Interesting Santa Barbara landscapes / architecture

[Ryan Wampler]

Anytime I travel someplace new, I’m always wanting to visit the great local examples of landscape architecture.  Finding what those are is always the challenge so I thought I’d see if the forums could shed some light.  Crowd-sourcing for good design if you will.

This time, Santa Barbara, CA.  Local icons of good design?  Especially if they are within walking distance of the Stearns Wharf area.  Any tips appreciated.

[Cecilia Schafler]

Lotus Land is an incredible place! It isn’t walking distance from the Stearns Wharf area, but if you can get there it is so worth it!

[Ellis Cucksey]

Not specifically landscape architecture, but nearby Goleta has an amazing organic farm in town that is very interesting. Sounds like the local neighbors put the kibosh on a lot of the cooler elements, like the greywater irrigation and compost toilets, but still might be an interesting side journey.

They also sell their produce at an adjacent roadside stand. 

[Boilerplater]

Santa Barbara has had design standards for its architecture from early on, so a very distinctive town character developed.  You’ll probably learn a lot just from walking around the downtown.  There are reasons, besides the climate and spectacular location, that people will pay so much money to live there.

[Ryan A. Waggoner]

Hey Ryan, I’m sure it’s too late, but I hope that you caught some of Jeff Shelton’s architecture while you were there.  I traveled to Santa Barbara quite a bit, and would love seeing some of his designs throughout the city.  Check out his work if you didn’t see it while you were there; http://www.jeffsheltonarchitect.com/.  Like boilerplater said, they have rigorous design standards, and Jeff has twisted them in very cool ways…

[landplanner]

I would highly recommend the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. You will go by the Mission on the way there, so if you want to play a real “tourist”, that is still worth a visit. The Santa Barbara Courthouse downtown is an absolute “must”. There is a great park near the wharf that is also across from a very big hotel resort. I can’t think of the name of the park nor the landscape architect who designed it, but he has an office in Santa Barbara as well as somewhere near Marin.

[Boilerplater]

Thanks for posting that!  He does some really expressive, fun work.  I bet he really enjoys his practice.  Seems like a very interesting character as well, going by his work and the company he keeps.  Very artistic family.

[Ryan A. Waggoner]

Ya, I love his hand-drawn business cards too.  My favorite is the one that says ‘Jeff Shelton Architect slow but expensive’…

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