencer is, effectively, a fully conscious participant in someone else’s end-of-life melee. One could call SDE the corroborative frosting on the NDE cake. “The person who’s having the Shared Death Experience is healthy – sound in mind and body,” Peters says avidly. “Someone transitions, and they share that death experience with them. They could be miles away or right at the bedside.” He pauses then, seems to reconnoiter. His shoulders visibly relax. “Look,” he says in a mediating tone. “If these were just isolated experiences happening here and there outside the mainstream, we wouldn’t have to deal with this stuff.” His eyebrows rise in deadpan. “But this is death. Everyone we know–including ourselves–is going to die. So we best take these experiences on and learn from them. For those open to such learnings, end-of-life and grief and bereavement are much better, more meaningful experiences that positively draw from the whole picture.”

Epiphany at the Outlets

llison Armour is an artist whose garden sculpture is pointedly not of the “gnome wearing cap” variety. Highly polished steel megaliths in chimeric negotiation with the surrounding landscape, bewilderingly lovely fountains, light-gathering glass spheres like enormous zero-gee droplets in a NASA documentary – Armour has, for about 22 years, staked out and conquered her own artisanal territory. It seems to be going okay. Clients include the King of Denmark and a guy named Ringo Starr. “I had Ringo in my garden for three hours. I couldn’t get rid of him,” she laughs. “It was amazing.” An American who lived in the United Kingdom for 26 years, her hint of an accent intrigues. “I still have a little studio in England,” she says. “I used to live in this tiny village in Sussex, and I had a very close friend named Wendy. She was also American, but probably 20 years older than me and had lived there longer than I had. We became very close friends. “Well, I was here in town, in Camarillo, actually. I’ve got my

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“There is a profound therapeutic benefit to knowing that your loved one is alive and well and abiding in a place where you’ll see them again. Your grief is radically transformed.” – William Peters shopping bags and I’m walking to my car and suddenly Wendy – comes to me! She said ‘Allison. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. I just couldn’t do it anymore. I was too tired.’” Armour pauses in the telling. “Then…I had a sudden image of Wendy being 16 and totally healthy and free and footloose, sort of skipping along in this country setting. She’d been in poor health for a very long time, very frail and thin, and she couldn’t fight death any longer. She didn’t want to!” You sensed her, the interviewer timidly offers. “I saw her,” Armour clarifies. “But I had no idea what was happening. Then the phone rang. It was a UK phone number, and I knew straight away.” Wendy had departed. On her way to the ether she seemingly stopped off to let Allison know. It’s a strange, charmed fact that the SDE very often has a message-bearing component, the dead popping in to reassure the living. “Hey, I just died. But it’s all cool. Calm down.” The spirits who so terrify us in the movies in fact arrive bearing aspirin and a glass of water. Armour’s take on all this is not so much a dance to the music of the spheres, as a nod to the unexplained ephemera that animate daily existence, and which most of us blankly step over as one would a fault in the sidewalk. “Whether they call it intuition or something else – it’s that moment you know absolutely that you’re going to run into soand-so today.” Allison’s SDE with Wendy says much about the organic, almost chummy ordinariness of death in the life cycle – a grand leave-taking not heralded by trumpet-blowing cherubim and seraphim but by a muted apology in the parking lot. “It’s not like I was meditating,” Armour says. “I was at the bloody Factory Outlets. How crazy is that?”

something that speaks to the essence of who we are as beings. Life survives death. Life is bigger than death.” The reported adventures of the temporarily dead are inevitably sidling into the realm of the peer reviewed. “The veteran hospice workers know about these experiences,” Peters says. “We just published the first article on SDE in the American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. I was heartened by the overwhelming validation of our study by the three reviewers. One wrote, ‘Your work can increase the awareness of the SDE, and end-of-life phenomena in general, which is important to provide conditions for the development of support to the bereaved as well as patients. I enjoyed reading your well-written manuscript.’” Peters is emphatic. “This is a major step in normalizing the SDE and affirming the many transcendental experiences of caregivers as they lovingly aid and accompany the dying through this final chapter of human mortality.” We’re meeting on a sun-splashed terrace at Peters’ home, serenaded by pleasantly cacophonous birdsong and overarched by an azure, cloud-dappled dome that reportedly kisses space and keeps on going. Dressed sensibly in a button-down shirt and given to easy laughter (some of it at his own expense), Peters is not a weird proselytizer of other realms nor a tie-dye-swaddled blabbermouth hung with crystals. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. “Life is a vitality that wants to connect with more vitality, right? And where does that vitality reside? It’s not in the human body when it’s dead. It’s somewhere else, but it’s still present.” Right. The first law of thermodynamics; a staple of physics. Energy isn’t created or destroyed–there is a fixed amount of it in the universe and it just gets moved around, repurposed. “Throughout human history, the great wisdom traditions and philosophical enquiries have worked at these major questions. Who am I? How did I get here? Do I exist beyond this human death? And if so, what’s the quality of my life?” Peters pauses. “I mean, is this a blip or is this the whole thing?”

What to Expect

Sharing is Believing

“S

DE is a natural, physical process that we may be able to scientifically understand at some point,” Peters says. “But the therapeutic value of these experiences can’t be overstated.” Peters and his team have established an actionable typology around the various modes and elements of the SDE experience, his new book the first effort to formally codify its characteristics. He has high hopes. “When it becomes widely understood and accepted that all this is happening, we can bring death and dying into the center of our families and communities. We can gather in honoring that death. We lose a loved one, and it’s painful. But there’s something glorious and awe-inspiring in these passages;

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atalie Orfalea is not possessed of superpowers – she can’t fly or bend metal with her mind. Her power is in her perspective. Many of us hurriedly tune into The Life Show on an old TV with a bent antenna. Natalie sees this nutty pageant in wide screen Technicolor. The Natalie Orfalea Foundation’s mission statement – “We partner with innovative individuals and organizations…to serve the highest good of all life on this planet” – sums up the deep embrace that is her everyday vision.

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A L I R E Z A H VA R Z A N D E H | T H E C A L L | 7 1 X 9 1 I N C H E S | O I L O N C A N VA S | 2 0 2 1

An Exclamatory Sky

“I

William Peters, Nancy Koppelman, and Rod Lathim

“My support of William’s work comes through my own experiences: the Near-Death and the Shared Death Experiences I was exposed to through the loss of my father and the loss of my son – both prior to and following their deaths.” Raised in a family of deep faith, Orfalea found her own way. “My belief system is not as dogmatic as the one I was raised in – but I still didn’t understand what these experiences meant. A friend of mine – Nancy Koppelman, who has since passed – suggested that I get acquainted with William’s work. I found the experience to be very illuminating and deeply satisfying.” William Peters’ Shared Crossing Project looks at the phenomenological maelstrom surrounding death from a nonreligious, not to say irreligious, point of view. “As a young momto-be, I went to classes to learn about birth, What to Expect When You’re Expecting. We don’t do any of that around death,” Orfalea says. Western culture’s take on death may be best summarized by poet Dylan Thomas’ famous imprecation that we “Rage against the dying of the light.” Death is to be defied and avoided. Not just death itself – the very topic of death. “The utterances of people that are dying could provide a gateway into the mysteries of this life,” Orfalea says. “Death is a sacred space. Just like birth is. We have bar mitzvahs and baptisms, celebratory rituals around birth. Somehow death gets put in a category of its own. It’s treated like a failure.” As counterpoint, Orfalea describes the scene around the “deathbed” of her dear friend (and beloved Montecitan) Nancy Koppelman – a mover, shaker, and controlled explosion of joy for whom daily life was rocket fuel. “I miss her so terribly,” Orfalea says. “She was just an exemplary person in the way she actually lived – and in how she left the world as well. It was beautiful to see how many people came to her during the time of her passing, out of love for what she had brought to their lives.” I’d heard awed descriptions of Nancy Koppelman’s last days in our earthly ’hood. Raging against a “dying of the light” didn’t seem to figure into it. She seemed fixated on a still brighter light. “William’s research shows us that those people who experience SDEs or NDEs describe an overwhelming sense of calmness and peace, along with the healing power of the Shared Crossing,” Orfalea says. “That’s the opportunity that we have in this work.”

’m a fairly sciencebased person, just by the nature of who I am and the work that I do – making natural history films. I spend a lot of time questioning everything! That particular experience…it was so vivid and so real that I couldn’t explain it. I’d always wondered – like everybody, of course – what happens after we die.” Mimi Armstrong deGruy is a Santa Barbara-based documentary filmmaker whose celebrated work in partnership with her husband, deep-water explorer and cinematographer Mike deGruy, stretched over two decades of exploration, yielding film and television projects for the BBC, National Geographic, and others. “There’s a lot we don’t understand. I’m curious and open to all of it.” On February 4, 2012, Mike was off on a shoot in Australia and Mimi was on the 101, driving home from a film festival. “I remember exactly the spot on the freeway where it happened,” she says. “I was just very suddenly struck by this intense, intense anxiety. It was so bizarre. I thought, What in the world is going on? I wondered if I was having a heart attack. It felt like something was just jamming into my heart. I got home – I saw the lights and I saw my dogs, and I thought, you know, I’m fine. It was so weird. Maybe an hour later I got the phone call that Mike had died.” Mike deGruy and Australian filmmaker Andrew Wight had both been killed when the light helicopter Wight was piloting nosed down and crashed on takeoff. They’d been on their way to film the launch of a submarine in nearby Jervis Bay as part of a James Cameron documentary. “In working with William and Shared Crossing later, I looked back on that experience and thought – yeah – I surely had some connection with Mike at the moment he died. Mike was a guy with tremendous life force. His death was so sudden, and so far away. It was very easy to have moments where I just thought he was still off on the shoot and would be coming back.” The brute fact of personal cessation doesn’t always compute. “I’d certainly had a fair number of people in my family die,” Mimi says. “But I’d never before had this sense of where did you go? That really struck me when Mike died. He was just so alive. Someone like that doesn’t just go poof into nothing.” It was recommended to deGruy that she go talk to someone at hospice. “I did that, and the person there suggested I meet with William. I thought it might be helpful to discuss these things in a therapeutic setting, yes. But I also had real curiosity around wanting to understand, at some level, where Mike had gone.” Mimi’s pain was mitigated by thoughts of Mike continuing. “It was comforting to imagine that he was still around in some form, on some spiritual

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level; and I’m not downplaying the reality of what happened to me – what I felt in the car. I was drawn to the SDE narrative – whether because it was comforting or I really believed that he had gone to a better place, I wasn’t really sure.” Sure is the elusive golden ticket on such matters. Sometimes, though, an electric little leap of que será, será can overtop the high bar of scientific empiricism. “One other thing,” Mimi says. “At Mike’s memorial, his brother referred to him as a human exclamation point. It was so true! We all chuckled at that. ’Oh, yeah, that’s a very fitting way to describe Mike.’ About a half hour later we were down at the beach doing this beautiful rose petal ceremony. Someone said ’look at that!’…and there was the most perfect exclamation point in the clouds. Where did it come from? That just threw everyone.” Mimi at that moment wasn’t quite ready to roll with this “exclamation point in the sky” business. She laughingly describes her rationalist pursuit of the truth. “I spent the next couple of days trying to find out who organized the cloud formation. Eventually, my kids said ‘Mom!’ That was a turning point for my kids and me. This led to the Shared Crossing Project through my work with William, which was so very helpful to me with my dad when he died a few years ago.” She pauses. “The ultimate gift of Shared Crossings is just a closeness with those you love the most, so that in the process of living – and then also dying – you have conversations that you won’t have to regret not having had. The value of what William is doing with the Shared Crossing Project is that you come to appreciate the plausibility that physical death isn’t really goodbye.”

Where Am “I”?

n the 17th century, René Descartes (whose “I think, therefore I am” is considered the Age of Enlightenment’s inaugural bumper sticker) articulated what came to be called Cartesian Dualism. We know it today as the Mind/Body Problem. The “problem” can be boiled down to the question one is advised not to holler in a crowded room: “Am I my brain?” Descartes posited that the “mind” is not produced by the chemistry and synaptic fireworks of the brain but is an immaterial and temporary tenant there. NDE and SDE thus live at the busy intersection of Consciousness Studies and philosophical inquiry; making At Heaven’s Door one of the least likely beach reads since Gutenberg discovered moveable type. Enjoy it with a daiquiri. The book’s bestseller status and growing reputation as an addictive read has everything to do with its subtext: death isn’t a catastrophe, nor even a happy ending. It’s the unlikely start of another form of life. How might adopting that truth change the caste of our mortal days spent with one eye ever on the hourglass? “What are these experiences? What’s the value here?” Given Peters’ years in the counseling trenches, from the AIDS epidemic in San Francisco to stints in war-torn Guatemala and Peru, his view of NDE and SDE phenomena as tools for fully living is understandable. “There is a profound therapeutic benefit to knowing that your loved one is alive and well and abiding in a place where you’ll see them again. Your grief is radically transformed.” When longtime friend and supporter Nancy Koppelman died, she startlingly appeared to both Peters and a member of his immediate family. “It’s what I call a flyby,” Peters says. “A loved one can come in almost like Tinkerbell.” He smiles, a little tearily. “They drop in – boom – and they deliver a massive nonverbal heartfelt information set.” Peters summarizes the typical SDE message – a cosmic benediction more likely to be delivered in a parking lot than a stained-glass cathedral. “It’s me! Thank you for having shared my life. I love you. I’m heading out, and I’ll see you later.”

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WELLNESS BY KELLY MAHAN HERRICK

Looking for a way to unwind, beautify, and bring out your very best? Santa Barbara and Montecito are home to an exclusive array of wellness practitioners who want to help you live your best life. Here are a few notable offerings. TURNER MEDICAL ARTS

r. Duncan Turner started his career in Santa Barbara in the mid 1980s as a traditional OBGYN, delivering many babies and running a busy gynecology practice. Now, with his patients growing older, Turner Medical Arts has evolved into a forward thinking, advanced medical practice offering treatment for a wide range of sexual health issues, as well as a flourishing practice for anti-aging and aesthetic procedures. In addition to being known for gynecological care, aesthetic procedures, hormone replacement, and sexual health therapies, Turner Medical Arts, located on Coast Village Road in Montecito, has launched a new skin care technology: radio frequency micro-needling devices and skin tightening procedures, Morpheus8RF and PotenzaRF. The procedures improve aging skin through micro needling, which rejuvenates the complexion, stimulates collagen, and tightens skin on the face and body.

(PHOTOS BY KIM REIERSON)

Dr. Turner has assembled a team of professionals at Turner Medical Arts, which also offers a weight management program, pelvic floor tightening, vaginal rejuvenation, and an array of injectables, which effectively reduce wrinkles and fine lines.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.TURNERMEDICALARTS.COM

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RETROUVÉ

(PHOTOS COURTESY RETROUVÉ)

ounded by skincare virtuosos Jami and Klaus Heidegger and formulated with clinically effective concentrations of anti-aging ingredients, Retrouvé works with the body’s natural regenerative processes to optimize the skin’s ability to hydrate, strengthen, and repair itself. The Heideggers are the former third-generation family owners of the legendary skincare brand, Kiehl’s. In addition to sourcing the highest grade of ingredients from trusted suppliers, Retrouvé incorporates sustainably grown produce harvested directly from the Heidegger family farm in Malibu, giving the brand an unmatched level of control over the quality of the product. Retrouvé simplifies a skincare routine with potent, concentrated, multi-purpose formulations that eliminate the need for a plethora of products that address only a single need. Each of the brand’s dynamic preparations contains a blend of ingredients that addresses a myriad of skin concerns, including hydration, fine lines, and brightness. The formulations are created with a highly efficacious level of beneficial antioxidant ingredients to help impart a healthy and radiant glow to the skin. Retrouvé is for men and women who are concerned about the health and well-being of their skin, want to delay the visible signs of aging, and desire a hydrated, luminous complexion. The brand is well known for its bestselling Revitalizing Eye Concentrate Skin Hydrator and patent-pending Intensive Replenishing Facial Moisturizer, which are clinically proven to improve hydration, brightness, and the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.RETROUVE.COM

OPHORA WATER TECHNOLOGIES

n 2010, water expert Ken Guoin and entrepreneur Christen Brown founded OPHORA Water Technologies in Montecito. Recognizing that municipal and bottled waters had become degraded, devitalized, and even denatured, they dedicated themselves to restoring source water back to its crystalline, structured, functional, and alkaline state. Using 14 levels of filtration to remove pharmaceuticals, micro-plastics, chlorine, carcinogens, pesticides, and heavy metals, their patented process adds high levels (40 ppm) of bound and stable molecular oxygen to OPHORA bottled water and their Ultra Whole Home System. OPHORA manufactures whole home water purification and enhancement systems, allowing customers to experience the benefits of healthy water throughout their entire home with OPHORA’S state-of-the-art UF whole home filtration series. Each system is designed to meet the home’s specific water demand with considerably less wastewater than most traditional carbon-based whole-home systems. OPHORA systems ensure robust whole-home water filtration by implementing UF (ultrafiltration) technology to remove harmful contaminants commonly found in municipal source water including (but not limited to) chlorine, ammonia, heavy metals, viruses, bacteria, cysts, and microplastics. In addition, OPHORA’s Bio-Fresh Pool and Spa systems provide organic, 100% chlorine-free, oxygen-rich water for a restorative swimming and soaking experience. The company’s most popular system is the Bio-Quantum Water Station, which has the added benefit of ozone purification and increased oxygen levels. It produces hot and chilled, nano-pure, mineral-rich, pH-balanced, structured, oxygenated water on tap. This system is an ideal fit for a home, office, gym, or spa, eliminating the environmental burden of single-use plastic bottles.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.OPHORAWATER.COM

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SOMAVEDIC TECHNOLOGIES

omavedic Technologies, a pioneer in frequency therapy products, offers consumers a much-needed solution to indoor pollutants. The company’s compact and easy-to-use “Somavedic’’ device has been scientifically proven to mitigate the unwanted influences of electromagnetic radiation (EMF) from WIFI, wireless devices, and 5G networks, to improve energy levels, focus, and productivity, and overall sleep quality. Somavedic was founded (PHOTOS BY MARIE BARTOŠOVÁ) in 2011 by Ivan Rybjansky, who was inspired to find a cure for his own debilitating health issues. Rybjansky regained his health and applied his experiences and knowledge to inventing the Somavedic. The device now helps tens of thousands of people live healthier lives, with more than 60,000 Somavedic devices having been shipped worldwide to over 52 countries. Somavedic products are handcrafted with the highest quality, 100% hand-blown glass in the famous Crystal Valley of the Czech Republic; every product is unique. FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SOMAVEDIC.COM

HYPERBARIC MED CENTER

r. Olga Aguilera is the Medical Director of the Hyperbaric & Anti-Aging Medical Center based in downtown Santa Barbara. Founded in 2008, the center offers Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), which is the medical use of oxygen in a pressurized chamber at a level higher than 1 atmosphere absolute. Increased pressure allows oxygen to more effectively dissolve and saturate the blood and all the fluids in the body, including cerebrospinal fluid and plasma. This yields optimal cellular functioning, enhanced regeneration of tissue, and improved toxic elimination. HBOT has been demonstrated to mobilize stem cells from the bone marrow, so it is considered a cellular renovation therapy. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is used to treat non-healing wounds, burn and skin injuries, anxiety and depression, stroke and memory issues, sleep disorders, peripheral neuropathy, gangrene, chronic fatigue, and more. In recent years, a growing evidence from preclinical as well as clinical trials demonstrate the efficacy of HBOT for neurological indications including idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss, post stroke and post traumatic brain injury, central sensitization syndrome such as fibromyalgia syndrome, age-related cognitive decline, and animal models of Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Aguilera is a bilingual physician, and she has been very active in medical research and has been a co-author with Dr. Gunnar Heuser in many peer-reviewed medical publications. Dr. Aguilera has lectured at multiple universities and colleges throughout America, Europe, and Latin America, and has appeared in numerous TV segments and in local magazines. FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.HYPERBARICMEDCENTER.COM

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PLANES, PUPPIES, AND STEVE MCQUEEN’S HANGAR

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Family-friendly First Sundays at the Santa Paula Airport

Story by David Freed

Dedication of Santa Paula Airport, 1930

t’s a party like no other. At promptly 10 am on the first Sunday of every month, hangar doors creak open and airplane enthusiasts from near and far come streaming into the venerable Santa Paula Airport for a celebration of all things aviation – with a dash of Hollywood history thrown in. The unpretentious little airport, a half-hour drive from Montecito, comes alive with the bustle and roar of colorful old planes taxiing and launching skyward. Visitors can stroll the flight line without escort or take a chauffeured golf cart tram to explore the airport’s hangars – each a weathered aluminum treasure chest of the bygone era when manned flight was still in its exotic infancy. Bruce Dickenson’s experimental Dickenson-Howard DGA-21

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Santa Paula Airport hangars make the ultimate man caves and she sheds

amilies and dogs are more than welcome, as is anyone with even a remote interest in the air up there. “Where else can you find a bunch of old geezers with more cool airplanes and more collections of weird stuff than you can shake a stick at?” says retired psychologist Roger Barker, who flew Air Force spotter planes during

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the Vietnam War and now commands hot air balloons. Barker’s own man cave/hangar holds everything from balloon baskets to the accoutrements of custom knife making and hot rod construction. He and other Santa Paula-based aviators say the monthly open house helps to educate the public about the virtues of flight while

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introducing young people to the myriad career opportunities aviation offers. For those pilots who open their hangars to the public and those who fly in to participate in First Sundays (as the event has come to be known), it also affords a tax break on their aging aircraft.

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Jay Leno brings his 1953 Chrysler Tank Car to the 2003 Labor Day car show at the airport (Photo by Craig Mailloux)

Flight 126 Café is the only restaurant in Santa Paula that lets you bring your own wings

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David Vanoni’s 1947 red, white, and blue Navion over Santa Paula

alifornia’s Board of Equalization allows an annual property tax exemption for any aircraft of “historical significance.” By the state’s definition, that means any flying machine at least 35 years old as well as any model or type of aircraft of which fewer than five are known to exist. To qualify for the exemption, owners must put their aircraft on public display no less than 12 days each year. The

exemption isn’t widely used because federally mandated security measures prohibit public access at most of the larger airfields where commercial air service is offered. Not so at Santa Paula, where there are no jetliners; small, propeller-driven planes reign supreme, and independently minded private pilots bristle at the mere mention of the government meddling in their flying. The airport dedication ceremony

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“S

o many airports today have a six-foot fence around them,” says pilot David Vanoni, a Ventura County farmer who can be found on First Sundays giving kids free rides in his 1947 red, white, and blue Navion. “This is a friendly place. You don’t have to be a propeller-head to enjoy it.” Theresa Marvel, who manages the Aviation Museum of Santa Paula’s gift shop, agrees. “We’re a little-known gem,” says Marvel, whose husband, Tom, is a retired American Airlines pilot who went by “Captain Marvel” in the cockpit. “You can walk into any hangar and these guys will talk your ear off.” Arguably, Santa Paula’s original First Sunday took place on a Saturday nearly 90 years ago – August 9, 1930, to be exact – when the airport was formally dedicated. The opening featured stunt pilots, air races, parachute jumping, a glider endurance contest, and displays of shiny new automobiles by area dealers, followed by an evening dance held, of course, in a hangar. The women’s auxiliaries of the local Rotary and Lions clubs hosted a five-course dinner for visiting airmen and aviatrixes featuring home-cooked veal loaf, Spanish beans, and French apple pie. The local newspaper proclaimed: “Never before in the history of Santa Paula has this city been visited by such a throng of people from everywhere in Southern California.” Admission that day was 50 cents for adults, two bits for kids. The crowds these days may be substantially smaller and activities not nearly

as elaborate, but First Sundays are no less entertaining. They’re also free of charge. For pilots like Bruce Dickenson, an affable avocado and citrus grower with humorous tales galore of aerial adventures, there’s no better place to be on a sunny Sunday than showing off his experimental Dickenson-Howard DGA-21. Dickenson spent more than nine years and 19,000 hours building the monoplane – an eye-catching example of flying art deco – from scratch. Don’t even think about asking him what else he’d rather be doing. “Are you crazy?” Dickenson says. “I’d be at the airport, regardless.” Not surprising considering Ralph Dickenson, Bruce’s ranching and pioneering aviator grandfather, was largely responsible for building the airport itself from scratch.

“ Being a kid is a tough process in this society. We need to present children with positive options offering intellectual development on a technical level. What could be better than this?” – Dmitri Schlesinger

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“ This is a friendly place. You don’t have to be a propeller-head to enjoy it.”

– Theresa Marvel

Perry Larson’s Staggering Beech at the fuel island in front of Wells’ Aircraft in the 1960s (Photo courtesy of Chris Wells)

eeks after the great stock market crash of 1929, Ralph persuaded 18 of his farming and ranching pals to join him in investing $1,000 each to purchase property and construct a runway beside the Santa Clara River, hard along Santa Paula’s mountainous southern fringes. The men hoped an airstrip would put their prosperous yet humble little burg on the map. The plan worked. Though it would never achieve the destination resort status enjoyed by nearby Ojai or Santa Barbara, Santa Paula soon became a prominent landmark on the aeronautical charts pilots used to navigate back then. In the years since, the airport has served as an out-of-the-way retreat of sorts for privacy-seeking Hollywood celebrities bitten by the aviation bug. Actors Gene Hackman and Cliff Robertson both owned hangars at Santa Paula. Jimmy Stewart had his Piper Super Cub regularly serviced there. Kurt Russell and Harrison Ford have been known to fly in frequently. There are no paparazzi or autograph hounds at the airport, where pilots are judged less by their box office draw than the quality of their landings. Which was why Steve McQueen – a skilled pilot in his own right and once the world’s highest-paid film star – spent many of his last days on the field. In 1979, McQueen purchased a hangar at the east end of the runway. There he parked his yellow Stearman biplane, tail number

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N3188 – the same number assigned to him when he was a teenager in reform school. He also bought a 1946 Piper Cub and a Pitcairn PA-8 biplane purportedly once flown by Eddie Rickenbacker, America’s World War I “Ace of Aces.” As detailed in Aviation in Santa Paula 1930-2015, a lush coffeetable book published by the Aviation Museum of Santa Paula, McQueen often slept in his hangar while restoring an old ranch house in the hills outside of town. He and model Barbara Minty, who would become his third wife, slept in such close quarters with McQueen’s Stearman that rising in the morning risked banging their heads on the plane’s wing. “Santa Paula,” the actor liked to tell his airport buddies, “is my kind of country club” and his hangar is still there, in much the same condition as he left it when he died of lung cancer in 1980 at the age of 50. Many who visit the airport today are likely too young to remember much of McQueen beyond his movies, but his love of flying and Santa Paula live on. It’s a love that pilots like retired locksmith Dmitri Schlesinger, who learned to fly only three years ago at age 66, hope to instill in a new generation of aviation enthusiasts every first Sunday of the month. “Being a kid is a tough process in this society,” Schlesinger says. “We need to present children with positive options offering intellectual development on a technical level. What could be better than this?”

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WEEKEND GETAWAY THE PLEASURES OF PISMO

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STORY BY JAMES BUCKLEY

ontecito has the peaceful (most of the time) Pacific Ocean and the gentle (most of the time) mountains and the nearperfect year-round climate (almost all the time, but you know what they say about rain in California), so perhaps you don’t feel you need to go on a weekend getaway any time soon. Think again. There’s Ojai and the Ojai Valley Inn, for example. If you haven’t been there, go for a weekend. Just go. The Resort at Pelican Hill in Newport Beach, of course. And there is Hotel Cerro in the college town of San Luis Obispo. It’s time you add Pismo Beach to that short list of prime weekend getaway locations. Vespera Resort on Pismo Beach is a fivestar destination that sits directly on the Pacific. The rooms – many boast expansive ocean views – are spacious, the ceilings are high, and the beds are comfortable (two queen-size in many, others with king-size beds fit for, well, royalty). The exercise room is perfectly equipped, the outdoor swimming pool is heated, the full bar plentiful, and you are allowed two pets (less than 50 pounds each) per room. There is also an electric car charging station. And the nice thing about Pismo Beach is that it’s just a two-hour drive (about 75 miles by air if you are a crow or a Cessna), and about 100 miles directly up Highway 101. But, as with, say, Ojai, you really are in different territory. This is a true California beach town, one of the few (if there even are any others) that has retained its quirky charm of 1960s surfing days and ways. The magnificently broad west-facing beach is among the largest and most attractive on the Central Coast; the surf is continuous – sometimes small and approachable, other times large and challenging. It is always beautiful.

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he elegant yet beachy Vespera is just paces away from the Pismo Beach Pier, and it couldn’t be more comfortable or convenient. One can walk along the elevated boardwalk directly in front of Vespera to a string of other hotels and restaurants in either direction and, of course, hop down to the inviting surf directly from your hotel room. You are also just steps away from the bars, ice cream parlors, and shops that give this beach town its funky panache. The Pismo Beach Pier, by the way, shares the kind of history that anyone or anything that’s existed along the California coast for any period of time would be familiar with – the famously indiscriminate ocean has taken it out of commission several times. The original wharf that the town used as its gateway to commerce (there was no highway) was built in 1881 and lasted until a 1905 storm did it in, along with the Café Royal dance hall and half a dozen other

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structures. Other piers were built and lost and rebuilt over the years. The storms of 1983 with 20- to 30-foot waves severely damaged the pier, which was partly rebuilt again in 1985. In 2017, the city council agreed to renovate and strengthen the structure, and the latest incarnation of the now-1,300-foot-long Pismo Beach Pier – anchored with steel pilings (replacing the wooden pilings) – was inaugurated in October 2018. It is a handsome structure. A friend of mine, Bev Aho, the late Archie McLaren’s life partner, is a runner. She lives in nearby Avila Beach but often finds herself at Pismo. “I can run along the beach forever; it goes on for miles and miles,” she gloats, adding that “it makes me realize how special it is to live here on the coastline. Pismo offers a gateway to the outdoors. We have the coast, undeveloped nature behind us; nature unfolds around you.” Aho suggests getting a foot massage and then taking a barefoot walk on the beach.

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ismo Beach is in the heart of California’s Central Coast wine district. A short drive will take you to Alapay Cellars, the Avila Wine & Roasting Co., Peloton Cellars, PierFront Wine and Brew, Sinor-LaVallee, and Kelsey See Canyon Vineyards. In Pismo Beach are Tastes of the Valleys, Sans Liege Wines, and Puffers of Pismo. There are plenty of Edna Valley and Arroyo Grande wineries less than a dozen miles away. As for diversions within walking distance from Vespera Resort, they include the various small beach shacks that sell homemade items such as hats, shoes, soaps, candles, art, saltwater taffy, and all manner of artisanal stuff. I’d call the style sophisticated hippie. You have Pancho’s Surf Shop, the Pismo Brewing Company, the 805 Brewery, Pismo Fish and Chips, Cool Cat Café, Pedal Up Bikes and Boards, Hoagie’s Sandwiches & Grill, Peet’s Coffee, Not L.A Not the Bay, various tattoo parlors and, my favorite, Splash Café (nearly 5K positive reviews on Yelp!) which usually has a line out the door. Not to mention Grover Beach Sourdough

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for some of the best biscuits around. The nice thing about all these outlets is that they are not trying to present themselves as hip, fashion forward, or modern in any way. If you had fallen asleep in 1973 and just woke up and wandered into town without looking at a calendar, you wouldn’t know it was 50 years later. And you probably wouldn’t care. At Vespera Resort, we ate breakfast and dinner at the Somerset Grill, though the restaurant is due for a complete makeover. On July 28, the restaurant becomes Pequin, named after a favorite chili from executive chef Frank Barajas’s childhood; he’s calling it a Coastal Cocina. Chef Barajas’s culinary goal is to offer tasty, even whimsical, dishes featuring coastal Mexican tastes and flavors. Offerings will include different types of ceviches, including vegetarian. Seafood pozole verde (with clam, halibut, and shrimp), seasonal salsas, veggie taco of the month, pollo asado, and other tempting dishes will be on the new menu. Design will reflect Barajas’s Mexican roots with rich colors, textures, a driftwood bar top, Zapotec rugs, and Baja-inspired paintings and photos.

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wanderlust [ wänd r,l st ] noun e

a very strong and irresistible impulse or desire to travel the world

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MY FAVORITES ADA’S FISH HOUSE for a great bowl of New England clam chowder. I’m a New England boy (born in Lowell, Massachusetts) and Ada’s clam chowder (featuring an abundance of clams) is as good or better as any I’ve had.

y understanding is they’ll keep the welcoming (and warm) outdoor fire pits and will continue offering live music on Saturdays and Sundays. If it’s music you’re looking for, by the way, several bars and eateries in the blocks behind Vespera feature live bands – especially Harry’s Night Club and Beach Bar – pretty much every night. “Pismo has a way for you to escape time,” Aho observes. “Plan your two days well. Don’t leave empty hours or minutes. Be in the jacuzzi, in the pool, in the ocean. Be in the sand, experience it all, including the sulfur baths at Sycamore Mineral Springs with its naturally heated water.” It’s good advice. Diversions include boat, kayak, and surfboard rentals; whale and dolphin watching from the shore or pier (especially if the anchovies are running); and catching rock cod with poles (fishing passes can

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be bought by the day). Pismo clams are still found in abundance but are now illegal to take unless you have a California fishing license. If you are out on a boat or kayak, they ask that you stay at least 75 feet away from rocks and cliffs where birds are and away from floating flocks. Birders will enjoy observing western gulls, long-billed curlews, cormorants, sanderlings, sandpipers of course, brown pelicans, even hummingbirds, which come up from Mexico in the spring and return home in the fall. In addition to the foxes and coyotes that you’ll hear at night, there are 34 species of marine mammals in the ocean in front of you. A weekend or two at Vespera Resort on the ocean at Pismo Beach should probably be on your summer 2022 to-do list. FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.VESPERAPISMOBEACH.COM

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TASTES OF THE VALLEYS wine bar and tasting shop is rated as one of the “top 20 wine bars in America” by Wine Enthusiast, and though I have not been to the other 19 named, I certainly agree that this is one heck of a wine haven. If you’re looking for variety, it claims to have more than 1,000 wines to taste by the glass. CHEF STEVEN SMEETS at SeaVenture Beach Hotel & Restaurant, next door to Vespera, knows what people like. Serving coconut shrimp tacos and Oysters Rockefeller at the bar, for example. For dinner, I had the pan-seared filet mignon (with an intense redwine reduction sauce) served with mashed potatoes, sauteed mushrooms, and grilled asparagus. My wife went for the blackened salmon with sweet corn succotash and lemon herb crème fraîche. Everything was terrific in this busy, friendly, remarkable third-floor hotel restaurant. A real find. GOLF, TOO. If ocean views, dramatic landscapes, and challenging holes are in your wheelhouse, the Peter Jacobsen Signature Cypress Ridge Golf Course (below) in nearby Arroyo Grande makes bringing your clubs a must. There are a few other excellent courses in the area, including the Avila Beach Golf Resort and Morro Bay Golf Club public courses.

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REAL ESTATES

BY KELLY MAHAN HERRICK

Kelly is a licensed realtor with the Calcagno & Hamilton team of Berkshire Hathaway Home Services, specializing in Montecito, Santa Barbara, and the Santa Ynez Valley

MONTECITO SANTA BARBARA OJAI VALLEY SANTA YNEZ VALLEY

ith summer upon us, the allure of California’s Central Coast is heightened, as glorious beach days and warm weather evenings draw people near and far to Santa Barbara, Montecito, and beyond. Owning a slice of our coastal paradise is a dream come true for many who are inspired to invest after a summer visit. From picturesque beaches on which to spend the day on the sand; to multiple luxury resorts to bask by the pool or enjoy a spa day; to a lively downtown scene with five-star dining, boutique shopping, and historic theaters, Santa Barbara and neighboring towns offer an ideal place to vacation, or, if you’re lucky, to live year-round. Here’s a closer look at nine offerings currently for sale – many along the coast – as well as two luxury seaside homes available for rent.

OCEANFRONT PROPERTIES PADARO PERFECTION

ocated on prestigious Padaro Lane, this gated, expansive beachfront estate combines formality with comfort, and is perfectly angled for privacy and dramatic sunsets. With ocean views up and down the coastline, lawns in the front and rear of the estate, high quality construction with exquisite details, detached guest house, and wine cellar, this oceanfront compound leaves no lingering desire. One of the larger parcels on Padaro, with a feeling of breadth and bright, generous spaces, nearly every room in the home takes advantage of ocean, coastline, and island views. Sit by

photo by Eric Foote

the fire pit or in the hot tub, watch the dolphins, take in the stars and the ocean breeze, and let the sound of the ocean lull you to sleep. This is the ultimate in luxury and a lifestyle some can only dream about. Details include a gourmet kitchen with Viking appliances and marble center island, butler’s pantry, ice cream bar off the interior lanai, walnut and mahogany flooring, Baccarat lights, beautiful columns, incredible paneling and ceiling detail, and three of the five suites in the main home with the ability to function as the primary bedroom.

photo by Tom Ploch

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Offered for $29,500,000 by Emily Kellenberger & Associates,

Village Properties.

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R E A L E S TAT E S

BLUFFTOP OPPORTUNITY

pitomizing the distinctive Hope Ranch community in which it resides, an extended driveway welcomes one to this extraordinary approximately 2.42-acre oceanfront blufftop site. The property represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create a dream estate in one of Santa Barbara’s most sought-after private communities.

Photo by David Palermo

Boasting unobstructed views of the Channel Islands and sparkling Pacific Ocean, arrival to the serene property is accompanied by a sense of awe and wonder. An original single-level ranch home and avocado orchard are currently on the property, with boundless potential for a future owner. Conveniently located near all that Santa Barbara and Hope Ranch have to offer, including the gated Hope Ranch Beach, tennis courts, horse trails, Laguna Blanca School, and La Cumbre Country Club. Virtually staged by Virtual Staging & Rendering Group

Listed for $14,995,000 by Cristal Clarke,

Berkshire Hathaway Home Services.

GAVIOTA DREAMS

aradiso del Mare is one of the last great land offerings along the Gaviota Coast. With over one mile of ocean frontage and access, it offers a once-ina-lifetime opportunity to build two luxury residences, complete with guest houses. Uniquely located just five minutes from Santa Barbara and world-class amenities, this rare and stunning piece of land has sweeping views of the ocean and Channel Islands beyond, as well as stunning views of the Santa Ynez Mountains. Land conservationists will appreciate the variety of plant species and the abundance of large trees that inhabit the property. Beach lovers will enjoy access to the coast from two sites as well as noteworthy surfing. Each parcel includes certified EIR, water rights, entitlements, plans, and cost estimates to construct on- and off-site infrastructure. The homes are designed by Santa Barbara-based architect Alan McLeod to respond to the sensitive coastal environment and rural context, and sit quietly into the landscape while opening up to expansive coastal views. High-quality, long-lasting materials have been selected for their functionality, sustainability, and to elevate the level of modern sophistication to the overall aesthetic. Listed for $25,000,000 by Patty Murphy, Sotheby’s International Realty.

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(photos by Thomas Ploch)

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DIP YOUR TOES… AT A LUXURIOUS BEACHSIDE RENTAL BEACHFRONT BLISS

erched just above the sand on Miramar Beach, this immaculate single-level flat is the one-bedroom, two-bathroom lower unit of a duplex. With a modern personality and a sleek, fresh, new feel inside, the blue Pacific Ocean, Channel Islands, and the long stretch of sandy beach outside offer an undeniably dramatic backdrop.

With the Rosewood Miramar Hotel only a hundred yards down the beach, book a massage, dine al fresco at Caruso’s, or mingle with locals and other visitors at sunset, then simply walk barefoot back down the beach to this home away from home. Listed by Samantha Ireland, Vacation Rentals of Santa Barbara; inquire for rates. (photos by Rafael Bautista)

WATER’S EDGE - MODERN CLIFFSIDE LUXURY

vailable as a short-term luxury rental, this sleek and modern property is located in the desirable East Mesa neighborhood of Santa Barbara. Situated right on the water’s edge, the property is close to Shoreline Park and 1000 Steps, offering stairway access to the beach below. This newly-built, four-bedroom, 4.5-bath, 3,600-square-foot home offers unparalleled ocean, island, and mountain views including 85 feet of coastal frontage. Every piece of design was carefully thought out from the vaulted ceilings, massive bi-folding doors, Italian-style chef’s kitchen, and custom light fixtures. There are dual primary suites that each include a large ensuite bathroom, walk-in closet, fireplace, and ocean views, while the two other guest rooms also have their own private bathrooms. The effortless indoor-outdoor flow opens up to a backyard dreamscape with a hot tub, firepit, outdoor dining table, and several seating areas, all with panoramic ocean views.

Inquire about short-term rentals at www.ParadiseRetreats.com

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(photos by Craig Richter)

R E A L E S TAT E S

BEYOND THE BEACH: OTHER NOTABLE OFFERINGS GOLF COURSE LIVING

ituated on the 17th fairway of Montecito’s Valley Club golf course, this stunning architectural home was designed by and for John Kelsey AIA, with the current owners purchasing the home from Mr. Kelsey in 1985. A walled garden courtyard leads to a two-story living room, which is just one of the many places to enjoy expansive views of the picturesque golf course, club house, and mountain range. The light and open kitchen overlooks the sparkling pool located in the sunken courtyard. A second-floor primary suite boasts

dramatic views, and this space includes an open lounge, two full baths, and covered terrace. The main floor bedroom suite has a full bath as well as a large library/sitting room with garden views; a third bedroom suite is located in the detached pool house. This home is located in Ennisbrook. Offered for $6,995,000 by Casey Turpin, Village Properties. (photos by David Palermo)

CHANNEL DRIVE

his incredible four-bedroom, four-bath estate is just steps away from famed Butterfly Beach, and a stone’s throw from Montecito’s Lower Village. With nearly 4,000 square feet of beautifully renovated and meticulously maintained interior space, and well over a third of an acre of fully usable land, this home is one of the largest properties in this beachside neighborhood of Montecito. Currently enjoyed as a part-time

vacation home with a long-established history as one of Montecito’s most coveted short-term vacation rentals, this incredible estate offers lots of versatility for personal usage or attractive rental income. Offering an idyllic outdoor vacation lifestyle, the entire property is fenced and gated for privacy with a large lawn, numerous patios, and other outdoor amenities including an outdoor kitchen, koi pond, waterfall, and spa. Offered for $6,495,000 by Daniel Zia of Zia Group with eXp Realty California. (photos by Roy Hathon)

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THE HACIENDA RANCH

ncompassing over 3,100 acres of majestic rolling hills plus natural open space along the Gaviota Coast, The Hacienda Ranch at El Rancho Tajiguas embodies the spirit and history of Old California. At the heart of this magnificent ranch is the historic Hacienda, originally designed by George Washington Smith with later additions by Cliff May, portraying the style of turn-of-the-century California adobe architecture. The protected valley floor location and traditional U-shape layout of the Hacienda provides private and serene luxury homestead living, while surrounded by open rangeland and natural open spaces.

photo by Jason Rick

The Hacienda was recently designated a Place of Historical Merit by the County of Santa Barbara so that the open-air corridors could remain in conjunction with a Marc Appleton-proposed remodel. Other character defining features of the home are the U-shape, onestory massing, white-washed adobe walls, red-tile roof, casement windows, and five-pane paired doors. The Hacienda exudes historical character coupled with the charm of its modern and sophisticated additions. Ancillary improvements include a pool and spa, detached garage, tennis court, barn, theater building, and two cottages. The rangeland operation supports a year-round cow-calf operation of approximately 200 animals, orchard access roads, water storage reservoirs, irrigation facilities, crop storage and loading areas, cattle photo by Jason Rick pen and loading area, and agricultural workshops and barns. The Hacienda Ranch at El Rancho Tajiguas has its own support village housing the staff and caretakers of the Hacienda as well as ranch employees. The improvements include 17 houses: The Hacienda, two guest cottages, manager’s homes, and agricultural employee homes. There is a maintenance complex with garages, tractor barns, mechanics bay, wood shop, and blacksmith shop. In addition there is a ranch headquarters building, two hay barns, a storage barn, and a nine-stall horse barn. All machinery, vehicles, and other equipment associated with the ongoing operation of the agriculture production and maintenance will be included in the sale of the ranch. The Hacienda sits prominently among over 970AC of rangeland, 585AC of agricultural operations, 100AC of riparian area, and 1,600AC of open spaces/wildlands. Twenty-five underlying parcels provide land use flexibility and may offer tax benefits via donated conservation easements. The parcels include three unbuildable lots on the ocean side of Hwy 101. This is a premier opportunity to own a legacy ranch in the heart of Santa Barbara County. Offered for $45,000,000 by Riskin Partners Estate Group, Village Properties and Kerry Mormann of Berkshire Hathaway. photo by Eric Foote

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THE FARMHOUSE AT EL MIRADOR

his incredible ocean and mountain view property was once part of a large 70-acre estate known as El Mirador, meaning “The Viewpoint.” Today, 805 Ayala Lane lives as 12 acres – nine acres in fee and three as an exclusive landscape easement – with ancient specimen trees and gardens that rival neighboring Lotusland. Through the private gated entrance at the end of a charming lane, you are immediately transported onto a magical property with gardens dating back over a century. Follow the landscaped driveway through a whimsical oasis that leads to

photo by Jim Bartsch

photo by Blake Bronstad

the original farmhouse and meanders further up the drive to the future building site. Below the ocean and mountain view building pad lies a gently meandering path leading down to what was originally known as the Cold Springs Rockery, an approximately 3.5acre glen with stoic stone boulders and canopied by century-old native California oaks. Most recently used for horses, this space is ideal for equestrian facilities, a private sport court, or adventures among the meadows. The original Mediterranean-style hacienda farmhouse dates back to 1920, though it has been recently remodeled to honor its rich history but with today’s creature comforts in mind. Four bedrooms on the upper level are set off of a beautiful, expansive terrace with lacy oaks and an outdoor kitchen. The lower level of the hacienda began its life as a series of tack and storage rooms and is now home to offices, a gym, and a bedroom. Set around a dramatic water feature and four ancient olive trees, the lower courtyard is another special moment among the spectacular grounds. Just outside the farmhouse is a darling accessory structure with a full bath. This exquisite property is truly a piece of Montecito history. Offered for $23,500,000 by Riskin Partners Estate Group,

photo by Blake Bronstad

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Village Properties.

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DOWNTOWN INN

elcome to the De La Vina Inn, an authentic 1895 Victorian B&B/inn adjacent to the Theater/Arts District in the heart of downtown Santa Barbara. Revitalized post-pandemic, the ultracharming De La Vina Inn is now for sale as a complete package of real estate and thriving cash-flow business, including wine/beer/catering license. The 0.30acre property enjoys the highest-value C-G zoning (Commercial-General), which is very rare for small B&B/ hospitality properties in Santa Barbara, allowing for profitable uses now and for future underlying investment value. The Inn is configured with eight bedroom suites, including two on the entry level with separate entrances, and a penthouse suite. Each suite has its own motif, but all claim the regality of Victorian elegance including five with their own fireplace, and accordingly named as Windsor, Brighton, Somerset, etc. Similarly-adorned common areas –including a carved-wood entry foyer, living room, dining room, and sun room – provide guests gilded relaxation on the entry level; in addition, there is a commercial kitchen and storage/utility areas. Exquisite private outdoor areas include a large

front porch, charming rear deck, and lovely landscaped garden spaces both in front of and behind the Inn. The “Goldilocks” size of the De La Vina Inn is big enough to allow for ample income, while intimate enough to be attractive for group buy-outs and small on-site events. There are multiple revenue streams currently, and many ways a savvy owner-operator or investor could continue to position the Inn for additional income. Listed for $6,500,000 by Ken Switzer, Berkshire Hathaway Home Services. (photos by Jim Bartsch)

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GOLDEN QUADRANGLE PERFECTION

conic George Washington Smith and Lutah Riggs architecture, an extensive, three-year, multi-milliondollar restoration by Marc Appleton and Martin Logé, luxe modern finishes and design, and a history of Hollywood royalty coalesce at Las Armas – a beautiful 1928 Spanish colonial revival estate in the heart of Montecito’s Golden Quadrangle. The beautifully scaled living room is anchored by a robust beamed ceiling, built-in bookshelves, and a massive wood-burning gas fireplace. The spacious dining room is perfectly scaled for a crowd but equally intimate for small gatherings. In the evening, south-facing twilight fills the room with an incandescent glow and creates a beautiful ambiance for every occasion. Two sets of French doors open to the terrace allowing for an effortless flow to the poolside patio, while a stately fireplace warms the space on cool evenings. The new epicurean kitchen and butler’s pantry are a chef’s dream. The adjacent family room is a cozy spot to supervise or spectate the kitchen, and makes the kitchen wing truly livable. A separate breakfast room loggia is enclosed in light-filled windows, overlooking a rose garden and game lawn. Upstairs, the gracious primary suite is located on the western wing of the residence, and includes a spacious sitting room/office with a fireplace. In the main wing, two additional suite-like bedrooms, one with a fireplace, have generous walk-in closets, and marbleclad bathrooms with soaking tubs and heated floors. In the North wing, three additional bedrooms offer flexibility for extended accommodations, home offices, yoga, Pilates, or a playroom. Conveniently located off the garage, with a private entrance and full bathroom, the multifunctional space is suited for living quarters, a gym, massage room, recording studio, or private office suite. The reimagined exterior spaces of Las Armas are as beautiful as the newly redone interiors. A dramatic 88-foot pool with spa and Baja bench rivals any resort and defines the southern grounds. Nestled between an extensive terrace, lush lawns, and ancient specimen trees, the backyard is perfect for lounging, laps, a splash, or a nap. The superb climate, raised garden beds, a citrus grove with 15+ different varieties, persimmon, guava, pomegranate, loquat, and multiple stone-fruit trees, ensure the best seasonal bounty is at your fingertips throughout the year. Offered for $18,500,000 by Riskin Partners Estate Group, Village Properties. (photos by Jason Rick)

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