Montecito is an unincorporated town in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Located on the Central Coast of California, Montecito sits between the Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. Montecito is best known as a celebrity enclave, owing to its concentration of prominent residents. An affluent town, the median home price was $7.5 million in 2024. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Montecito as a census-designated place (CDP). The population as of 2022 is approximately 8,638 residents.
Beanie Babies are a line of stuffed toys created by American businessman Ty Warner, who founded Ty Inc. in 1986. The toys are stuffed with plastic pellets ("beans") rather than conventional soft stuffing. They come in many different forms, mostly animals.
The Spanish Colonial Revival style is an architectural stylistic movement arising in the early 20th century based on the Spanish colonial architecture of the Spanish colonization of the Americas.
The Arizona Biltmore is a historic resort located in Phoenix near 24th Street and Camelback Road. Designed by Albert Chase McArthur, it opened on February 23, 1929, as part of the Biltmore Hotel chain. Actors Clark Gable and Carole Lombard often stayed there and the Tequila sunrise cocktail was invented there. It is part of LXR Hotels & Resorts.
Ty is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. It was founded by Ty Warner in 1986. It designs, develops and sells products, most notably Beanie Babies, exclusively to specialty markets worldwide.
H. Ty Warner is an American billionaire toy manufacturer, businessman, and convicted felon. He is the CEO, sole owner and co-founder of Ty Inc. which manufactures and distributes stuffed toys, including Beanie Babies and other lines. He is also the owner of Four Seasons Hotel New York, which he bought with profits earned selling Beanie Babies during a fad in the late 1990s. In 2020, he was No. 359 on the Forbes 400 list of the richest people in America, with a net worth of US$2.3 billion.
The Biltmore Los Angeles is a historic hotel opened in 1923 and located opposite Pershing Square in Downtown Los Angeles, California. The hotel has 70,000 square feet (6,500 m2) of meeting and banquet space. Built with 1500 guestrooms, it now has 683.
Mediterranean Revival is an architectural style introduced in the United States, Canada, and certain other countries in the 19th century. It incorporated references from Spanish Renaissance, Spanish Colonial, Italian Renaissance, French Colonial, Beaux-Arts, Moorish architecture, and Venetian Gothic architecture.
Four Seasons Hotel New York is a luxury hotel in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, that opened in 1993. The hotel is owned by Ty Warner Hotels and Resorts, L.L.C. and operated by Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. It was closed temporarily in 2020.
Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy is a private, all-girls Catholic high school in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles run by the Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose. It is located in La Cañada Flintridge, California, on a 41 acres (170,000 m2) campus near the San Gabriel Mountains.
Myron Hubbard Hunt was an American architect whose numerous projects include many noted landmarks in Southern California and Evanston, Illinois. Hunt was elected a Fellow in the American Institute of Architects in 1908.
George Washington Smith was an American architect and painter. He is known particularly for his work around Santa Barbara, California, and for popularizing the Spanish Colonial Revival style in early 20th Century America. His notable works include Casa del Herrero, the Lobero Theater, the Santa Barbara News-Press building, and buildings at the Santa Barbara Cemetery. He also designed several private houses in Montecito.
Casa del Herrero is a historic house museum and botanical garden located in Montecito near Santa Barbara, California. It was designed by George Washington Smith, and is considered one of the finest examples of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture in the United States of America. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and was designated as a National Historic Landmark on January 16, 2009. Today, the entire 11-acre (4.5 ha) site is owned and operated as a historic house museum and botanical garden by the 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, Casa del Herrero. The Casa del Herrero organization's mission is to restore and preserve the house and grounds for the benefit of the visiting public.
Carleton Monroe Winslow, also known as Carleton Winslow Sr., was an American architect, and key proponent of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture in Southern California in the early 20th century.
The San Ysidro Ranch is a luxury resort located in the Montecito foothills of the Santa Ynez Mountains. Originally deeded with the Presidio by Charles III of Spain, the San Ysidro Ranch exchanged hands, changing from a Mission farm, to a Citrus Ranch, to its current role as a hotel acquired by Ty Warner in 2000.
Francis Townsend Underhill was a politician from the U.S. state of New York and an amateur architect in California.
Lina Trivedi is an American entrepreneur, author, educator and civil servant.
Historic Hotels of America is a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation that was founded in 1989 with 32 charter members; the program accepts nominations and identifies hotels in the United States that have maintained their authenticity, sense of place, and architectural integrity.
Edwards and Plunkett was an American architectural firm active between 1925 and 1940 in Santa Barbara, California. It was founded by William Albert Edwards (1888–1976) and James Joseph Plunkett (1900–1946), who were among the most famous practitioners of the Spanish Colonial Revival style in Santa Barbara. From 1926 to 1928, Henry Ward Howell (1889–1962) was a junior partner, and they operated as Edwards, Plunkett, and Howell. Their works include the Arlington Theatre, the Janssens–Orella–Birk Building, and the original terminal building of the Santa Barbara Municipal Airport.
