Pumpkins, Pups, and More!

Halloween Fun for Everyone

This edition of The Home Page was originally emailed to subscribers on October 30, 2022. To receive Sarah Sinclair’s real estate newsletter in your inbox each Sunday, sign up independent.com/newsletters.

I’ve been collecting scary house photos to help celebrate the season. In a change of pace, my friend and local architect Cass Ensberg shared her lovely front door scene, proving that the season can be serene as well as spine-chilling.

Credit: Courtesy Ensberg Jacobs Design Inc.

Cass also graciously invited me to visit “The Ranch” — their home and design studio — so with some luck, I’ll be able to snap some more views to share with you.

And now, back to the spooky: You’ll remember this cottage in my downtown neighborhood from my most recent Make Myself at Home column. When I walked past this week, I saw that it’s been “Halloween-ified” with pumpkins, skulls, and even severed limbs. I’m glad to see that the new owners are having some ghoulish fun.

I love a great before-and-after story, and one that I’m able to witness in real life is even more fun than the ones I read about in blogs and posts. My friend Sara Caputo, who writes our Simply 805 column, invited me over to share in her family’s particularly prolific passion fruit harvest. She and hubby Steve have been remodeling their house, and it was super fun to walk through and see exactly what they’ve been up to. I was particularly fond of the wallpaper they used to spruce up their downstairs powder room. Here’s the plain-Jane ‘before’…

…along with the tropical vibe of the ‘after’ treatment.

I especially like the reflection in the mirror. Aloha all around!

Still need your Halloween fix? Want to help the Food Bank, too? It’s not too late to conjure up the spirit of this spooky season. The Hall Team at Compass is holding their sixth annual HALL-oween Pumpkin Carving Party. It’s a blast that ends up looking like this:

They keep the pumpkins for a tremendous group display for trick-or-treaters and passersby to admire, so don’t get too attached to your jack-o-lantern! Have pumpkin-carving practice with the Hall Team this afternoon … then go home and replicate your masterpiece to decorate your front porch just in time for All Hallows’ Eve tomorrow. They’re carving — with a live band! — today from 4-8 p.m. at 3709 Capri Drive in Santa Barbara.

If you prefer the cute of Halloween rather than the scary stuff, head on over to our Halloween Pet Photo Contest to check out all the four-legged friends in their costumed finery. Better yet, submit your Fido or Fluffy into the lineup!

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