3280 Via Rancheros Road, Santa Ynez, CA 93460
PALACIO DEL RIO
In coveted seclusion – “Palacio del Rio” is an iconic estate situated in the foothills of the Santa Ynez Mountains overlooking the breathtaking Santa Ynez River Valley. A recent restoration project over the past 2 years has brought this spectacular estate back to the height of its glory.
Perched high in a grove of 100-year-old Redwoods, ''Palacio del Rio'', formerly the Hacienda for the renowned Juan y Lolita Rancho, is set on approximately 36.6+/- acres and is steeped in Valley history. This is a place of amazing tranquility.
The property is often called ‘The Jewel of the Valley’ with its views, rich history, privacy, and sense of seclusion. It is located only three miles from the town of Santa Ynez, 35 miles from Santa Barbara, and only 2 hours from Los Angeles and the Bay Area.
The late John S. Mitchell, founder of United Airlines, and his wife Lolita Armour of the Armour & Company meat packing company, had the house built as a wedding gift from Lolita’s parents. Palacio del Rio was designed and constructed in 1928 by the famous Edwards & Plunket firm of Santa Barbara, whose oeuvre also includes the Santa Barbara Airport and Arlington Theatre in Santa Barbara. A guest wing, guest house, and garages were later added in 1938. Mr. Mitchell founded the legendary Los Rancheros Visitadores at the ranch in 1930, and the traditional gathering still continues today. Other previous owners include Jimmy Stewart and Dean Martin, who separately used this as a retreat from Hollywood.
There is an air of warmth and hospitality immediately experienced upon entering the protected courtyard with its flagstone walkways, flowers, and sycamore trees.
The property is truly magnificent and irreplaceable.
MAIN RESIDENCE:
The interior of the main residence is warm and sophisticated consisting of a spacious living room and adjoining dining room, both of which have stunning fireplaces and command spectacular views of the Santa Ynez Valley. The Kitchen opens to a comfortable family room and features Wolf and Sub-Zero appliances, a huge center island with sink, views out to the Valley, and a grand fireplace. Custom-designed and recently refinished cabinetry can be found in the kitchen, and throughout the house. Additionally, there is a storage pantry room with freezer and a mud room entry room off the main courtyard leading into the kitchen. The current owners have re-imagined the powder room and created a laundry room to make this living space as practical as it is beautiful.
The expansive Primary Suite is comprised of a Den / TV Room with fireplace, bedroom with vaulted ceiling and hand-carved fireplace, and an enclosed porch room adjoining the outside pool area. There are two large, custom walk-in closets, primary bath with standalone tub, and a gym.
Four additional en-suite bedrooms, two with fireplaces, complete the accommodations in the main residence. Each bedroom also has private entrances from the outside of the house.
POOL
Off the Living room is a 26 x 50 foot pool with breathtaking views over the valley and neighboring Refugio Ranch vineyards. Follow one of two staircases down from the pool deck to a fully-lighted tennis court. Convenient to this area is a bathroom and dressing area with a shower, new water filtration system and tankless heater.
GUEST HOUSE
Across the courtyard is a guest house with equally impressive views that has been completely updated with an effort to maintain all of the original craftsmanship and charm while modernizing it for today’s comfort and convenience. There are many possible layouts to accommodate up to 11 guests. It is currently set up as two primary suites with fireplaces, one with a children’s bunk room, and the other with a private TV/sitting area. Each wing has its own re-imagined bathroom, one with a standalone tub.
The great room with high ceilings and large beams, was built as the party-room featuring an oak dance floor surrounded by thoughtfully updated tile and lighting fixtures. There is also a prohibition-era bar that opens up to a fully renovated custom kitchen.
The guest house features a private covered patio overlooking the main courtyard and out back, a private walled yard with outdoor fireplace. A private driveway serves this guest house.
6 CAR GARAGE- WINE CELLAR – STAFF QUARTERS – SHOP
Below the guest house is the 6-car garage with beamed ceilings. The entire porte-cochere is covered in an original wall mural landscape painted in 1938 by the renowned Plein Air artist, Douglas Parshall. This well-lit area can be used as a formal ballroom, as it has in the past during some wild Hollywood parties.
This area is also home to the wine cellar, a reimagined staff/overflow laundry room with multiple washers and dryers, and a one bedroom, one bath staff quarters with fireplace. This area also houses the shop area and has ample storage.
CASITA
Apart from the main house, tucked away in a separate grove of towering Eucalyptus trees, is a two-bedroom caretaker’s cottage with private yard, laundry, and equally amazing views of the River and Valley below.
GROUNDS
The property consists of approximately 36.54 acres. After passing through the gated entrance, you travel up approximately one-half mile of newly-paved road winding through mature oak trees, marveling at the increasingly grand views along the way. Upon reaching the main house you enter an outside parking area capable of accommodating over 20 cars. From this point the road turns into a beautiful base rock material that compliments the style of the home. The road then separates and passes through the garage one way, and also above the guest house to meet again on the backside of the property by the Casita, completing a loop of the upper portion of the property. The road also loops to the back of the property down past the barn to a back exit or staff entrance.
Across the bottom of the property, fronts the Santa Ynez River and the property water well is located in this area and draws from a significant aquifer.
BARN
On the lower portion of the property are fenced pastures and horse shelters, and a riding ring. There is also a large barn with a tack room, ample storage space, a watered garden, three stalls, and a chicken coop.
RECENT RENOVATION:
PROPERTY
MAIN HOUSE
GUEST HOUSE
CASITA
POOL BATH & EQUIPMENT ROOMS
The History of Palacio del Rio
We are not quite sure exactly the year, but sometime in the early 1920’s John J. “Jack” Mitchell and his wife, Lolita Armour Mitchell, purchased their 12,000 acre + / - Santa Ynez Valley Rancho and so, named the ranch after themselves, Juan y Lolita. To build their home on a prominent view knoll they employed Joseph Plunkett of the firm Edward’s, Plunkett and Howell.
Plunkett and firm became quite famous for their instrumental work in the rebuilding of Santa Barbara between 1925-1928 especially after the earthquake of 1926. They were responsible for many of Santa Barbara’s well-known buildings and homes, including Santa Barbara Airport that was the original hub for the newly formed United Airlines. (Of which “Jack” Mitchell was shareholder / director).
During this period the Mitchell’s also owned Zaca Lake and San Marcos Lodge, a beach home on Fernald Point in Montecito and the Armour Family, (Armour Meatpacking of Chicago) additionally owned the well-known El Mirador estate on Cold Springs Road in Montecito.
The Mitchell’s ranch home initially was fairly small, but by 1938, as a result of two additions it was completed and enlarged to a grander scale. It became recognized as the greatest Ranch Estate in the Valley and quickly became the social center for many of the Western activities that “Jack” Mitchell loved.
Elmer Awl, a man well known in the area for both his good humor and his talent in landscape development supervised the Ranch and the Mitchell’s Montecito estate and both properties flourished because of his talents. Both he and Jack Mitchell loved Western ranch life. This common bond led to the successful birth and growth of the unique Santa Barbara riding group, Los Rancheros Visitadores. Mitchell and Awl, together with western artist Ed Borein and other well-known local men, organized the first ride in the valley on a May weekend in 1930. After visiting other ranches, 90 riders arrived at the Rancho Juan y Lolita, where Los Rancheros Visitadores was established and Mitchell became its president, an office he held for the next 25 years!
There are still those today who remember the Carriage garage and the parties that filled it. They remember the walls that still grace the impressive mural of the Southern California Landscape before the Spanish arrived. C. Douglas Parshall, who was an early Santa Barbara artist and muralist and noted member of the Plein Air group, painted the Mural. Some remember the large collection of carriages and wagons that Mitchell collected, many of which are now on display at the Santa Barbara and Santa Ynez Historical Museums.
Sometime during the last construction phase, the Mitchell’s sponsored the very famous artist Bosch and they brought him from Italy to construct four tile murals in the courtyard. He is highly acclaimed and well represented in the Smithsonian galleries in the Washington D.C. The murals are scenes from Don Quixote and are of significant value.
In 1941 or 1942 Lolita Armour Mitchell quitclaimed about 8,600 acres of the Ranch to John “Jack” Mitchell, and she retained the rest, including the Hacienda. In 1949 the Hacienda was sold and after, the Juan y Lolita Ranch began several decades of division and “Real Estate Roulette,” passing from buyer to seller in succession.
Portions were bought and sold by Pierre Merillons to the James Richardson’s, then to the Borge Andersons, and then to the partnership of Robert Record and Russell Smith.
Record and Smith were well established locally - the former a lifelong Montecito resident, the latter a popular manager of the El Paseo Restaurant in Santa Barbara. That partnership purchased the Plunkett designed ranch house in 1956 and the land immediately surrounding it, planning to turn it into a country restaurant-inn.
They named it Palacio del Rio, a name by which the property since has become known. They added a dining room terrace that wrapped the North and Westerly section of the house and overlooked the river and valley. For the next several years “Palacio” enjoyed a flurry of popularity. There was a wonderful view overlooking the valley and the Santa Ynez River, the restaurant drew weekend crowds, and it was a charming spot for wedding receptions and other celebrations. Overnight guests could be accommodated in a limited number of rooms available in the ranch house or above the garage. That garage, many people remember with delight, still carried on its walls the impressive 1938 mural of life in the early days of Santa Ynez Valley.
One partner sold out to the other, and in 1962 Russell Smith’s widow put it up for sale. The buyers were actor James Stewart and local resident Kirk Johnson. Stewart soon purchased the adjoining 1000 acres called the “Wine Cup II”. On this parcel, which surrounded the Palacio property, Stewart built a small ranch house and horse barn.
However, both Stewart and Johnson sold “Palacio” sometime in the 1960’s to Paul Loughridge Jr. and family (there were 8 children) and all resided at the home until he in turn sold it to singer Dean Martin. The Martins did extensive remodeling to the home and reputedly loved to entertain and spend family time at their ranch home. When they divorced, they then sold their portions separately in 1973 to Dr. Franklin and Rosemary Ashley, a well-known cosmetic surgeon.
The Ashley’s, in turn, sold the property and acreage to the owners of local paper (Santa Ynez Valley News), Ken and Peg Johnson. The Johnson’s also owned Crown Point Arabians and they constructed extensive horse facilities on the bottom lands of the ranch acreage by Refugio Road. (circa 1970’s)
Apparently, little was done to the Palacio home during this period and the Johnsons divorced in the mid 1980’s; Peg Johnson took the Palacio home, and her husband took the horse facilities which was on about 70 acres that rests on the SY river and fronts on Refugio Road. Around that period, Tom Barrick purchased the equestrian property and built a house on the 70+ acres The tennis star Jimmy Conners and family were the next owners and they extensively re- built the home….This ranch went through a succession of owners before trading in 2024 after an extensive rebuild for just under $15,000,000.
Peg Johnson, who had kept the Palacio, sold the property to Helen Kenney of Wyoming in 1989, who then later sold to the Rosedale family in about 1991.
Ten years later, the Rosedale family sold to a Montecito family in 2001. At the time, the extended porch that wrapped the west and north side of the house still existed from the restaurant years, as well as the industrial kitchen! This family undertook renovations and remodel which included, removing that eating porch addition, extensively remodeling and expanding the kitchen and family room and remodeling the main bedroom suite. They used the well-known Santa Barbara firm of Braun and Associates to do this work, which demanded expertise and high quality to conform to the original design and build standards. P.J. Milligan built the kitchen to the design of Mary O’Hagen.
In 2005 this family sold the Palacio, and the new owners used the property as a 3 generational family compound. They continued with the renovations, which included a rebuilding of the pool and bottom cabana areas and resurface of the tennis court. The patriarch collected horse carriages and he built a barn toward the bottom of the property to served to store the carriages and it also had a few horse stalls on the north side..
2021 saw another chapter turn for this historical property and it sold to the current family who carried the renovations further. (see attached list of renovations carried out). Each of the past owner custodians have lavished love and care into this Santa Ynez legacy estate.
The Mitchell family still own part of the original Juan y Lolita Ranch of approximately 5,000 acres surrounding Palacio del Rio and the Gildred Ranch. (The Gildred Family Trust purchased from Jimmy Stewart the 950 +acres that immediately surrounds the Palacio home and this has now become divided into a few parcels, all owned by different families).
The private lane, now named Via Rancheros, accesses all these magical properties, all steeped in local history and lore.
History of Architect
Joseph Plunkett
(1900 - 1946)
Born on April 15, 1900 in Rome, New York. Plunkett attended Syracuse State University from 1919-22, traveling to California with friends his junior. He did not complete his degree, but took work with an architect in Santa Maria where he met and married Josephine Graham in 1923. The Plunkett’s intended to move to Los Angeles, but the 1923 L.A. earthquake made them reluctant to leave Santa Barbara. Plunkett worked for two architects in Santa Barbara from 1923-25, forming a partnership with William A. Edward’s in June of 1925. Henry Howell was a junior partner from 1926-28.
Edward’s, Plunkett and Howell were a commercial firm, aiding in the extensive rebuilding of Santa Barbara between 1925-28. Plunkett was a master at sketching and could give clients an immediate plan on paper, receiving many large commissions due to his rapid sketching and re-sketching of ideas. After Howell left the firm, Edward’s and Plunkett continued their partnership, constructing the Fox-Arlington Theater, the Airport Terminal, the National Guard Armory, and several beautiful residences between 1929 and 1940.
The grand Fox-Arlington Theater was a Los Angeles investor’s dream. It was to be the social center for growing Santa Barbara. It is ironic, however, that Plunkett sketched this landmark on the top of a hotel dresser. Though actually constructed by a Los Angeles contractor, local friends and artists helped create the theater. John Gamble, a local painter, executed the ceiling and the interior and exterior murals. The Fox-Arlington served as an example of the town’s metropolitan sophistication, as did the Airport Terminal, the last building constructed by the firm. The sensuous stairway and sturdy tower are a characteristic of Plunkett’s designs.
The partnership dissolved in 1940. Edward’s left Santa Barbara to take a government position. But Plunkett remained to design the El Presidio complex on Anacapa and De La Guerra Streets. It contains many of his best details; rounded towers, small angular rooms, narrow connected hallways, and dark wood-beamed ceilings. He died in 1946 before the Presidio was completed.
10
beds
10
baths
10,000 Sq.Ft. LIVING AREA
36.64 Acres lot
The Valley averages about 16 inches of rainfall per year and during the winter and spring the hills and pastures turn a rich green.
ExploreCarey brings in-depth negotiating experience and worldwide contacts developed from this diverse background to the table in the marketing of special properties.