Montecito Real Estate through time....
Montecito Real Estate wasn't always incredibly expensive. Why,
way back in 1769 it didn't cost much at all. Father Serra was
wandering around up on what is now Hot Springs Rd back then
looking for a place for a church but after he died Father Lasuen
decided that wasn't such a great idea after all and the place
didn't get built for quite a while.
Finally about 1857 the East Valley Catholics decided they needed
some place closer than the Old Mission to worship so some
workmen from the San Ysidro Ranch built an adobe chapel on the
Juarez property at 53 East Valley Rd.
Montecito didn't really get rolling until 1876 when some of the
"first families" with such names as Jaurez, Romer, Olivas,
Robles, Dominguez, Lopez and Lorenzana decided it looked pretty
good to them. It was about that time that a grapevine was
planted at what is now 850 Parra Grande Ln. and agriculture in
the East Valley was born.
In 1887 the Southern Pacific Railroad came to town and things
really started to take off. At that point William H. Crocker,
and his mother-in-law Mrs. Caroline Sperry, bought Rancho Las
Fuentes south of East Valley Road and thus was born The
Crocker-Sperry Ranch which at the time was primarily citrus. Now
it's the site of the Birnam Wood Golf Course, which still has
names like Las Fuentes and Packing House Rd.
As we moved into the 20th century, big money started coming our
way. Montecito became a fashionable health resort and huge
luxurious private estate began springing up. People like the
Rockefellers, Carnegies, Fleishmanns, Cudahys, DuPonts and
Swifts discovered the place. Homes with 30 to 200 acres began
sprouting up everywhere.
In 1915 the Montecito Country Club came into being. Things went
great for the Country Club until Maj. Fleishmann and a few
friends decided they needed something more exclusive so the
Valley Club of Montecito was born. Later on in 1968 the Birnam
Wood Country Club joined the Valley Club in the same area and
Montecito Social life became a real whirl.
Today Montecito Real Estate is some of the most prized dirt in
the world. The huge estates are still there and interestingly
enough there's still some agriculture there. But there are also
smaller buildings which have been made up of some of the estates
that were sub-divided.
So far for 2005 215 Single Family Homes have changed hands in
Montecito which is down slightly from where were in 2004. The
average sales price for a home in Montecito for this year is
$3.16 million and the median sales price is $2.47 million.
Currently there are 92 properties on the market with a median
list price of $3.75 million and an average list price of $5.57
million.
The highest priced sale for 2005 was $22 million and the least
expensive sales this year was $1,075,000. Some of the properties
currently available are:
* 2 Bedroom 1 Bath home for $1,025,000 * 3 Bedroom 2 Bath
property for $2.1 million * 4 Bedroom 4 Bath home for $3.95
million * 5 Bedroom 6 Bath property for $4.45 million * And the
highest priced listing currently on the market is 6 Bedroom 11
Bath home for $24.9 million
Well that's about it for now for Montecito Real Estate<