Although far less flashy, Carpinteria’s Padaro Lane is to Santa Barbara essentially what Malibu’s Carbon Beach is to LA. At least in terms of residents. It’s an oceanfront stretch of sand where hordes of billionaire (and near-billionaire) folks congregate, many of whom are famous.
Numerous big-name entrepreneur and showbiz homeowners own on Padaro — Ellen DeGeneres, George Lucas, Christopher Lloyd, Greg Renker, Lynda Weinman, Ashton Kutcher & Mila Kunis. And many more. Home prices are correspondingly hefty, of course.
Last week, a large blufftop spread up there sold for just over $18 million — $18,125,000, to be exact — and the buyers are a Seattle-area couple named Dwayne & Terese Clark.
The Clarks are self-made entrepreneurs and philanthropists. Our Mrs. Clark is a registered nurse who owns Nurses2Go, a company that supplies nursing services to healthcare providers. And Mr. Clark is CEO and founder of Aegis Living, a company that owns and manages assisted living facilities — what some folks might call retirement centers or nursing homes, depending on how uncouth y’all are. He’s grown the company into a powerhouse that has — according to its website — over 2,000 employees, a property portfolio worth $1.5 billion and 31 locations in Washington, California and Nevada.
In his spare time, Mr. Clark blogs for The Huffington Post and has written five books and a play, according to his personal website. The Clarks are also noted philanthropists and seem like generous peeps — he once left a $3,000 tip on a $40 breakfast. Just ’cause it was Christmas.
Anyway, it seems the Clarks are not planning to move into their new $18 million Carpinteria estate anytime soon — the property is already available for lease at a rate of $45,000 per month. So if y’all fancy a temporary Santa Barbara getaway — and you’ve got the cash — perhaps this is just the thing for you.
Yolanda thinks the storybook-style mansion looks old — circa 1920s or so — but records reveal it was actually built in 1986. Last sold in 2004 for $19 million, the place was previously home to former Williams-Sonoma owner Jay McMahan and his wife Jackie. The elderly couple have since passed on — he in 2011, she in 2017 — and the property was put up for sale about three years ago with a $28.5 million ask, eventually reduced to $22 million. Along came the Clarks from up north (finally!) and the rest is history.
The first thing anyone will notice about this property is that it’s big. Like really big — 4.3 acres, to be approximate. The two-parcel, fully-landscaped estate features a whopping 350 feet of blufftop frontage overlooking the Pacific and the Santa Barbara coastline.
A wee brick porch decorated with some potted plants lies before the ornate front door. Within, the interiors are surprisingly contemporary — polished hardwood floors, whitewashed walls, vaulted ceilings and such.
The formal living and dining rooms sport large fireplaces. So does the kitchen, where we like the tile floor and top-notch appliances. Everything is white, save for the cobalt blue La Cornue range.
The estate has 6,697-square-feet of living space with four bedrooms and six baths spread between the main residence and wee 1-bed guesthouse. Really though, the main value is in the land and views — covered verandas, sweeping lawns and mature trees frame the sensational coastline vistas.
We’re not sure how folks on the estate grounds access the beach, but Yolanda imagines a hidden pathway down the cliffside exists somewhere. Atop the bluff are plenty of recreational activities — amuse yourself on the putting green, frolic on the acres of emerald lawns, gaze into the fountain.
There does not, however, appear to be a pool. But if y’all can survive without that — hello, there’s still an ocean in the backyard — $45k for monthly rent sounds reasonable. (Yikes! Did we really say that?)
Anywho. Up in the Seattle area, the Clarks’ main residence appears to be a fearsomely expensive Hunts Point compound worth well north of $20 million.
The two-parcel property contains two separate mansions — the Clarks custom-built the larger one (recently assessed at nearly $13 million) in 2010. They then (in 2016) paid $8 million for the smaller contemporary home next door. As y’all might expect, the two formerly separate properties have since been combined and together flaunt 150++ feet of frontage on hoity-toity Lake Washington. Some of the neighboring waterfront estates are owned by the likes of Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos.
Listing agent (Carpinteria rental): Sandy Stahl, Sotheby’s International Realty