Santa Barbara, the American Riviera!

Webster could run out of adjectives trying to describe Santa Barbara. Seductive, playful, romantic, gorgeous, easygoing, relaxed, sophisticated, cultured, friendly, peaceful, re-energizing and invigorating are just a few descriptors that come to mind. Oh, and habit-forming — just ask anyone who’s been here.

Day-trippers want to spend the night. First-time visitors vow to return. Tourists dream of relocating their lives here — and some do. Longtime residents stay forever. Some Angelenos (Los Angeles residents) even leave a boat moored in the Santa Barbara Harbor, to keep a toe in local waters, so to speak. No one ever wants to say goodbye.

Located just 90 miles from Los Angeles, Santa Barbara is a world apart, a soothing realm of distinct and subtle pleasures, and an intoxicating appeal that arises from a convergence of elements found perhaps nowhere else in the world. A city characterized by Spanish Colonial Revival architecture, with white- washed buildings with red-tile roofs tucked between the mountains and the sea, Santa Barbara resonates with an irresistibly sensuous allure. Casual and friendly, it also offers an extensive menu of sophisticated cultural attractions ranging from theater and dance to music and visual arts, reflecting a cultural richness out of proportion to the city’s small size.

The Franciscans built 21 missions in California, including Old Mission Santa Barbara, known as the “Queen of the Missions.” After coming under Mexican rule for 24 years, Santa Barbara became a U.S. territory in 1846, two years before California was added to the Union.

Half a century later, Santa Barbara had evolved into the pre-Hollywood capital of the silent-film era, the back lot by the sea where more than 1,200 movies, mostly Westerns, were produced during a 10-year period. After such legendary film stars as Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Mary Pickford and Charlie Chaplin made Santa Barbara their playground, the coastal hamlet became a haven for wealthy Easterners and a hot spot for health-seekers lured by the area’s mineral baths. Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, Carnegies and Duponts arrived via luxury rail car. In their wake came painters, poets and authors who took the first steps toward making Santa Barbara the art colony it is today.

With only 91,000 residents, this small city exudes the warmth and friendliness of its size while offering the kind of major attractions and world-class accommodations usually reserved for a major metropolis.

Santa Barbara’s South Coast is made up of the sunny cities of Santa Barbara and Goleta, as well as the communities of Montecito, Goleta and Summerland. Ever since the turn of the 20th century, Montecito has been cultivating a well-deserved reputation as an enclave of grand estates owned by the rich and famous. The Montecito Inn, founded by Charlie Chaplin, at the end of Coast Village Road, is still a favorite, along with the fine restaurants and chic shops that line the eucalyptus-shaded drag. The elegant Spanish-Moorish Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore Santa Barbara continues to romance guests from its prime oceanfront location, and the San Ysidro Ranch remains a choice destination for lovers and others following in the steps of John and Jacqueline Kennedy, who honeymooned there. More recently, Oprah paid $50 million for the Montecito estate that serves as her West Coast headquarters.