Mt. Calvary on the Market

Mt. Calvary, one of Santa Barbara’s premier and most historically rich properties, is still on sale after eight months on the market. The $3.9 million, 19-acre lot perched above Rattlesnake Canyon off Gibraltar Road fell out of escrow earlier this month due to a prospective buyer’s health issues.

Ray Skofield, a wealthy New Yorker, owned the land and built the original hacienda in the 1920s. The land was cared for by Ray’s son Hobart until he sold part of it to Santa Barbara in the 1970s. In 1947, the Mt. Calvary property was sold to the Order of the Holy Cross, which established a Monastery and Retreat House.

It served as a popular retreat and the home of 12 monks until the main structure was destroyed in the 2008 Tea Fire.