Coup De Jardin
Author, TV personality, and gardener Martha Stewart is the special guest at this year’s Lotusland Celebrates: Botanical Splendor gala on July 18.
Martha Stewart
Written by Joan Tapper
Author, TV personality, and gardener Martha Stewart is the special guest at this year’s LOTUSLAND CELEBRATES: BOTANICAL SPLENDOR gala on July 18. Hosted by actor Jane Lynch, the always sold-out event is a fundraiser for Ganna Walska Lotusland to support plant conservation and its horticultural education mission. The festivities begin with cocktails and a garden walk—with surprise performances and installations—and continue with an alfresco dinner and a lively auction with one-of-a-kind items. lotusland.org/celebrates
A planting of agave, cacti, and other greenery at Lotusland.
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Change of Scenery
Walking into The Well in Summerland or Montecito, one thing is immediately clear…
Well, he’s gone and done it again
Patina-rich antiques lend warmth and character to Shane Brown’s curated outdoor living spaces.
“When people walk into the store, I’m looking for that immediate ‘Wow’.”
Walking into THE WELL in Summerland or Montecito, one thing is immediately clear: Owner Shane Brown of Big Daddy’s Antiques has mastered the art of creating immersive environments. Rather than modeling his stores after conventional furniture shops, Brown designs interiors that shift the focus from a single item to the room as a whole, inspiring patrons to re-create that feeling at home. “When people walk into the store, I’m looking for that immediate ‘Wow,’ ” he says. “Not a day goes by without someone saying, ‘I want to live here,’ or ‘I want my own property to look like this.’ ” In April, Carpinteria becomes home to Brown’s newest outpost: THE WELL GARDENS. With nine acres of land (including more than two acres of greenhouse space), olive trees, coastal plants, and landscapes featuring water elements and gathering areas, The Well Gardens is envisioned as both a retail space and a community hub focused on botanicals, design, and California outdoor living. Says Brown, “As Big Daddy’s roots expand along the California coast, the mission remains unchanged: to design a living, timeless story—yours and ours—with a palette of historic antiques binding human experience with botanical life.” 3376 Foothill Rd., Carpinteria,thewellbybdantiques.com
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Renaissance Man
David Cameron demonstrates the art of the pivot
David Cameron demonstrates the art of the pivot
David Cameron
Written By David Nash
Photography by David Cameron
There’s no pigeonholing DAVID CAMERON, but there are more than enough adjectives to describe the California-born creative. He’s an aesthete of the highest order, having launched a ready-to-wear line in the mid-1980s that appeared on the pages of Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar (with clients including Bianca Jagger and Paloma Picasso frequenting his atelier). He’s an advertising revolutionary who was commissioned by Absolut Vodka in 1988 to create its first fashion-inspired advertising campaign, shot by Steven Meisel (and featuring top model Rachel Williams). He’s an auteur who directed music videos for artists such as Sheryl Crow and Eric Clapton, and a lensman who’s shot television and print brand campaigns featuring everyone from Kate Moss to Halle Berry.
“If it feels like we’re trying too hard, we probably are.”
For his latest act we find him at the helm of DAVID CAMERON STUDIO, a residential and retail design-focused creative consulting agency. Founded in 2020, the studio is an amalgamation of his achievements in fashion, film, photography, and branding that showcases a West Coast spirit through interior design, architecture, and restoration. Projects like the complete refresh of a classic ranch house in Montecito, originally built by famed local architect Chester Carjola in 1948, bring his wide-ranging talents into view. He says, “With restoration especially, I ask a simple question: What’s worth keeping, and what’s just in the way? We preserve the soul, upgrade the function, and try not to overcomplicate it. If it feels like we’re trying too hard, we probably are.” davidcameronstudio.com
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American Riviera Restoration
A luxurious enclave is a well-kept secret getaway
A luxurious enclave is a well-kept secret getaway
Exterior of Villa Magnolia, part of the Paraíso collection of retreats in Montecito.
By Hana-Lee Sedgwick
Photography by Sara Prince
The moment you step into PARAÍSO, a collection of six vacation cottages in Montecito, it feels like you’ve discovered a well-kept secret. Tucked at the end of a quiet street near Miramar Beach, this private retreat embodies understated luxury and coastal refinement, channeling an earlier chapter of Montecito through a modern lens. Paraíso is the vision of Michael Hurst and Ian Harrison, partners in work and life, who transformed the former family compound of architect William Painter into a thoughtfully designed short-stay enclave. Seeking to honor Montecito’s Spanish-Andalusian architectural heritage, they spent more than two years preserving and restoring the original buildings and handcrafted details while adding contemporary furnishings and original paintings to give each residence its own character.
With a discerning eye for design, the duo shaped each space to feel elegant yet livable, pairing tranquil hues and abundant natural light with contemporary comforts, such as fully equipped kitchens, Sferra bed linens, and fireplaces. “Our goal was for each residence to offer a unique expression of thoughtful California living but to do so in a cohesive way,” Hurst says.
The collection includes one- and two-bedroom casitas, such as the cozy Terraza del Sol, two-story Casa del Olivo, and coastal-influenced Cabaña de Playa, among others. The largest, Villa Magnolia, features four bedrooms, four bathrooms, and multiple indoor and outdoor gathering spaces. Intricate design elements—from the serene private courtyard to the carved original wood ceilings and intricate tile work—lend architectural interest to the home.
Outdoors, natural and reclaimed materials (including stone, gravel, and brick), antique fountains, and hand-carved benches are set among native and imported plantings, including a century-old olive tree brought from Northern California. “We took inspiration from the courtyards and gardens of landscape architects like Scott Shrader but adapted that sensibility to fit Montecito’s landscape,” Harrison says. “When guests step outside their casita or villa, we want them to feel immersed in nature—whether they hear the creek running behind the property, admire the redwood and magnolia trees, or smell the scent of lavender in the air. It’s about creating a sensory experience, indoors and out, that will stay with them.” Collectively, the six residences, with optional concierge services, can accommodate up to 24 guests, making the property well suited for intimate retreats.
Balancing privacy and style with a strong connection to its surroundings, Paraíso offers a quiet expression of a luxury getaway—one grounded in the enduring charm of Montecito. 150
Loureyro Rd., Montecito, paraisomontecito.com
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Star Power
There’s no icon in Montecito more beloved by the community than Lucky’s steakhouse, which celebrated its 25th anniversary this past weekend.
Everyone was up all night at Lucky’s 25th
Written by Caitlin White
There’s no icon in Montecito more beloved by the community than Lucky’s steakhouse, which celebrated its 25th anniversary this past weekend. In recent years the restaurant has expanded to other locations like Malibu and even to the East Coast, but there can only ever be one original. The legendary chophouse has long been a haunt of celebrities and luminaries in the Santa Barbara community and beyond, including 92-year-old Carol Burnett, who recently held her cover shoot for one of our recent issues there.
Burnett is such a regular at Lucky’s that the servers know to bring her a chilled pink Cosmopolitan whenever she sets foot in the building—but for plenty of patrons here a classic martini is in order. That’s what her friend and cover-story interviewer, Dennis Miller, gravitates toward when he’s here. Along with his wife, Carolyn Espley, he was on deck for the celebration. Burnett and her husband, Brian Miller, showed up promptly at 5 p.m., which is her preferred dinner time, and they were easily the guests of honor at the soiree.
The drinks were flowing on Sunday as a Hollywood who’s who, including Kevin Costner, Michael Douglas, Christopher Lloyd, Michael J. Fox, and Larry David, nibbled on trays of caviar and sipped champagne, two other staples at this institution. Lloyd and Fox represented an unexpected Back to The Future reunion, the kind of thing that could only happen at Lucky’s. Meanwhile Costner was fresh off a flight from Las Vegas for the opening of his new club, Zero Bond. Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt made an appearance, while Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Matt Sorum, of Guns N’ Roses, also showed up with his wife, designer Ace Harper. Rounding out the VIP guests were Lucky’s cofounders Jimmy Argyropoulos, Gene Montesano, and Herb Simon.
The restaurant’s general manager, Larry Nobles, another beloved member of the community, was also in the building, making sure everyone’s night was running smoothly but taking a little bit of time to celebrate his own legacy with the company. The next generation of Lucky’s leadership, Sarah Simon and Gianni Montesano, will take the restaurant forward into its new era. Their sights are set on a location in the Arts District of downtown Los Angeles, which will introduce a new clientele to the iconic restaurant. But no matter how far the brand reaches, the classic Lucky’s will always be the one on Coast Village Road, the one that has been a haven for this community for the last quarter of a century. Raise a glass, wherever you are, to the next 25 years and beyond.
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Home Is Where the Film Is
SBIFF settles into its new location
SBIFF settles into its new location
Written by By Josef Woodard
For the 2026 edition of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, most roads led to 916 State Street, home of the newly and proudly renovated and rebranded McHurley Film Center. And it opened just in the nick of time, with a much-buzzed-about ribbon cutting just two days before the festival’s opening night.
While the Arlington Theatre continues to be the home base for celebrity tributes, film industry panels, and other events, and the Riviera Theatre had its own magnetism on its scenic perch on the Riviera, the Film Center became the centerpiece real estate for a steady flow of screenings over 10 days and nights. For the record, “McHurley” is the portmanteau moniker of generous patron Nora McNeely Hurley and her husband Michael, who are behind the philanthropic Manitou Fund.
SBIFF, which has long been Santa Barbara’s flagship cultural event of the season, changes and grows even as it stays the course of its agenda, now stretching to its 41st edition. The festival both satisfies the public hunger for face time with celebrities during the hot awards-season publicity circuit and champions the cause of lending a broad-minded showcase to cinema from around the world and across the spectrum of genre and taste.
Escapism is not the rule here, and current events and sociopolitical conditions were not avoided, beginning at the beginning of the festival. While introducing the opening film, A Mosquito in the Ear, festival head Roger Durling gave a rousing speech about the dangers of authoritarian rule and the importance of the arts. He cited the film Cabaret, in which Nazi storm warnings intersected with the artistic ferment of Germany’s Weimar Republic, linking that period to the present state of the arts. “The arts ultimately unite,” Durling concluded. “Two thousand of us are together, under one roof.”
On the celebrity front, audiences got up close and relatively personal with the Oscar-nominated likes of Adam Sandler (from Jay Kelly), Ethan Hawke (from Blue Moon), a sensational triple booking of Leonardo DiCaprio, Benicio Del Toro, and Sean Penn (from One Battle After Another), seasoned Swede Stellan Skarsgård (from Sentimental Value), Michael B. Jordan (for his double role in Sinners), and Kate Hudson (from Song Sung Blue).
On the critical international cinema front, a slate of films handpicked by SBIFF programming director Claudia Puig and her team—with 50 percent directed by women—the screening options literally spanned the globe. A short list of strong titles included Abril(Costa Rica), Don’t Call Me Mama(Norway), Lost Land(Japan), Silent Rebellion(Switzerland), Versailles(Mexico), Broken Voices (Czech Republic), and, from Africa, Diya and The Fisherman.
Pop culture grabbed the spotlight in the documentariesPeter Asher: Everywhere Man, If These Walls Could Rock (about a legendary rock star hangout, the Sunset Marquis hotel) and A Cowboy in London, about country star Charley Crockett. Canadian comedy icons who populated SNL and Second City had their origin story told in the doc You Had to Be There, in sharp contrast to Steal This Story, Please!(winner of both the Santa BarbaraIndependent–sponsored Audience Choice and the Social Justice awards).
Star talk landed almost nightly in the Arlington, with mostly full houses. Hudson, whose award presenter was her longtime friend and Santa Barbara resident Gwyneth Paltrow, asserted that “now, more than ever, I really want to make movies that put people in the theater. … There’s nothing better than this industry, and the fact that I get to work in it is such a privilege.”
DiCaprio spoke about his transition from childhood acting on television to his breakout role in the film What’s EatingGilbert Grape in 1993. “I really didn’t necessarily understand the culture of making movies, the seriousness that goes into it,” he told the Arlington audience. “I gave myself almost a big yearlong self-tutorial on cinema and film history. I just fell in love. I want to somehow stand on the shoulders of the giants.”
Some certifiable cinema giants paraded across the Arlington stage during the festival. Another Santa Barbara film star, Josh Brolin, was in the house to present the award to Skarsgård, who spoke about his Sentimental Value role as an aged director seeking to reconnect with his family. “He tries to reach out and tries to be emotionally adult and capable with his daughters,” noted the actor. “He says the wrong thing; he does the wrong thing. But at the same time, he is very comfortable as a director.
“Many directors I know are like that, and many artists. They’re obsessed by their art, and their art is also a way to find refuge, because they can perform it in a controlled way. It’s more difficult to patrol the emotional life of the family.”
On the Outstanding Directors panel at the Arlington, Oscar-nominated directors showed up to talk about the art and their prize-worthy projects. One was sometime Ojai resident Chloé Zhao, whose Hamnet is an acclaimed Shakespeare-once-removed film. She ventured, “I believe actors are modern-day shamans. They channel spirits, as medicine…. Filmmaking is a sacred ceremony.”
On the same panel, Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho, creator of the much-buzzed-about film The Secret Agent, extended a similar semispiritual meaning to the movie theater itself—a gesture befitting the Arlington or the McHurley Film Center. “This is a place of congregation,” he said. “This is not a religious place. But it can be religious depending on how you describe your relationship to cinema. These places are incredibly important for life in society. And this is why I think we all should fight to keep the cinema-going experience alive.”
That could serve as a mantra for SBIFF, 41 and counting, and with a new artful multiplex to call home.
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No Place Like a Festival Home
SBIFF opens its new McHurley Film Center and rolls out a packed 10-day slate of premieres, tributes, panels, and standout films across Santa Barbara.
Don’t miss these SBIFF highlights
By Josef Woodard
If the big news at last year’s Santa Barbara International Film Festival was its grand ceremonial 40th birthday, this year’s model will be remembered as a grand housewarming season. This week, the festival officially opened its ambitious McHurley Film Center, a lavishly renovated—and redesigned—five-screen complex that gives the festival and official home base after decades of camping out in rented theaters.
On Monday evening, longstanding SBIFF head Roger Durling presided over the film center’s ribbon-cutting ceremony, with commentary from mayor Randy Rowse and significant patron and Center namesake Nora McNeel Hurley. An eager throng filtered into the hip, elegant ambience of the newly christened space, with champagne and popcorn in hand and mouth. The Center has been under construction since last year’s festival and, as promised, is ready to wear just in time for this year’s 10-day cinematic tapestry, opening on Wednesday night with the World Premiere of A Mosquito in the Ear.
As usual, SBIFF’s full slate of films drawn from around the globe, Oscar-timed celebrity tributes, panels, and more will take over the city and extend its appeal to many demographics of film fans and cinephiles, serious and casual. The festival has gained considerable ground and clout in the international film festival scene in the past two decades since Durling took the reins in 2004.
Apart from the Film Center homebase, screenings will also take place up at the festival’s existing, lofty Riviera Theatre outpost. Up State Street, the Arlington Theatre assumes its traditional role as the historic site for the opening and closing films, daily free screenings and a list of starry tributes. Among the honorees coming to town, all having earned recent Oscar nom cred, are Ethan Hawke (from Blue Moon), Michael B. Jordan (for his double role in Sinners), Adam Sandler (from Marty Supreme), a triple crown booking of Leonard DiCaprio, Benicio Del Torro and Sean Penn (from One Battle After Another), Stellan Skarsgård (from Sentimental Value), and Kate Hudson (from Song Sung Blue).
Panels include directors of note (and nominations), screenwriters, producers, women in film, and the “Artisans” tribute focusing on vital film craft artists just outside the spotlight. One special feature this year is a tribute to painter/director Julian Schnabel, surrounding the U.S. premiere of his new film In the Hands of Dante.
A short list of recommended films from advance screeners I’ve had access to: Abril (Costa Rica), Space Cadet, Little Lorraine, Perla, Don’t Call Me Mama (Norway), Viral (Japan), Lost Land (Japan, about Rohingya refugees in flight), On the End (starring a frumpy Tim Blake Nelson), and the documentaries Dear Lara, A Life Illuminated, and Steal This Story, Please! (winner of this year’s Social Justice Award). For comic relief, check out You Had to Be There, about the wealth of influential comics who descended from Toronto into the SNL/SCTV cultural swim.
For festival-goers of all intensities, over the next ten days, most all roads will keep leading to 916 State Street, the McHurley complex. There’s no place like a home to call a festival home. For more information, sbiff.org.
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Subtle Splendor
Manifattura shares the intimate atmosphere of its popular sister restaurant, Aperitivo, with one key difference…
Sculptural lighting and warm wood and set the stage at Santa Barbara’s newest Italian-inspired restaurant.
Written by Charlotte Bryant Medina
Photographs by Schepps
MANIFATTURA shares the intimate atmosphere of its popular sister restaurant, Aperitivo, with one key difference: Instead of the usual line of hopeful patrons stretching down the block, guests can make a reservation. Vintage tiles, brass fixtures, and hand-fitted walnut paneling from Miramar Building Co. adorn the warmly lit space, visible through the large windows facing State Street. The midcentury-style interiors and terrazzo tables set the stage for the star of the show: fresh, handmade pasta prepared in-house daily.
Another key difference is the addition of a full kitchen, allowing for a larger menu that still focuses on small plates and pasta, eschewing larger proteins in favor of more focused fare meant to be shared. Although the menu and space have grown (still small by most standards), the cozy charm remains. There will also be space held for walk-ins each night, while Aperitivo returns as a wine bar just steps away. 413 State St., Santa Barbara, manifatturasb.com
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Design Driven
The enormous red Adirondack chair fronting William Laman Furniture Garden Antiques on Montecito’s East Valley Road is a treasured local landmark.
William Laman
Written by Lorie Dewhirst Porter
Photography by Sara Prince
The enormous red Adirondack chair fronting WILLIAM LAMAN FURNITURE GARDEN ANTIQUES on Montecito’s East Valley Road is a treasured local landmark. It’s also the shop’s logo, paired with the witty slogan, “Not what you need, but what you want.” Owners William Laman and renowned interior designer Bruce Gregga have been tempting locals and tourists alike with items they don’t need—but want to have—for three decades.
“I can’t believe it’s been 30 years,” Laman says. “The time has gone by so quickly, and we’ve developed so many wonderful relationships with clients and designers and people within the neighborhood that we feel very much at home.”
For Laman, home is the operative word, as the shop is located in a 200-year-old board-and-batten cottage he and Gregga discovered after relocating to Santa Barbara from their native Chicago in 1995. “We tried not to touch any of it architecturally because it was so beautiful,” Laman says. Indeed, the cottage itself and its curated panoply of goods (including antiques, furniture, art, accessories, and gifts) made Veranda magazine’s list of the 27 Most Beautiful Designer-Owned Shops in the World three years in a row. This seemingly effortless success belies the duo’s behind-the-scenes efforts, including yearly buying trips around the globe and the constant rejiggering of the shop’s display, which is Gregga’s signature expertise.
William Laman Signature Candle, $40
“I’ve seen Bruce walk into a room and change it six or seven times, completely, and when people come in, it may be the same merchandise, but they rediscover it each time,” Laman says with pride. Of course, both he and Gregga possess the one essential element that makes it all possible: exquisite taste. 1496 East Valley Rd., Montecito, williamlaman.com
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Reflections
Light-filled, airy, with soaring ceilings, Cassandria Blackmore’s new gallery, Blackmore Studios, is the perfect showcase for her innovative reverse-painted glass creations
Cassandria Blackmore’s luminous glass creation Vathia Ble Thalassa Stripes adds to the exhilarating atmosphere in her new gallery space.
Written by Joan Tapper
Light-filled, airy, with soaring ceilings, Cassandria Blackmore’s new gallery, BLACKMORE STUDIOS, is the perfect showcase for her innovative reverse-painted glass creations. In vivid colors the shattered and reassembled works shimmer on the walls, their dappled surfaces reminiscent of sunlight on a lake. The new space allows Blackmore to exhibit her oversized pieces—“I like to work big,” she says—but it also exudes intimacy. Located a block from West Beach, next to a lush walled garden, the rooms seem to invite you to the inner sanctum of an artist. That feeling may be rooted in the place’s history, she adds. Built by the Gledhills in 1907, a married couple who photographed the notables of their time, the building later housed the studios of a succession of artists, including Diego Rivera. “There’s a ton of art energy here,” Blackmore says about the live–work space. Visits by appointment only. 805-895-2447, cassandriablackmore.com
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Seat Filler
Items likely to be found in Miranda July’s luscious curls
Author, filmmaker, and performance artist Miranda July comes to Campbell Hall January 20 to unpack her 2024 novel All Fours and her boundary-pushing career.
Illustration by Olivia Joffrey
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Poetry in Bronze
Susan Read Cronin’s sculptures are guaranteed to put a smile on your face. Visual puns, clever juxtapositions, playful takes on animals, plants, and body parts (noses!)
Susan Read Cronin’s sculpture The Top Rung seems to lean into the question, “What’s the next step?”
Written by Joan Tapper
SUSAN READ CRONIN’s sculptures are guaranteed to put a smile on your face. Visual puns, clever juxtapositions, playful takes on animals, plants, and body parts (noses!)—she directs the viewer’s attention with clever titles that hint at a narrative element. Cronin has cast more than 1,000 pieces since she started making bronze sculptures in 1996, when she and her husband were living in Vermont. A full-time resident of Montecito since 2016, she also works in cut-paper silhouettes and has published three volumes of poetry.
Most of her pieces recently have been relatively small, but Cronin is now experimenting with scale—for example, increasing the size of an initial piece, a 20-inch sculpture called The Top Rung to her own 5-foot-3-inch height. “It’s fun to figure out which pieces might translate” to a larger size, she notes. “And I want to experiment with what technology can do and still have a hand in it.” susanreadcronin.com
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Basque Glow
The latest addition to the arts district, Dom’s Taverna, brightens up a historic building that once served as the headquarters of the California Electric Company
Chef Dominique “Dom” Crisp, previously of the Lonely Oyster
Written by Charlotte Bryant Medina
The latest addition to the arts district, DOM’S TAVERNA, brightens up a historic building that once served as the headquarters of the California Electric Company. Chef Dominique “Dom” Crisp brings Basque cuisine to the fully renovated space, pairing industrial warmth with coastal charm and a light-filled open kitchen. Sip an Espresso Eroa—a Spanish Espresso Martini—at the original Pascual’s and Trattoria Victoria’s marble bar, now reimagined and restored with gold in the tradition of Japanese kintsugi. A Josper oven (a charcoal grill and oven hybrid from Barcelona) infuses a wood-fired smokiness to the menu’s abundance of local seafood.
Winter highlights include oysters, naturally, and Spanish Perigord truffles from partner Raj Nallapothola’s farm north of Barcelona. In his previous Los Angeles projects, Crisp notes that he was “lucky to have one consistent item on the menu that was special as well as local.” Now he is embracing the full scope of what the harbor has to offer. “Having been a chef in Southern California for the past 10 years, it is serendipitous that all my favorite ingredients and farmers reside in this area. Folks doing big things that contribute to a beautiful menu for any chef willing to connect.” 30 E. Victoria St., Santa Barbara, domstaverna.com
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Shock & Awe
An exciting exhibition, The Impressionist Revolution: Monet to Matisse From the Dallas Museum of Art, now on view at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art focuses on Impressionism’s rebellious origins and its extraordinary influence on the art world
Auguste Roedel, Moulin de la Galette (Les Mâitres de l’Affiche) (c. 1896), color lithograph.
Written by Lorie Dewhirst Porter
The history of art is a progression of aesthetic insurrections, and Impressionism, the 19th-century art movement conceived in Paris, remains one of the most shocking visual revolutions of all time. An exciting exhibition, The Impressionist Revolution: Monet to Matisse From the Dallas Museum of Art, now on view at the SANTA BARBARA MUSEUM OF ART (SBMA), focuses on Impressionism’s rebellious origins and its extraordinary influence on the art world. The exhibition is chock-full of masterpieces from the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) by big-name artists, including Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Henri Matisse, and Berthe Morisot. Dr. Nicole Myers, the DMA’s chief curatorial and research officer and The Barbara Thomas Lemmon Senior Curator, curated the exhibition and authored the companion catalogue.
SBMA is the traveling show’s only destination in the western United States, and like a gracious host welcoming an important guest, SBMA is displaying works by Monet, Matisse, Morisot, and others from its own Impressionist collection in a companion exhibit entitled Encore: 19th-Century French Art from the Santa Barbara Museum of Art.
The entry to the SBMA celebrates the museum’s latest show focusing on Impresssionism’s rebellious origins.
Both exhibitions are on view at SBMA through January 25, 2026, and are accompanied by a full slate of public programs, conversations, and performances, including lectures by renowned Monet expert Paul Hayes Tucker and Pulitzer Prize–winning author Sebastian Smee. 1130 State St., Santa Barbara, sbma.net
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Night at the Museum
A festive crowd gathered downtown at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art to toast Santa Barbara Magazine’s 50th anniversary and to celebrate the publication of its winter Culture Issue.
Santa Barbara Magazine Toasts Its 50th Anniversary at SBMA
Written by Lorie Dewhirst Porter
Photography by Ingrid Bostrom
A festive crowd gathered downtown at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art (SBMA) to toast Santa Barbara Magazine’s 50th anniversary and to celebrate the publication of its winter Culture Issue. Hosted by CEO/editorial director Jennifer Smith and executive editor Gina Tolleson, the gathering included multimedia artist Russell Young, whose color-saturated artwork on the magazine’s winter cover features a modified 1965 Andy Warhol photograph of his muse, Santa Barbara native Edie Sedgwick, at the height of her fame.
To welcome guests as they arrived, Anna and Bion Rice — owners of Artiste Winery in Santa Ynez, which is known for its wines with labels by artists — graciously filled flutes with their sparkling “Special” 2023 Brut Rosé. With Young’s artwork gracing the label, “Special” is the winery's fourth release in its collaboration with Santa Barbara Magazine. Each one has been timed to coincide with the magazine’s 2025 quarterly issues, all with unique covers by local artists to commemorate the magazine’s five decades. The complete set of the Santa Barbara Magazine Collection of four wines with artist-designed labels is available from the winery (artiste.com).
The ultimate highlight of the evening was an exclusive VIP tour of the museum’s special exhibitions The Impressionist Revolution: Monet to Matisse from the Dallas Museum of Art and Encore: 19th-Century French Art from the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, expertly led by SBMA’s Eicholz Foundation director Amada Cruz. Among the attentive audience were several local artists, including Fall issue cover artist David Florimbi with daughter Sofia; Spring issue cover artist Olivia Joffrey with daughter Cosima; Cassandria Blackmore, Susan Read Cronin, and Mary Heebner and MacDuff Everton. Also enjoying the art-themed event were Anne Towbes, Aubrie Young, Kyle Brace, Stephanie and Dewey Nicks, Tammy Hughes, Charlotte Bryant and Alejandro Medina, John Connelly and Frederick Janka, and Kendall Conrad and David Cameron.
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Fired Up
A drive through Carpinteria is never complete without a stop to see what ceramicist Miri Mara is bringing to life at the wheel.
Miri Mara in his ceramics studio, which celebrates its 12th anniversary in December.
Written by Caitlin White
Photography by Macduff Everton
A drive through Carpinteria is never complete without a stop to see what ceramicist MIRI MARA is bringing to life at the wheel. In a previous chapter, Mara, a Rome native, spent two decades as an Italian fashion designer in Milan, a background that infuses his current career with a distinctly European sensibility and humanistic Italian flair. After relocating to California and falling in love with clay, he opened his eponymous shop in Carpinteria and began casting ceramic vases, bowls, cups, lamps, and pendants.
Each piece begins as a modeled clay slab that’s transformed into a plaster cast, then shaped through slip casting and hand finished with carved textural details. A Mara piece is also recognizable for a unique patterned effect, created by layered glaze and many firings. 5292 Carpinteria Ave., Carpinteria, mirimara.com
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French Connection
The art scene in Santa Barbara is becoming more global, as evidenced by the recent opening of Seimandi & Leprieur Gallery, helmed by French couple Fanny Seimandi and Julien Leprieur.
Written by Laurie Dewhirst Porter
The art scene in Santa Barbara is becoming more global, as evidenced by the recent opening of SEIMANDI & LEPRIEUR GALLERY, helmed by French couple Fanny Seimandi and Julien Leprieur. The couple recently relocated to California after a decade on the island of Martinique in the Caribbean, where Seimandi, who holds master’s degrees in art, served as a judge, and Leprieur worked as an engineer and entrepreneur. Both are extremely passionate about contemporary art, especially work by emerging Caribbean artists who are just starting to receive international recognition.
Dora Vital, Tropical Twilight Series No.1 (2023), oil pastel over acrylic
Part of the gallery’s stated ambition is to broaden the visibility of these artists and to present their work in conditions “that match its visual strength and conceptual depth.” To that end, Paris-born artist Dora Vital, who lives and works in Martinique, is the focus of a solo show, Jardin Nocturne, at the gallery from December 4 through February 21. Local photographer and creative director Jen Huang Bogan, the show’s co-curator, was struck by Vital’s luscious, layered compositions in pastel, oil, and acrylic.
“These works beautifully describe the juxtaposition of the richness and brevity of life as it cycles through the seasons,” Huang Bogan says. “They are a nod to the winter equinox, where daylight is softened but not bleak. Floral wisps and misty leaves swirl amongst the shadows of the pieces I chose, and they seem to say, in order for flowers to dance in the light, they must first be reborn beneath the earth.” 33 W. Anapamu St., Santa Barbara, seimandileprieur.com
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Multi-Frequency
Ojai welcomes a lively dining-and-nightlife pairing with Taco Roma and Radio Roma.
Come sundown in Ojai, the energy shifts from casual Taco Roma to the adjacent hi-fi lounge/mezcal bar Radio Roma
Written by Jessica Ruiz
Photography by Blue Gabor
Just because Ojai is more commonly associated with spiritual enlightenment than nightlife doesn’t mean the latter isn’t welcome. Casual Mexican restaurant TACO ROMA and hi-fi lounge/mezcal bar RADIO ROMA are side-by-side concepts that “complement each other,” explains co-owner Lisa Ann Cabasa, who partnered with her longtime friend, hospitality veteran and designer Serge Becker, on the venture.
The kitchen serves soul-satisfying dishes like lamb carnitas and tostadas de atún, which Becker describes as a “spin on the Contramar classic,” referring to the iconic Mexico City restaurant. During the day and early evening, the central location next to Libbey Park adds to the colorful tile-clad Taco Roma’s family-friendly appeal—until the over-21 crowd settles in with frozen palomas and mezcal cocktails after dark. Radio Roma’s intimate interior features an oversize disco ball and moody lighting befitting the vintage Klipsch system commandeered by a rotating roster of nightly guest DJs. “It’s the kids’ playhouse, and then the grownups’ playhouse,” Becker says. 307 E. Ojai Ave., Ojai, radioromaojai.com
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Rustic Revival
“You come here, and there’s a certain magic. We want every guest to feel that,” says Alia Rocher.
Charcoal-grilled chicken skewers served over flowering thyme is representative of the garden-focused ethos at the Rochers at the Ranch House in Ojai.
Written by Jessica Ritz
Photography by Delco Creative
“You come here, and there’s a certain magic. We want every guest to feel that,” says Alia Rocher. She and her husband, Perfecte, a Spanish-born, European-trained chef with a background in Michelin-starred kitchens, are ushering a beloved Ojai property into its next chapter as THE ROCHERS AT THE RANCH HOUSE. The fantastical 15,000-square-foot garden has been restored, and it sets the stage for a top-tier, yet refreshingly unstuffy, tasting-menu journey, along with other ways to enjoy the venue. A takeaway window serves Valencia-style coca flatbreads under the This Is Not Pizza banner by day. The Lumpsucker cocktail experience begins around the time Ojai’s famed Pink Moment bathes the Topatopa Mountains in a rosy glow. The couple embraces the holistic, multisensory nature of this new personal venture, which is rooted in a place that’s significant to many locals. For decades it was here at the Ranch House that Alan and Helen Hooker pioneered vegetarian California cuisine, welcoming friends like Beatrice Wood. “So many people have different memories of the space,” Alia says. “We’re doing our best to preserve the legacy.” 102 Besant Rd., Ojai, therochersrh.com
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Designer Row
Miramar is busting at the seams with new luxury retail
Miramar is busting at the seams with new luxury retail
Riviera Style
Chanel debuts in Montecito
© Chanel
An oceanfront CHANEL boutique, rooted in the French house’s polished codes, has arrived in Montecito at the Rosewood Miramar Beach. The single-level space, awash in black, white, and beige, is designed with dark wood shelves, patterned carpets, and tweed seating. It’s filled with Cruise 26 ready-to-wear, including knitted pieces and gold textured suits paired with watches and fine jewelry. Bags and accessories also line the main salon, while shoes sit in an adjoining space; two fitting rooms for personalized shopping complete the newest addition to the resort’s curated selection of shops. Beyond the ready-to-wear looks, first shown at the Villa d’Este on Lake Como, there is an extensive selection of baubles from Coco Crush, No. 5, constellation-evoking Comète, ribbon-esque Ruban, and the emblematic geometric curves of Camélia rings, bracelets, brooches, earrings, and necklaces. Also on hand are timepieces including the new Première Galon, the sporty J12 collection, and the rectangular Boy Friend. The house known for debuting its ready-to-wear resort looks on one of Europe’s most stylish Rivieras has arrived at America’s counterpart. The Shops at Miramar, Rosewood Miramar Beach, 1555 S. Jameson Ln., Montecito; chanel.com
Webb’s World
A New York jewelry house goes west
Shapes that first bloomed in DAVID WEBB’s mind and continue to be produced by master jewelers in New York are making their way to the coast, where the house has opened a new boutique in Montecito. The boldly original hammered gold designs and animals with eyes and defining features encrusted with colored gemstones long sought out by stars with a penchant for elegant, original baubles—including Elizabeth Taylor, Cher, Rihanna, and Scarlett Johansson—now have a new address at the Rosewood Miramar Beach resort. Webb looked to the natural world as he drew up ideas, and he left an archive of nearly 100,000 sketches, most of which have yet to be produced. This store opening is the first for the house in more than a decade, and the new space is filled with his classics, including enamel earrings, plus bent or twisted nail designs, and all manner of frogs, leopards, zebras, and more. A mix of coral, turquoise, and myriad colored gemstones reflect the hues of local sunsets and cool coastal waters. There are also unique creations to be found alongside the jungle cats, diamond-dusted necklaces, and inimitably bold cocktail rings. 1759 S. Jameson Ln., Montecito, Rosewood Miramar Beach, 310-858-8006; davidwebb.com