The Home Page | Turkey, Turnkey, and Topiary

This edition of The Home Page was originally emailed to subscribers on November 26, 2023. To receive Sarah Sinclair’s real estate newsletter in your inbox each Sunday, sign up at independent.com/newsletters.

I’ll bet I’m not the only one who’s been spending a lot of time in the kitchen lately. Thanksgiving week gives us an undeniable foodie focus, plus the darker evenings and colder weather bring out my nesting energy. I made beef stew last week, and baked lemon scones this morning. It’s no surprise then that the stylish blue kitchen in this condo on East Valerio caught my attention. The downtown location is also high on my list of priorities. This super stylish two bedroom three bath home is offered for $1,595,000 by my friend Annette Vait. If you need to stretch your legs after all that turkey, go visit 18 East Valerio today from 12-3 and tell Annette that I said hi.

In the realm of new and unusual style choices, my friend Jerry Galanti of EcoLawn introduced me to these topiaries available at Island View and La Sumida nurseries. Jerry met the rep for Bacho, the company that produces the topiaries. They offer fruit, flora, and fauna of all types, including a pair of swans, a complete chess set, and a gorilla that stands over six feet tall. As Jerry pointed out, the topiaries are “an interesting approach to garden decor” and extremely Instagram-worthy!

On Thanksgiving weeks past, it used to be that I would run into Sur La Table on State Street to grab a new serving platter or refresh my kitchen towels. Our local Sur La Table is no more, but the building at 821 State Street has been reimagined, renovated, and reopened last week as Santa Barbara’s newest example of a workforce housing development. Independent reporter Ryan P. Cruz was at the ribbon cutting and gives a full account of the project here. Bringing residents to the downtown core, and taking a step towards adding more affordable housing in our community, I’d say that this reuse success is a recipe to be duplicated.

I’m cutting it a bit short this week. If you had this face watching your every move, you might take a few extra walk breaks, too. Make sure to check out this week’s issue of the Independent – our annual ode to some of the Local Heroes in our midst, plus twenty-five pages of real estate to admire, ogle, and visit. Thank you for reading. This time of year, I’m especially grateful for you!