A Refined Montecito Estate Sails Onto the Market for $52 Million

Set amid mature specimen trees, flowering gardens and manicured lawns, a circa 1910 Mediterranean home in the aristocratic seaside town of Montecito has been freshly restored and comprehensively updated by L.A. and Santa Barbara-based designer Xorin Balbes of Xorin Homes and will soon return to the market with a price tag of $52 million. Nancy Kogevinas of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties holds the listing.

Offering residents and guests a tranquil, cosseted sense of relaxed glamour, the nearly four-acre spread, dubbed the Monte Arroyo Estate, includes a total of nine bedrooms and 10 bathrooms (plus a trio of powder rooms) dispersed across the 13,500-square-foot main house, the 850-square-foot guesthouse and the nearly 1,000-square-foot one-bed, one-bath pool house.

Beyond the stone lions that guard the wrought-iron entry gate, a tree-covered 450-foot gravel drive meanders across the rolling acreage before it circles up around an ancient olive tree in front of the main residence. The gracefully proportioned living and entertaining spaces include a vast double-height living room with a massive fireplace; a fireside dining room; a family room lined with French doors capped with demilune windows; and a cozy study with a honeycomb detailed ceiling and an inglenook-style fireplace.

The kitchen is a thoroughly modern space illuminated by skylights. A long, marble-topped island runs down the middle of the room, and French doors open the room to the gardens. The main home’s seven bedrooms are divided among two wings, one for family and one for guests. A dedicated entertaining space includes a professional bar with a brass sink, a climate-controlled wine cellar and tasting room, and a state-of-the-art home theater.

Broad terraces surround the house and overlook a park-like landscape. Gravel paths meander among towering trees and lead to a lagoon-like pond and a swimming pool alongside a wellness pavilion that’s complete with a gym, dry sauna, pool bath, and ensuite guest bedroom. And, for 

Paltrow and Falchuck are just two of many Hollywood insiders who maintain homes in the sleepy seaside community, including Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres and Prince Harry and Megan Markle. Josh Brolin dropped $7.1 million for a sprawling estate earlier this year, as did CSI Creator Anthony Zuiker, who paid $14 million for his hilltop hideaway, and last year Zoe Zaldana joined the party when she plunked down $17 million for a century-old Spanish-Revival mansion.