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Tucked away at the end of a street off Cathederal Oaks Road is the Knapp Nursery, one of the secret gems in the Goodland.
But new owners Celeste and Patrick Burns are hoping that it’s not a secret anymore.
The pair purchased the nursery on Feb. 1, and they’re already making big changes. They have brought the fruit trees to the front, brought back vegetables and expanded the parking lot.
“We really want to encourage people to grow food first,” Celeste Burns said. “That is what we are promoting first. All the fruit trees and berries — the things you could share with your neighbors.”
Celeste said the purchase of the property was “meant to be.” She worked at Northern California company E.B. Stone for 20 years before she gave notice last week.
The property, at 909 Carlo Drive in Goleta, decorates three acres. In addition to the fruit, avocado, citrus and vegetable trees, the nursery features landscape and ornamental plants, hedges and a variety of trees.
Ownership never feels like work, she said.
“We get to be in nature,” Celeste said. “My joy is teaching people how to grow things and be successful.”
She noted how expensive blueberries are in grocery stores, but that she can teach people how to grow them in their backyard and eat them fresh, “so they didn’t waste their time and money.”
“I need to teach you the correct way,” she said. “It is really rewarding. There is something about nature and your hands in the soil. How rewarding to plant a tree and see that grow.”
She plans to have classes and a demonstration garden to show people how to grow food and plants in the area, which has a lot of thick, clay soil.
The couple purchased the nursery from the Caswell family, who owned it for 30 years after they bought it from original owner Doug Knapp.
Patrick Burns is a former journalist who also used to work for the Santa Barbara Foresters as a coach, commissioner of the California Collegiate League and in the restaurant industry.
“It’s such a great local nursery,” Patrick Burns said. “We have a lot of space to do special things.”
Cardiologist Announces Retirement
Cardiologist Harris Gelberg will retire on April 30. He has worked in the community for 40 years.
“I came to Santa Barbara from UCSF Cardiovascular Research Institute having decided that academic cardiology, though interesting, did not suit my personality,” he said in a statement. “I wanted to have more of a hands-on personal relationship with patients and enjoy direct efforts to improve their health.”
Gelberg said the year 1978 was in many ways the dawn of modern cardiology, from imaging to the electrical nature of the heart to pharmacology. Modern science offers many ways to improve heart health.
“Santa Barbara welcomed technological change with open arms,” he said in a statement. “All good things must come to an end, and that includes my cardiology practice. I feel privileged to have participated in this medical community. I enjoyed professional relationships with many fine physicians and surgeons.”
Patients will have a choice from among many cardiologists to continue their care.
“People ask me, why retire now?” Gelberg said. “I decided to retire because of a confluence of factors. I want to engage in new endeavors while I am in good health.”
Scarface House for Sale
The Montecito estate made popular by Hollywood and Al Pacino is for sale.
The 11,547-square-foot “El Fureidis” is also known as the “Scarface House,” and where “Tony Montana meets his violent end in Oliver Stone’s 1983 film,” according to the San Luis Obispo Tribune.
It’s on the market for $39.96 million.
According to Mansion Global, the10-acre property includes a four-bedroom mansion designed in the early 1900s by architect Bertram Goodhue for wealthy New Yorker James Waldron Gillespie. A dining room has a barreled ceiling painted in 24-karat gold leaf and depicting a scene of Alexander the Great conquering Persepolis, according to Mansion Global.
Hope Ranch Estate on Market
Randy Solakian, Deanna Solakian Williams and Jessica McLernon of the Randy Solakian Estates Group, a team affiliated with the Montecito office of Coldwell Banker Realty, have listed a rare ridgetop contemporary estate on more than two acres with magnificent ocean views in the exclusive Hope Ranch community for $21.5 million.
The residence, at 4045 Cuervo Ave., has eight bedrooms and eight bathrooms.
“Offering ultimate privacy and unlimited potential, the home is an architectural statement rarely found in the Santa Barbara area with an open layout and impressive scale,” Solakian said in a news release. “The Hope Ranch community includes a private beach, bridle trails and security patrol.”
The home features panoramic ocean and island views, a bright living room with 20-foot ceilings, enormous walls of glass, a full bar and a double-sided fireplace, and a newly remodeled kitchen that opens to a breakfast nook and sunken family room, according to a news release.
On the second floor, the primary suite offers a private office, spacious walk-in closets, a gas fireplace, a large bathroom and a private view deck with a built-in spa. On the ground level, three bedrooms open up to exterior patios with stunning views. The third bedroom is used as a media room. An attached two-bedroom, one-bathroom guest suite sits above the three-car garage with a separate entrance, a wet bar, a gym and a sauna. With its own gated driveway, the private two-bedroom, one-bathroom guesthouse has two charming sitting rooms with vaulted ceilings and a fireplace, a kitchen and a private view deck, the news release states.
New Partner and Associate Attorney at Allen & Kimbell
Allen & Kimbell LLP announced that Joseph Billings is now a partner and Stephanie Porter has joined the firm as an associate attorney.
Billings has been practicing law at Allen & Kimbell for the past six years in the firm’s real estate and business departments. He focuses primarily on all aspects of real estate matters, including residential, commercial and agricultural purchases and sales, leases, title evaluation, easements, boundary disputes, co-ownership arrangements and land use, according to Elizabeth Ruehlman, for Allen & Kimbell.
Porter attended law school at the Santa Barbara Colleges of Law. During law school, she “gained experience with various aspects of estate planning and is looking forward to expanding her expertise.” Porter supports the community and serves on the board of Santa Barbara Barristers. Her practice at Allen & Kimbell will focus on estate planning and trust administration, according to the news release.
— Noozhawk staff writer Joshua Molina can be reached at jmolina@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
