The Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore Santa Barbara is a luxury resort

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

located in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coa ...

known for its Spanish Colonial Revival architecture and gardens. It opened in 1927 as the Santa Barbara Biltmore, part of the

Bowman-Biltmore Hotels Bowman-Biltmore Hotels was a hotel chain created by the hotel magnate John McEntee Bowman. The name evokes the Vanderbilt family's Biltmore Estate, whose buildings and the gardens within are privately owned historical landmarks and tourist attracti ...

chain.

History

The Santa Barbara Biltmore was designed by architect Reginald Johnson and landscape architect Ralph Stevens in 1926-1927. Their design of the hotel and outdoor garden rooms synthesizes

Mediterranean Revival Mediterranean Revival is an architectural style introduced in the United States, Canada, and certain other countries in the 19th century. It incorporated references from Spanish Renaissance, Spanish Colonial, Italian Renaissance, French Colonia ...

Spanish Colonial Revival The Spanish Colonial Revival Style ( es, Arquitectura neocolonial española) is an architectural stylistic movement arising in the early 20th century based on the Spanish Colonial architecture of the Spanish colonization of the Americas. In the ...

and

Moorish Revival Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of Romanticist Orientalism. It reached the height of its popularity after the mid-19th centu ...

styles of

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...

. The $1,500,000 construction cost was funded by the Bowman-Biltmore Hotels Corporation of New York City, with a 5 March 1927 groundbreaking. The 'Coral Casino' and 'Butterfly Beach' are adjacent to the Biltmore. Allied Properties of San Francisco bought the Biltmore in 1936. They sold the property in 1976 to

Marriott Marriott may refer to: People *Marriott (surname) Corporations * Marriott Corporation, founded as Hot Shoppes, Inc. in 1927; split into Marriott International and Host Marriott Corporation in 1993 * Marriott International, international hotel ...

for $5.25 million and the hotel was renamed Marriott's Santa Barbara Biltmore. Marriott sold the hotel to

Four Seasons Hotels Four Seasons Hotels Limited, trading as Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, is an international luxury hotel and resort company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Four Seasons currently operates more than 100 hotels and resorts worldwide.D ...

in 1987 for $55 million and it was renamed the Four Seasons Resort Santa Barbara. In 2000, billionaire

Beanie Babies Beanie Babies are a line of stuffed toys created by American businessman H. Ty Warner, who founded Ty Inc. in 1986. The toys are stuffed with plastic pellets ("beans") rather than conventional soft stuffing. They come in many different forms, mo ...

creator

Ty Warner H. Ty Warner (born September 3, 1944) is an American billionaire toy manufacturer, businessman, and former actor. He is the CEO, sole owner and founder of Ty Inc. which manufactures and distributes stuffed toys, including Beanie Babies and other li ...

purchased the hotel for $150 million, while retaining Four Seasons as the management company. He restored the hotel at a cost of $240 million and brought back the historic 'Biltmore' name soon after, renaming the hotel the Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore Santa Barbara. Since its 1927 opening, the hotel has been known popularly simply as 'The Biltmore.'
''The Los Angeles Times'' - Hotel Review "All dolled up -- but no stunner: The Beanie Babies creator's $240-million makeover raises the luxury factor, but some of the changes miss the mark." By Valli Herman, May 27, 2007. Fred William Stringer produced ornamentation and murals for the hotel. Originally an artist in England, he moved to Canada prior to 1920, then was brought to

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ...

to do backdrops, sets and theater ornamentation for the fledgling movie industry. He also did similar work for several hotels and theaters in the Los Angeles area.

References

Dunn, Jerry Camarillo . "The Biltmore, Santa Barbara: A history". Pub: Santa Barbara Biltmore Associates. 1990. .

External links

Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore Santa Barbara website

Coral Casino Beach and Cabana Club website
{{Coord, 34.41696, N, 119.64196, W, source:placeopedia, display=title Hotels in California Bowman-Biltmore Hotels Santa Barbara, California Buildings and structures in Santa Barbara County, California Tourist attractions in Santa Barbara County, California Hotels established in 1927 Hotel buildings completed in 1927 1927 establishments in California Mediterranean Revival architecture in California Moorish Revival architecture in California Spanish Colonial Revival architecture in California