South Bay Homes and Real Estate

It was startling to see the images of the Montecito Fire on the news last night. Many of the newscasts focused attention on a small Christian college in the foothills of Montecito called Westmont. Westmont has a special place in my heart as it’s my alma mater. I’m sure most people are familiar with Montecito as a small enclave near Santa Barbara best known for it’s elite Hollywood residents. Lesser known is the 1,200 student Westmont College that sits in the mostly residential neighborhood among the fantastic walled estates of the celebrity rich and famous.

On a brighter note, as far as I know the buildings damaged by fire are not historically or architecturally significant. In fact, only the main administrative building (once a residence) would truly be irreplaceable. In fact, it sounds like the residence halls took the brunt of the fire and that’s probably pretty good news. All the schools dorms, particularly the Clark building that burned, are badly designed and dated. It has been reported that the Physics building has been destroyed - however, no clarification on which physics building. Of course, the old-growth school grounds are probably badly scarred. But nature is amazingly resilient. But I’m certainly glad to have had the chance to give my wife a tour of the campus last year.