Val Verde, in

Montecito, California Montecito (Spanish for "Little mountain") is an unincorporated town and census-designated place in Santa Barbara County, California.McCormack, Don (1999). ''McCormack's Guides Santa Barbara and Ventura 2000''. Mccormacks Guides. p. 58. . Located ...

, also known as the Wright Ludington House, is an estate which was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1995. The listing included five

contributing buildings In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

, 10

contributing structures In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

, four

contributing objects In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

, and a contributing site, on . It is located at 2549 Sycamore Canyon Road in Montecito, which is adjacent to Santa Barbara. The house, built in 1918, is a two-story Mediterranean Revival style house, built of hollow clay tile and covered with a red-tiled

hipped roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope (although a tented roof by definition is a hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak). Thus, ...

, arranged around an open courtyard patio. It was designed by architect

Bertram G. Goodhue Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue (April 28, 1869 – April 23, 1924) was an American architect celebrated for his work in Gothic Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival architecture, Spanish Colonial Revival design. He also designed notable typefaces, in ...

for fellow New Yorker Henry Dater Jr. The property was bought by Charles Ludington in 1925, after which Ludington, with architect

Lockwood de Forest Lockwood de Forest (June 8, 1850 – April 3, 1932) was an American painter, interior designer and furniture designer. A key figure in the Aesthetic Movement, he introduced the East Indian craft revival to Gilded Age America. As a young man, de F ...

added landscaping, cottages, garages, an undulating wall, and a Spanish fountain around 1926. The property was inherited by his son

Wright S. Ludington Wright Saltus Ludington (1900–1992) was an art collector, artist and one of the founding members of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. Early life and education Wright Saltus Ludington was born in New York City on June 10, 1900, to Charles an ...

in 1929 or 1930. With In 2009, the property was sold to

Sergey Grishin (businessman) Sergey Grishin (russian: Сергей Гришин; born 21 June 1966) is a Russian-American billionaire, engineer and developer, who was the president and chairman of RosEvro Group. Grishin co-ownerd the Rosevrobank (aka ''The Laundromat'') and ...

. It has also been known as Dias Felices, as the Henry Dater house, and as the Dr. Warren Austin home. It was deemed significant as a "product of the opulent age in Montecito, California, from 1900-1920 when the rural town became noted for its substantial winter homes based on European residential models, commissioned by wealthy easterners and midwesterners from well-known national and regional architects."

References

National Register of Historic Places in Santa Barbara County, California Mission Revival architecture in California Buildings and structures completed in 1918 {{SantaBarbaraCountyCA-NRHP-stub