What does a million buy you these days? A pretty nice little home in most cases, judging by a recent ad hoc drive around the City of Santa Barbara. These homes would land a buyer at right around a million after coughing up closing costs and fees. A healthy down payment and the $5,000 or so for monthly mortgage and insurance payments just make the weekend gardening chores all the more reason to find home improvement is your new hobby.
Simply Amazing on the Eastside
607 East Sola Street (pictured above) – From the flagpole over the porch to the spiral staircase leading to the back bedroom, this home has such the feel of antique detail and extreme old age for those who crave authentic eccentricity. And the neighbors across the street seemed to be throwing in a few upholstered wrought-iron chairs, too.
Price: $999,999
Beds/Baths/Square Feet: 3/2.5 and 1,476sf
Lot size: 0.11 acre
Built in: 1918
Location Times Three near La Cumbre
231 Lee Drive – With a half-century of age on it, the house has had its interior “gutted” and replenished, and the exterior landscaped for drought, but the clincher is looking up the block and seeing a line of kindergartners headed for an outing from Hope School.
Price: $950,000
Beds/Baths/Square Feet: 2/2 and 1,224sf
Lot size: 0.16 acre
Built in: 1957
Amazingly Nice in Mission Canyon
835 Cheltenham – According to listing agent Monica Lenches, this property fell out of escrow at $1.45 million last month. The home has tight parking but is removed from the narrow road and the south-facing terraces to the rear step down several livable levels.
Price: $999,999
Beds/Baths/Square Feet: 3/2 and 1,407sf
Lot size: 0.22
Built in: 1960
Great Depth on the Westside
821 West Sola Street – This part of the Westside has surprisingly deep lots which accounts for plenty of garage, garden, and other helpfully lucrative spaces. Here, too, are cross-street neighbors with curb-side furniture, an elderly sofa this time.
Price: $939,000
Beds/Baths/Square Feet: 3/1 and 1,116sf
Lot size: 0.16 acre
Built in: 1930
Amazingly Bad on the Eastside
1324 Cacique Street – From the guys with blue tattoos smoking in the driveway to the dirt expanse and small wooden house revealed when the gate opened, this listing, zoned R-3, shouldn’t have been a surprise, but it was.
Price: $995,000
Beds/Baths and Home Square Feet: 2/1 and 725sf
Lot size: 0.15 acres
Built in: 1930