Bellosguardo Earns Permits for Tours, Despite Questions over Public Access

The beachside Bellosguardo estate, a city landmark and former home to the wealthy Clark family, was officially approved to receive conditional-use permits to allow docent-led tours and special events at the 23-acre property. The Santa Barbara Planning Commission approved the permits in a 6-1 vote, despite comments from commissioners who were concerned that the Bellosguardo Foundation has been operating in a legal gray area with informal tours and events occurring over the past four years.

Bellosguardo was originally purchased by William Andrews Clark and his wife, Anna Clark, for about $250,000 more than a century ago in December 1923. Clark was known as an eccentric copper magnate who bought the home for his family after making a fortune selling precious metals in Montana. He died just two years after purchasing the home, leaving the property in the care of his wife, Anna, and daughter Huguette.

After the property suffered extensive damage in the 1925 earthquake, the family rebuilt the house with the help of architect Reginald Jackson (who built the Biltmore Hotel and downtown Santa Barbara Post Office). The mother and daughter seldom visited their California home, and after Anna died in 1963, the estate was left to Huguette, who became a reclusive figure, spending the rest of her years in New York City.

When Huguette died in 2011 — at the age of 104 — she left a request in her will asking that the Santa Barbara estate be used “for the primary purpose of fostering and promoting the arts.” 

Since then, there’s been years of legal battles over the settlement of Huguette Clark’s will, made more complicated by the fact that she signed two different wills, and that she had several outstanding tax complaints stemming from unpaid or unfiled gift-tax returns. Many of Clark’s priceless artifacts were sold before the Santa Barbara estate was legally transferred to the Bellosguardo Foundation in 2017.

The Bellosguardo Foundation has been working with city planners toward making the property accessible to the public, but in the meantime the organization has been allowed to operate in a “quasi-public” manner, according to City Planner Kathleen Kennedy. This includes docent-led tours and special events that have been taking place at Bellosguardo since at least 2022.

Kennedy explained that the city was aware of the tours and special events, which are a legal gray area due to residential properties being allowed to host certain events without approval. Since city staff knew the foundation had already begun the application process, the organization was allowed to continue until the permits were processed.

Planning Commissioner Lucille Boss raised concerns about the quasi-legal tours and events. She was the only member of the commission to vote against the permits, saying that she was worried that it could “set a precedent for others to operate outside of a conditional use permit.”

Boss also questioned whether the current price point of $100 for docent-led tours was truly accessible for visitors, as is required by coastal access policies. “Despite being in full operation for four years, the project is not yet consistent with Coastal Act policies, from my perspective, specifically the lower-cost visitor and recreational facilities,” Boss said.

Amy Steinfeld, a land-use attorney representing the Bellosguardo Foundation, said that the current price of the tours is due to the specialized nature of the docent training and that the organization was working toward self-led tours that would hopefully bring the prices down for visitors.

“Currently, these costs make it financially infeasible to commit to any less-expensive tours today,” Steinfeld said. “[But] the Foundation is committed to making the estate accessible to as many visitors as possible. They will continue to host local students and find creative solutions to provide subsidized tours and other types of funding opportunities that will allow the public to access the estate.”

Several commissioners requested that the city add a condition to the approval to ensure that the Bellosguardo Foundation would provide free or discounted access for low-income visitors — whether through the Museums for All initiative or a similar program. The commissioners agreed to add the condition with a timeframe of two years.

“It’s a quasi-public facility, but it’s here for the community,” Commissioner Lesley Wiscomb said. “So I think we need to do all we can to give an opportunity to as many community members as possible to actually enjoy the facility.”

Despite the concerns over public access, the commissioners were generally in favor of the plan to allow community members to visit the property and learn about the history, art, and architecture of Bellosguardo.

“I think this needs to get out there as quickly as possible,” said Commissioner Brian Barnwell. “In everybody’s mind in Santa Barbara, it’s a mystery — and it shouldn’t be.”

The Planning Commission approved the conditional use permits in a 6-1 vote, with Commissioner Boss opposed.