Bellosguardo Foundation Sues Santa Barbara County over Property Taxes 

The nonprofit group that operates Bellosguardo, the fabled 23-acre estate overlooking East Beach, is suing Santa Barbara County for a $1.2 million property-tax refund, arguing the historic home qualifies for an exemption because it operates as a public museum. 

The Bellosguardo Foundation filed the lawsuit September 3 after the County Assessor’s Office rejected its requests for refunds of the taxes it paid in 2023 ($586,728.12) and 2024 ($597,539.96), plus interest.

At the center of the dispute is California’s “welfare exemption,” which can shield nonprofit owners from paying property taxes when their real estate is used “exclusively for religious, hospital, scientific, or charitable purposes.” 

Bellosguardo argues in its complaint that the estate is operated “exclusively as a public museum” that is “open and accessible to all members of the public.” Its main method of entry are small docent-led tours that typically cost $100 per person.

Notably, Bellosguardo has also hosted a handful of high-profile weddings in recent years, including those of singer Demi Lovato, former Disney CEO Michael Eisner, and Christina Huffington, daughter of media mogul Arianna Huffington.

Those private events could complicate the foundation’s claim that the property is used exclusively for charitable purposes. “But weddings, as we all know, are religious ceremonies,” argued foundation attorney Gregory Broege in an interview. Corporate retreats have also taken place there. “And corporate events are technically tours,” he said.

Bellosguardo, a city landmark, was bequeathed by the late Huguette Clark in 2011 to the public charity for the purpose of sharing the arts with the masses. She also donated her $2 million doll collection and millions more in cash. An arts patron and recluse, Clark was the daughter of William A. Clark, the copper magnate and U.S. Senator from Montana. Clark hadn’t visited her family’s West Coast mansion since 1953, and it sat furnished but empty for decades.

The estate’s transition from private residence to public attraction was slow. The foundation spent years developing plans for tours, arts programming, parking, accessibility improvements, and special events. Regular public tours began in 2022 and were officially permitted in 2025. The blufftop grounds have also recently hosted flamenco and symphony performances.

The permit, however, came with a condition. The foundation must provide free or discounted access for low-income visitors — whether through the national Museums for All initiative or a similar program ― by December 2027.

This Wednesday, the David Kordansky Gallery in Los Angeles announced it is partnering with Bellosguardo for an exhibition of works by 26 artists “engaging with the architecture and history” of the estate. The show will run from September 30 to November 15, and tickets are $100.

“The property’s immense beauty exists alongside the realities of the unchecked American expansionism that allowed for it to be realized,” the gallery said in a press statement. “In this exhibition, engagements with complex geopolitical legacies find formal expression that is vibrant, lyrical, and even joyful.”

Foundation president Jeremy Lindaman said Bellosguardo is “thrilled” to bring “the first contemporary art exhibition to the historic home since the property has transformed into a space open to the public.” Such shows, Lindaman said, help fulfill Clark’s wish “of preserving the property for future generations and operating as a space to foster and promote the arts.”

According to Bellosguardo’s 2025 tax filings, the foundation reported just over $100 million in total assets, $84.5 million of which is tied up in the real estate itself. The property features the main 27-room mansion, a cottage, a carriage house, and sprawling gardens.

The nonprofit’s $1.9 million in revenue for the year included roughly $690,000 in “contributions, gifts, and grants”; $674,000 from “estate tours and sales”; and $556,000 from “event space rental.” Expenses totaled $1.8 million.

The lawsuit is scheduled for a case management conference in January 2027 in Santa Barbara County Superior Court. The county has not yet filed a response.