Years ago, Rob Lowe smiled at me one morning on the East Beach bike path. On a different long-ago evening, I sat near Jackson Browne eating tacos at La Super-Rica. I even know Ellen and Portia’s veterinarian. If you’ve lived in this community for any length of time, you undoubtedly have your own celebrity stories to tell. However, here on the American Riviera, we let the stars among us enjoy a low-profile lifestyle. We don’t ask them for autographs, and a smile is the only indication with which we acknowledge their greatness.
When I was invited to visit the house at 256 Santa Rosa Lane in Montecito, I knew that it had a high-profile pedigree, but I wasn’t going to let its claims to fame shake me. I can be just as cool as the next cucumber in the face of stardom.
The home was built in 1999, and designed by renowned architect Robert A.M. Stern as part of a dream home contest for Sunset Magazine. Currently, the house is again enjoying the spotlight as a finalist in the HGTV Ultimate House Hunt 2019. Through July 17, viewers can vote online at hgtv.com for their favorite houses in eight different categories.