Located on the outskirts of Santa Barbara and between the Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean, Montecito’s natural landscape has automatic Instagram backdrop potential even without all the picturesque manmade elements. A couple of hours drive from star-studded Los Angeles, the town has been popular escape destination for celebrities present and past.
Oprah Winfrey owns a colossal compound in the area, Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi have juggled multiple properties there over the years, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry escaped to Montecito after ditching the United Kingdom — though they are reportedly hoping to relocate. Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom have also taken up residence there along with the singer’s father and Ariana Grande even wed her now-ex Dalton Gomez at her home in the beach town.
Recently, the New York Times writer Amy Larocca had a look inside the town to see how the other half live — and by other half we mean the top 1% of earners. According to Larocca — and her tour guide Ashley McGowan, a real estate agent whose family has lived in Monecito for three generations — the town has been decadent yet somehow low key for years. The New York Times reports that, in the last census, less than 1% of Montecito’s 8,200 residents were Black. The median house on the market costs $6.75 million and about two-thirds of the population votes Democrat. In terms of age demographics, the town swings a little on the geriatric side. A local restaurant owner says her customers have an endless appetite for soup.
The lifestyle is as idyllic as the views. McGowan notes that her grandparents spent their years riding across wild citrus groves on horseback every time they wanted to visit a nearby friend. “It’s a pretty amazing place to grow up,” she notes. Larocca notes that local retail stores are stocked with many long, ivory cashmere sweaters.
Montecito has been home to many Hollywood Walk of Famers for a long time, Charlie Chaplin owned a small hotel in the town. Clark Gable and Greta Garbo were also both home owners in the area. But, according to Larocca, it no longer provides the same refuge it once did from the glare of a paparazzi camera. Larocca credits the shift, in part, to the 2019 opening of the Rosewood Miramar Beach hotel which has attracted many a celebrity-influencer hybrid who are more inclined to publicize their whereabouts than the town’s usual clientele. In October 2021, Travis Barker proposed to Kourtney Kardashian in a sea of roses on the hotel’s beachfront — the display took over Instagram and the family’s reality show and turned all eyes on Montecito.
While paparazzi once didn’t venture far out of Malibu, they have been making the extra hour drive more frequently. In November 2022, they flocked to catch a glimpse of Adam Levine and his family after his alleged cheating scandal. They’ve also been scrambling to snap photos of Markle, Harry and their kids since their big move. Yet, with all the tall gates and secluded mansions, its hard to imagine celebs giving up their hold on the area any time soon.
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