A 100-year-old church has been converted into a high-tech 37-unit hotel in Santa Barbara.
Casa Iglesia opened last month at 1915 Chapala St. between Mission and Pedregosa streets.
Managed by ZenStay Hospitality, it has contactless check-in and check-out, high-tech amenities and a serene courtyard all within the church’s original architecture.
Arvand Sabetian, the property owner and hotel developer, said the goal of the project was to preserve the Santa Barbara landmark and give it a second life.
He also explained that they had evaluated the property to see if it could be used for housing, but determined that a hotel made more sense for the building.
The site “simply wasn’t going to work as residential housing while also preserving the historic architecture — the floor plates, the volumes, the sanctuary space. None of it adapts cleanly to apartments without gutting what makes the building special,” Sabetian said.
Turning it into a boutique hotel “lets us keep the exterior and the most beloved interior elements intact while bringing the building back into active service,” he added.
The exterior architecture largely remained the same, with new paint and windows. On the inside, the second floor was added in what used to be part of the sanctuary, and the third floor was converted from an unused attic.
The front of the building also includes newly planted 150-year-old olive trees that were imported from Ancient Olive Trees in northern California.
The pet-friendly boutique hotel offers two-bedroom units, one-bedroom units and studios, each with smart TVs and toilets with full kitchens or kitchenettes. Each unit has its own water heater and temperature controls.
At the center of the hotel, part of the roof was removed to create an open-air atrium, complete with tables and couches, water features, and palm trees. Guests can even see the church’s original steel beams where there was once attic space.
Shaliz Nakashima, Sabetian’s wife and hotel designer, said her vision for Casa Iglesia was to preserve the character while creating something warm, calm and timeless.
“We kept the original footprint and opened the atrium in the center to create an outdoor gathering space that became one of the defining features of the hotel,” Nakashima said.
She said the hotel was designed with “Spanish and Moroccan influences, with the goal of creating a place that feels transportive and welcoming, like a hidden retreat with a story behind it.”
Daniel Salatino, project manager, said they wanted to make the building more energy efficient by not having any gas appliances and using solar energy.
“We try our best to reutilize all these existing infrastructures in a better, cleaner way than they’ve ever been done before,” Salatino said.
From a construction standpoint, Salatino said adapting the church into a hotel allowed for a more interesting design than if they were adapting a commercial building or office space.
“It’s always fun trying to use an existing floor plan and retrofit versus cookie-cutter, and that’s what you get in new construction,” Salatino said. “That just creates its own fun challenges within itself.”
The church was built in 1925 and was home to the First Christian Church of Santa Barbara. The property went on sale in the summer of 2022 and was bought by Sabetian under the 1915 Chapala St. LLC in June 2023.
The project was approved by the city later that year, and interior demolition began in January 2024, according to Sabetian.
