Riven Rock is a residential subdivision in the

unincorporated area An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

of Montecito, California near

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara (, meaning ) 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 Coast of the United States excepting A ...

. The Riven Rock subdivision is located on the former Riven Rock Estate.

History

The Riven Rock Estate was owned by the

McCormick family The McCormick family of Chicago and Virginia is an Americans, American family of Scottish and Scots-Irish descent that attained prominence and fortune starting with the invention of the McCormick reaper, a machine that revolutionized agriculture ...

, who purchased the 84 acre property in 1896 and in 1898 built a large two-story

Mission Revival The Mission Revival style was part of an architectural movement, beginning in the late 19th century, for the revival and reinterpretation of American colonial styles. Mission Revival drew inspiration from the late 18th and early 19th century ...

home on the premises. The estate's name came from an oak tree near the main gate, which was growing out of and had split a large boulder. Stanley McCormick, the youngest child of Cyrus Hall McCormick and Nancy Fowler McCormick, and husband of Katharine McCormick, was confined for much of his life at the estate as he suffered from

schizophrenia Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...

. Stanley McCormick's life was the basis of T.C. Boyle's 1998 novel '' Riven Rock''. After the 1925 Santa Barbara earthquake the main house was demolished. After Stanley McCormick's death in 1947, Katharine sold the estate in 1949 to one real estate developer, who sold it to another developer in 1950. The second one subdivided the estate into 34 smaller parcels and put them up for sale. In 2020,

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (; born Rachel Meghan Markle, August 4, 1981) is an American member of the British royal family, media personality, entrepreneur, and former actress. She is married to Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, the younger son ...

and

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, (Henry Charles Albert David; born 15 September 1984) is a member of the British royal family. As the younger son of King Charles III and Diana, Princess of Wales, he is fifth in the line of succession to t ...

, after deciding to withdraw from royal family duties, purchased the French Provençal "Chateau of Riven Rock", which is located on the grounds of the old Riven Rock Estate. The seven-acre, 18,671-square-foot residence was purchased from the Russian oligarch Sergey Grishin for $14.6 million.

References

External links

Riven Rock Estate Map created for Rivenrock Historical Estate community association in Montecito, California
{{Coord, 34.444, -119.6460, display=title Houses in California Royal residences in the United States Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex Meghan, Duchess of Sussex Montecito, California

History

See also

References

External links