Tag archives: San Ysidro Ranch

‘Patience and Persistence Paid Off’: San Ysidro Ranch’s Wine Collection Returns to its Glory
By Gabe Saglie   |   May 27, 2021

For the wine program at the San Ysidro Ranch, 2021 has been a very good year. The lucrative wine selection at the landmark luxury resort was completely destroyed when mudslides roared across the Montecito foothills in 2018. Millions of dollars in some of the world’s very best wine — more than 12,000 bottles and a […]

San Ysidro Ranch Spa Debut
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   May 13, 2021

This weekend Montecito’s famed San Ysidro Ranch will host a preview of its new Salon & Spa, located in a classic board and batten style cottage on the picturesque property. With plans to fully open next week, the Salon & Spa also features a relaxing courtyard surrounded by fragrant gardens and shaded by vine-covered pergolas.  […]

Celebrate Mother’s Day with Brunch, Dinner and Takeout at These Local Restaurants
By Claudia Schou   |   May 7, 2021

Celebrate your favorite moms this Mother’s Day by treating them to a special lunch at home or taking them out for a meal at one of these SB-area restaurants on May 9. Our roundup has something for everyone, including brunch and bubbly, multiple-course menus and delectable pastries for takeout. Reservations are strongly encouraged at most […]

From Salmon to Sweets: Options Abound for Passover and Easter Eats
By Claudia Schou   |   March 30, 2021

Spring brings two delicious holidays: Passover and Easter. With restaurants moving into the red tier and opening their doors, local chefs are rolling out new menus with unique offerings.  Now is the time to savor this forward-thinking season.  From a swank steakhouse with a rack of lamb special; to a Scandinavian bakery with buttery pastries; […]

Tasting Notes
By Claudia Schou   |   March 11, 2021

You can still experience the thrill of visiting a winery and taking part in its on-premise wine tasting with a handful of carefully curated wine programs offered locally. Since the onset of COVID-19, many wineries across the country have either suspended or limited in-person attendance at their tasting rooms. To compensate, some of our local […]

Highly Rated Hostelries
By Richard Mineards   |   March 4, 2021

Beanie Baby billionaire Ty Warner has good reason to smile during this pandemic. Both his tony Montecito hotels, the 500-acre San Ysidro Ranch, with 41 private cottages, and the Four Seasons Biltmore with 206 rooms on 22 lush acres next to Butterfly Beach, have received top five-star ratings in the latest 63rd annual Forbes Travel […]

In the Kitchen with Matt Johnson
By Claudia Schou   |   December 24, 2020

These days it’s hard to get excited about anything when days turn into weeks and weeks turn into months and the only glimmer of hope is your next home-cooked meal. Same salad dressing, same lemon chicken, same wine, and the same cloth napkins (just washed). Life has been, well, uneventful. That is, up until last […]

Holiday Bundt for Brunch or Dessert
By Claudia Schou   |   December 24, 2020

These gorgeously shaped cakes are perfect for every holiday meal, according to San Ysidro Ranch pastry chef Michelle Straub. Throughout her time in the gastronomic world, Straub has put a focus on bringing new life to classic recipes using the best ingredients possible. “My goal has always been to do the basics extremely well, because […]

Keeping up With the New Innkeeper
By Richard Mineards   |   December 3, 2020

Beanie Baby billionaire Ty Warner didn’t have to look very far for a new manager at his 500-acre, 41-cottage, five-star hostelry, the San Ysidro Ranch. Ian Williams, who replaced bonnie Scottish lass Maxine Rutledge as overseer of the historic property where the late President John Kennedy and wife, Jackie, spent their honeymoon, and actor Laurence […]

Stuart Whitman’s Montecito Ranch Up for $62 Million
By Richard Mineards   |   November 19, 2020

A scenic Montecito ranch owned by the late Oscar-nominated actor Stuart Whitman is up for grabs for $62 million, one of our rarefied enclave’s most expensive properties. Stuart, well-known for cowboy roles in films with John Wayne, owned the 13-acre estate in the Santa Ynez Mountains until his death in March at the age of […]

Stonehouse Honored for Outdoor Dining
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   August 27, 2020

Last week, the Stonehouse at San Ysidro Ranch was honored in an article by the Michelin Guide, marking it as one of 11 “Must-See” outdoor dining venues in the United States. With restaurants across the country forced to make the most of outdoor dining venues given the ongoing pandemic, the article makes note of nearly […]

Biltmore Employees Protest
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   August 13, 2020

Last Thursday, August 6, over 250 employees from the Four Seasons Resort the Biltmore took to the streets of Montecito to protest unanswered questions about their employment status at the resort, as the Biltmore, Coral Casino, and The Montecito Club have been closed since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “I’ve given nearly fifteen years […]

San Ysidro Ranch Opens Three Outdoor Restaurants to Public
By Steven Libowitz   |   August 6, 2020

Warner said he had kept the San Ysidro Ranch open throughout the pandemic because the 41-cottage property is well suited for social distancing. The only time the hotel has been closed since Warner purchased it in 2000, was in the aftermath of the January 8, 2018 mudslides, which destroyed half the property. Unlike his other […]

‘No Impending Sale’: Ty Warner Puts End to Rumors About Montecito Properties
By Nick Schou   |   August 6, 2020

In an exclusive interview with the Montecito Journal, Ty Warner, Montecito resident, Beanie Baby creator, and billionaire owner of the Coral Casino Beach and Cabana Club, the Four Seasons Resort the Biltmore, the Montecito Country Club, and the San Ysidro Ranch, said he had no plans to sell any of his local properties, all of […]

Biltmore’s Future Uncertain
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   July 2, 2020

Rumors have been swirling about the extended closure of Montecito’s Four Seasons Resort the Biltmore, which has been closed since March due to the pandemic. Hotels in the county were cleared to reopen on Friday, June 12, but the Biltmore’s doors have remained closed, leaving staff members and nearby locals wondering what the future holds […]

What Difference 10 Years Make
By Gwyn Lurie   |   June 25, 2020

It was March 2004 and I was pregnant with our first child when my husband and I bought our home here. We’d married nine months earlier at the San Ysidro Ranch and we would drive up for weekends, rue L.A.’s show biz culture and roam around Montecito, fantasizing about raising our kids in one of […]

Remembering Chip
By Richard Mineards   |   February 20, 2020

On a personal note, I remember Santa Barbara realtor Chip Lawson, who has moved to more heavenly pastures at the all too early age of 62. A jovial soul, we first met at Cafe Del Sol, the former popular local bar hangout by the Andree Clark Bird Refuge, now the Magic Castle. Chip, a former […]

Ain’t it Grand?
By Richard Mineards   |   July 18, 2019

The Stonehouse, the San Ysidro Ranch’s award winning eatery, has added another accolade to its long list. Under the direction of Todd Smith, wine director, the restaurant’s robust collection has just earned the Wine Spectator Grand Award for the fifth consecutive year. The underground wine cellar houses nearly 12,000 bottles of the most premium and […]

Montecito Matrimony
By Richard Mineards   |   June 13, 2019

Actor and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s 29-year-old author daughter, Katherine, tied the knot with actor Chris Pratt, 39, at the San Ysidro Ranch, where her great uncle John Kennedy and wife, Jackie, honeymooned in 1953, over the weekend. Beanie Baby billionaire Ty Warner‘s hostelry was under heavy security for the event, with a large […]

Soirée at Sara’s
By Richard Mineards   |   May 23, 2019

Uber philanthropist Sara Miller McCune opened the doors of her Montecito home, just a tiara’s toss or two from the San Ysidro Ranch, to host a dinner, along with her publishing company, SAGE Publications, for a 60th anniversary benefit for UCSB’s Arts & Lectures program featuring CNN host and Washington Post columnist Fareed Zakaria. The […]