A Montecito Home With Views of the Santa Ynez Mountains Asks $22.5 Million

The roughly 4-acre estate comes with a slew of outdoor amenities including a putting green, a pool and a bocce court.

Wall Street Journal | Libertina Brandt

A roughly 4-acre estate with a putting green in California’s Santa Barbara County is asking $22.5 million.

Overlooking the Santa Ynez Mountains, the home is located in the town of Montecito, according to listing agent Marsha Kotlyar of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties. The sellers are William Hines, co-founder of the Louisiana-based oil company Ridgelake Energy, and his wife, Donna Hines. The Hineses, who live primarily in New Orleans, bought the property as a vacation home for $7 million in 2012, according to public records.

The property contains an approximately 8,000-square-foot, Neoclassical-style main house that was built in the 1950s, according to Ms. Kotlyar. The house was built on the site of an early-1900s pavilion used for musical performances, she said. The pavilion was integrated into the home’s design, she said, and is now a large game room and two bedrooms.

In addition to the putting green, the grounds contain a pool, a bocce court, a croquet court, a tennis court and a one-bedroom guesthouse.

Ms. Hines said she was drawn to the estate’s trees, which date back about 200 years. “We drove in, and there are two motor courts, and when we hit the second motor court I was left breathless,” she said. “I couldn’t believe the trees, the eucalyptus.”

After buying the property, the Hineses made some changes and upgrades, Ms. Kotlyar said. They renovated the guesthouse and added the bocce court, croquet court and putting green. They also expanded the gardens and planted an orchard.

Ms. Hines said they are selling because they are building a new home and a winery in another part of Santa Barbara County.

In June, the median listing price in Montecito was $6 million, unchanged from June 2021, according to Realtor.com. (News Corp, parent of The Wall Street Journal, operates Realtor.com.)