RH Restaurant Latest

This week, Montecito Board of Architectural Review will hear from representatives of RH, Inc., formerly Restoration Hardware, regarding a new location in Montecito’s Upper Village. The agenda item was continued from an MBAR meeting earlier this month. 

RH reps are seeking conceptual review to add a café and wine bar inside of the nearly 7,000-square-foot retail space, which will be located in the historic Old Montecito Firehouse, which was most recently occupied by Lucca. The café, which will serve brunch and dinner, is one of over 15 eateries within RH outposts around the world. The café will require 1,352 square feet, which includes 740 square feet for the café/wine bar and 612 square feet of outdoor dining space on an exterior patio. 

Other tenant improvements include refreshing the hardscape and landscape and installing three swing doors to replace existing windows and doors. According to the MBAR agenda, 20 parking spaces will continue to be provided on-site. 

The project has received much pushback from local residents, who lament the addition of a so-called “big box” business in the Upper Village. Those opposed to the project site parking and traffic concerns related to the opening of a new eatery. 

We’ll have more on MBAR comments in a future edition. No word yet on an opening date. RH will be located at 1486 East Valley Road.