Address: 421 East Figueroa Street
Status: On the Market
Price: $3,410,000
I love walking through Santa Barbara’s neighborhoods and imagining the stories of the houses themselves and the people who have lived there. The adobe home at 421 East Figueroa Street contains enough history to fill volumes, its saga entwined with that of Santa Barbara itself. Barely visible from the road, the house sits in the middle of the block, up a slope, and behind a garden wall. As I walked toward it last week, I felt transported back in time. As I became acquainted with the home’s background, I realized that this feeling was warranted.
As the home is a designated city landmark, historic documentation pinpoints its construction date as “no later than 1852.” Details that helped determine this date include square-cut nails in the windows and front door, early 19th-century glass, and original hardware, including the front doorknob. A pitched, wood-shingled roof and exposed exterior walls differentiate it from most traditional adobe construction of the period.