The Home Page | Some Bunny’s House Hunting

This edition of The Home Page was originally emailed to subscribers on March 31, 2024. To receive Sarah Sinclair’s real estate newsletter in your inbox each Sunday, sign up at independent.com/newsletter

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Hoppy Hunting! Whether you are searching for eggs or houses, I wish you more enjoyment than English bulldog Maisie Rae, pictured above. Patient pup Maisie — who belongs to my Realtor friend Rachel Brown — doesn’t appear to love her Easter bonnet, but she has two human siblings under the age of 6, so she’s a good sport about playing dress-up. Cheer up, Maisie Rae!

With Earth Day around the corner, it’s a good time to look at strategies to decarbonize our built environment. In our Architecturally Speaking column this week, landscape designer Natasha Elliott looks at building practices that do exactly that. One example, shown above, is from local firm Whitman Architectural Design. Architect Marc Whitman of gives us a little more detail about the project: “The building uses fieldstone harvested from the site; it has many passive solar attributes, such as deep overhangs protecting the windows from solar gain in the summer, concrete floors, and a daylight basement, giving the structure an enormous amount of thermal mass. It is heavy timber construction; the massive amount of timber in the structure acts as a carbon sink storing carbon in the structure.”

After sending last week’s newsletter — in which we welcomed spring and focused on getting outside — I learned about the charming Theodore Payne Wild Flower Hotline, which provides a weekly report of the latest wildflower sightings, available by calling, listening, or visiting their website. Each Friday during wildflower season, actor Joe Spano narrates a detailed rundown of which flowers are blooming in specific locations throughout Southern and Central California. We visited Figueroa Mountain a couple of weeks ago, and as seen above, Scout couldn’t yet spot any blooms. We’ll be back!

For an amazing view without the drive to the valley, check out Lemon Drop Ranch, a charming estate high above it all in the Santa Barbara foothills. Set on an idyllic five acres in a gated enclave of only 11 homes, it feels like valley living, yet right in town. The home itself sports four bedrooms, four bathrooms, and impeccable designer upgrades throughout. Outside, citrus and avocado orchards and 27 other fruit trees grace the land, plus an enchanting oak grove — my favorite spot! — that’s perfect for outdoor entertaining. The property at 1120 Via Del Rey is offered by Dianne and Brianna Johnson for $5,200,000.

If a walk along Shoreline Park and down to Leadbetter Beach is more your style, check out 1530 Shoreline Drive on the Mesa, just listed this week by Dan Crawford for $3,795,000. The four-bedroom, three-bath Cape Cod–style home is located at 1530 Shoreline Drive, and it’s open today from 1-3 p.m. Hop on by and tell Dan I said hi.

Wishing you a great weekend, no matter what the weather. Hoppy Sunday!