Address: 679 Mission Canyon Road
Was it something about this 1907 adobe home that inspired its long-term owners to contribute to the community? Fernand Lungren, a famous landscape artist, built the home and lived here for 25 years. He was one of the founders of Santa Barbara’s School of the Arts, and when he passed away, he donated his paintings and artifacts to local institutions. Barbara Tellefson, another owner, lived here for 35 years and created The Unity Shoppe, an organization to benefit the members of our community who need it the most.
In the early 1900s, Santa Barbara adobes were being bulldozed to make way for modern buildings. Down by West Beach, an old adobe was erased to make way for the Potter Hotel. In 1902, the local paper wrote, “The people of Santa Barbara … will witness the speedy change from the picturesque old mound, with its adobe house, to the modern, up-to-date tourist hotel.” But up in Mission Canyon, Lungren and his wife, Nettie (Henrietta), were having their dream home and art studio built of adobe. The Potter Hotel is gone; the adobe at 679 Mission Canyon Road is still here.