Justin Mateen, co-founder of the popular dating app Tinder, has purchased Santa Barbara’s historic El Encanto Resort for $82.2 million from Belmond, a hospitality company owned by French luxury retailer LVMH, according to media reports. Partnering with his brother Tyler along with Culver Capital, Mateen intends to put $40 million in renovations into the seven-acre property and 90-room resort on the Riviera over the next three years while keeping the doors open.
The land was originally purchased back in the 1870s by Charles Storke for $153.75, before the Riviera got its name and notoriety. According the the Santa Barbara Historical Museum, the cottages originally built on the land were intended to be rentals for students and faculty of the Santa Barbara State Normal School — the precursor to UCSB — when the campus was next door in the 1910s, but instead were the favorite rentals for artists including en plein air painter John Marshall Gamble.
In 1918, the property became a hotel, having many storied guests who ranged from Hollywood golden age stars like Clark Gable, Carole Lombard, and Hedy Lamarr to more contemporary celebrities like Mikhail Baryshnikov, Gwen Stefani, Barbra Streisand, and Leonardo DiCaprio.
The Mateens have been buying up property in and around their hometown of Los Angeles during a time that has been hard for sellers. According to an L.A. Times article, the Mateens believe that their investments in hard to build locations will pay off in the long term.
El Encanto’s new owners intend to run the resort as a boutique hotel and will no longer be associated with a hotel chain. The grounds will have its first new touches put in place by the L.A. firm of architect Mark Rios, whose current projects include the creation of a botanical garden connecting the existing Waldorf Astoria, Beverly Hilton, and under-construction Aman Resort in Beverly Hills to create a multi-use space called One Beverly Hills.
