Blending Beauty and History on a Riviera Hillside

There’s a particular spot on the grounds of the El Encanto hotel where red-tile roofs on one side of a grassy courtyard converge with clapboard Craftsman cottages on the other. Designed by architects Winsor Soule and E. Russel Ray in 1913, eight original Craftsman-style cottages were built on the 6.7-acre site as housing for the faculty and students of the newly opened Santa Barbara State Normal School, located just up the hill at the site now known as the Riviera Campus Historic District. 

A main building was added soon after, also designed by Soule in the prevalent Craftsman style, characterized by wooden construction with board and batten siding and welcoming front porches. By 1918, the site was operating as the El Encanto hotel rather than a dormitory. As Santa Barbara rebuilt and redefined itself after the 1925 earthquake, architectural firm Edwards, Plunkett & Howell led the city’s transition to the Spanish Colonial Revival style, bringing in the now-familiar red-tile roofs with thick whitewashed plaster walls and decorative ironwork details. In 1928, the firm was hired to add 10 more cottages in this style to the El Encanto.

These two styles of architecture are iconic Santa Barbara, coexisting in charming harmony on the grounds of the hillside resort, now officially named El Encanto, a Belmond Hotel. The hummingbird is the emblem of El Encanto, and as I walked through the gardens as part of a recent Breakfast, Architecture, and Garden Tour, the resort’s curated history and beauty were on display, and several hummingbirds joined in, too, right on cue.

The hotel’s gardens, designed by Charles Frederick Eaton, include a brick pergola surrounding a lily pond, native plantings woven around majestic eucalyptus trees, and one of my favorite details: a fairy-tale wishing well. It’s no wonder that movie stars such as Hedy Lamarr, Clark Gable, and Carole Lombard frequented the hotel in the golden era of Hollywood as an escape from the big-city lights. The grounds and cottages have been preserved to exacting standards, earning the hotel designations as both a historic landmark and a historic district by the City of Santa Barbara.

We ended our tour on the main back lawn, with the sweeping view enjoyed from the restaurant terrace, looking out over the city and to the ocean beyond. 

Held on the third Saturday of each month, the next Architecture & Garden Tour is October 19 at 10 a.m. The 45-minute tour is complimentary with a breakfast reservation. Attendees should make their breakfast reservations for 8 or 8:30 a.m. by calling (805) 845-5800.