MCM Trip to Santa Barbara
Mid Century Road Trip: Santa Barbara
SouthWest Airlines now offers nonstop flights to Santa Barbara from Sacramento making for an easy weekend getaway. Although Santa Barbara is better known for its Mediterranean, red-tile roof architecture, there are still some mid century finds for the vacationing modernist.
We were fortunate to stay in a private residence. The home built in 1962 and located in the Lower Riviera neighborhood of Santa Barbara is a short walk to the main restaurant and shopping area of State Street.
The home has some very cool mid century design touches.
This Robert Abbey chandelier gives off some serious groovy vibes.
We spied an Eames dot pattern tray ready to be pressed into cocktail duty.
And a Raindrop Tree Wall Sculpture by C. Jere
This painting by contemporary artist MJ Elmore adds a SoCal mid century vibe
On past trips we have stayed at the Canary Santa Barbara Hotel which is conveniently located right downtown and boasts great views from its roof deck. Locals also recommend Palihouse Santa Barbara and the Hotel Virginia for other lodging options.
One of the pleasant surprises of this trip was the Santa Barbara Airport. What a very civilized experience. We saw the small town vibe that Santa Barbara really is with its one terminal and lack of automated baggage claim.
The building was finished in 2011 but these are definitely vintage Eames Tandem Sling Seating.
Vintage Eames Airport Gang Seating
Our first stop was to the Montecito Country Mart. Built in 1960 and renovated in 2009, this Town and country style Village is home to great eats and shops.
We headed to Bettina Pizzeria to carbo load so we would have ample energy for the weekend’s adventure. Bettina’s offered so many amazing choices that we ended up ordering three pizzas for four people plus meatballs and salad. Their Chanterelle pizza at an eye-popping $36 was worth every penny.
A cone from Rori’s Artisanal Creamery located across from Bettina sent us waddling to our car and ready for bed.
After a leisurely breakfast of gluten-free pastries from Lilac Patisserie, we headed to Los Alamos. This small town located about an hour north of Santa Barbara is home to Michelin star restaurant, Bell’s. Long on our bucket list to try, we were excited our host had landed a coveted reservation.
The Los Alamos Post Office is a mid century modern classic.
Bell’s housed in a former bank building built in 1920 and located appropriately enough on Bell Street, is a small restaurant with an even smaller patio.
Our next stop before heading back to Santa Barbara was a glass (or two) of delicious Pinot Noir from Melville Winery located in the Santa Rita Hills. This area has grown so much and is definitely worth its own trip to explore the Santa Rita Wine Trail.
The next day was all about shopping and we were excited to check out the latest finds from two of our favorite mid century shops, sbmidmod and The Blue Door.
The Blue Door is a vintage collective with multiple floors of mcm finds
This Laurel Mushroom Lamp is one of the many mcm items at sbmidmod
Both shops are convenienly located in The Funk Zone — an area filled with wine tasting rooms and restaurants.
We of course had to take a break from all that mid century goodness for a glass of wine at Paradise Springs Winery.
Dinner at La Paloma Cafe — former long time home of Paradise Cafe — was a delicious way to end our Santa Barbara adventure.
Always good to leave wanting more and that was definitely the case with our visit. Here are a few other sights to see on your visit to Santa Barbara:
A&D Museum at UC Santa Barbara
Founded in 1963 and has the largest architectural archive in North America
Get some great design ideas for your mcm garden
Santa Barbara Museum of Art
