Of all the stops on my Santa Barbara trip, this place was easily one of my favorite. The Casa Del Herrero maintains a rich history to go along with it’s sprawling Moorish inspired garden. I was in awe at how intact the house is kept, you can very much feel the love that went into building (and maintaining) it’s legacy. The tour was a step back in history, and a chance to further my horticultural knowledge.
The Casa del Herrero, designed by architect George Washington Smith and completed in 1925, is noted as one of the finest examples of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture in America, is included on the National Register of Historic Places, and in January 2009, was designated a National Historic Landmark.
George Fox Steedman, an industrialist, engineer, and amateur architect, had a vision for the house and grounds that went beyond fashion, and he assembled an extraordinary team of architects, landscape architects, antiquarians, and horticulturists to produce the Casa del Herrero estate (House of the Blacksmith)—recognized today as a masterpiece of the Country Place era. His participation in every detail of the property’s buildings, furnishings, and gardens is the reason the estate makes a single artistic statement that is greater than the sum of its parts.
Today the entire 11-acre site is owned and operated as a historic house museum and garden by the non-profit Casa del Herrero Foundation, with the goal of preserving the house and grounds, as well as the family’s collection of antiques, books, sketchbooks, drawings, and horticultural records. Tours of the Casa del Herrero house, gardens and workshop are available by reservation only.
This trip to Santa Barbara, including this activity were part of an invitation I received from Visit Santa Barbara to learn more about the arts and culture in Santa Barbara. While this trip, and post were sponsored, all words and photos are my own.
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