Putnam patriot., 1925-02-20
.nnta Barbara. Cal. Jan. 2. 1923.

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 santa Barbara. Cal. Jan 2. 1925.
 san Francisco was San Francisco, but Santa Barbara is distinctly Cal ifarnia. We arrived this morning when our ear was loft behind by the Padre which went on to Los Angeles. About 2 90 we stepped oh the ear, which was on siding almost in the shade of huge eucalyptus tree. One single glance around and we realized that this was the California of the geogfa- phies. of the railroad circulars and the the California that the Cal ifornian uneeasiHgiy brags about im- agine if you can in the mitst of a New England winter, bay of the blue Pa ciiie In the early morning, q circle of rugged mountains forming a crescent that protects fiat little spanish city. and you have a mental idea 0f Santa Barbara. Then add to the picture a wealth of color. blue sky and blue sea, green lawns and palm trees. houses of the town and villas eiinging t0 the mountain sides, villas 0f stueco n the warmest and deepest of colors.
 4 short taxi ride and we arrived at the Mirasol Hotel. one of the most unique and certainly one of the most perfect hotels under the sun. Pacing the botanical gardens of the city and with the foothills of the mountains and the historic old Santa Barbara mission as q background the Mirasol occupies site that is sufficiently unique in it. self Co attract the travellers attention. At first glance the hotel appears a low one-sory structure set in beautiful gar dens. The taxi rolls up to huge iron grille and the traveller finds himself in a comfortable and beautifully furnish ed entrance haii The dominant color scheme of the house is blue and or ange. To the left of this hall k the dining room, with the maids dressed in blue and yellow To the right are a number of salons, while the fore ground is courtyard and garden filled with the loveliest of tropical Now CTS. But In this central building ali of the Mirasol's likeness to other hotels ends One does not 70 up to ones rooms One goes out to them, ts q Sc ries of tiny cottages. beautifully fur Eished, and each with it's sunny yeren- da and many windows.
 A Spanish City
 Once installed in such homelike and Luxurious quarters, we started out first to see Santa Barbara. As We stepped out of the hotel into the street we came face to face with one sight we had never seen before. This was s nun in black habit and white eoif calmly driving a Ford sedan.
 Santa Barbara Is distinctly a city of the resort type, and certainly one of the most attractive of its kind in this country. It's streets are wide and beautifully paved One realizes at once what an advantage there K in dwelling in a climate where frost and winter and their destructive forces are lnnknown. While Mir Menken and his associates of the American Mercury have recently derided the efforts Of 1 Santa Barbara to re-create itself tn the original architecture of the first 1 Spanish settlers. there Is something very pleasing to the eye of the traveller l in the effect which k being gained through the revival of this type of structure For instance, the artist colony and the eurio shops have gath cred themselves into a street of tiny houses of the Spanish type which time should give an old and very appropri- ate atmosphere. There is. too. the new Community Theatre. another Spanish affair of colored stucco and Spanish design. Then up on Mission Ridge, which rises just behind the tower of the old Mission. there are numberless houses. all of them ciing ing to the mountain side and adhering to the Spanish tradition in building All this makes for unique and beau tifui community.
 No visitor to Santa Barbara couid go away without recording an impres- sion of Santa Barbars's schools. School children have paradise of their own in California There k no such thing as the little rcd school. house" unless it be an affair of rcd stueco and numerous windows and ey- cry modern convenience. Santa Bar bara's High school Is a gigantic affair. occupying beautifully laid out and planted grounds. Up on the ridge IS the State Normal College. also beauti- fully and spaciously designed in fact i schools attract the eye on all sides for their beauty of construction and for their number. Even in that long stretch of country between Santa Bar. bara and Los Angeles. only now being redeemed to fertility through ,rriga ton. one passes in towns that would hardly seem able to support them
 beautiful schoolhouses of the latesi and most modern design We recall 1. Al II