$1.5BN OF THE WORLD’S BEST HOMES

Village Properties, Emily Kellenberger
+1 805 252 2773
El Fureidis – translated as ‘tropical paradise’ –
is one of Montecito’s most celebrated estates
and steeped in rich and colorful history. The
estate was founded in 1906 by James Waldron
Gillespie, a visionary hailing from New York who came
to the West Coast looking for a location with a landscape
and a climate that rivaled that of the Mediterranean.
Originally known as a botanic garden, the estate
boasts 10 acres of exceptional grounds offering the
utmost in privacy and a variety of trees, many of which
are over 100 years old.
The estate was inspired by Gillespie’s world travels,
and designed by renowned architect Bertram Goodhue,
known mainly for his churches, museums, and monumental
buildings. Goodhue’s works include the Los Angeles
Central Library, Saint Thomas Church in New York
City, the Nebraska State Capitol, and the Chapel and
Original Campus of the U.S. Military Academy at West
Point. El Fureidis is known as Bertram Goodhue’s outstanding
Mediterranean Revival masterpiece.
Together, Gillespie and Goodhue embarked on
a yearlong trip to Europe and the Mediterranean region
to gather inspiration for the estate; a significant
portion of their journey included over 500 miles on
horseback from the Caspian Sea to the Gulf of Persia.
This journey birthed the concept of a grand Roman
villa with Persian gardens, a very progressive architectural
style for the time.
Constructed of steel-reinforced concrete and retaining
the original layout footprint, Goodhue built El Fureidis
to last. The main house recently underwent a multimillion-dollar
renovation with a careful eye for detail,
preserving the historic elements of the estate, while
equipping the estate for modern living in a new era.
Many of the original fixtures and appointments remain,
and are coupled with fully modernized and deluxe appointments
in the bathrooms, kitchen, and laundry facilities,
such as radiant floor heating, a steam shower,
and top-end appliances. The renovation includes a second
floor configured with three guest suites.
The estate itself forms a rectangle with a bright atrium
terrace at its center, and is accessed through an
entry hall and a “conversation room,” a Byzantine-style
alcove crowned with an 18-foot-high central dome that
is decorated with a floral hand painted, gold and blue
design in 24k gold-leaf modeled after the church of
St. John Lateran in Rome. The conversation room has
remained the piéce de résistance of the house.
Offering numerous areas for entertaining, the public
rooms of the estate are grand in style. Each public
room is bathed in natural light from the numerous
sets of double doors, which open to the central courtyard
and other patio areas. The formal dining room is
unique with a barreled ceiling painted in 24k gold leaf
and depicting a scene of Alexander the Great conquering
Persepolis by Henry Wadsworth Moore. The original
signature by the artist remains intact. A musician’s
balcony overlooks the formal dining room and is accessed
via a glass door. From the entry, one may enter
the formal living room with lovely blue paneled ceilings,
representing the heavens, and the neoclassical
era of the estate. From the living room, the floor plan
continues to a library, a sitting room and a lounge.
Upstairs, an exquisite rooftop with three access
points provides 360-degree views of the lavish tenacre
property, Pacific Ocean, and the Channel Islands.
The desirable Montecito climate allows the rooftop to
be enjoyed year round, while expansive space for rooftop
lounging and sunset views provide the perfect setting
for events.
The property is bordered by a seasonal creek and
offers significant gardens and landscaping, originally
Persian in design, and reflective of Gillespie’s fondness
for palm trees. At one time, the gardens boasted more
than 100 different varieties of palm and other trees, and
today the expansive 10-acre grounds still harbor several
century-old tree specimens, including a massive
Chilean wine palm, Montecito’s largest Moreton Bay
fig tree, magnificent king palms, a grove of coast redwoods,
citrus and walnut orchards, and many others.
The many terraces, reflecting pools, and gardens
are enhanced by Lee Lawrie’s nine bas-reliefs located
at the rear of the estate. Lee Lawrie and Bertram
Goodhue collaborated on many projects, bringing
Lawrie to the forefront of the architectural industry.
Lee Lawrie known as one of the United States’ most
influential architectural sculptors and likely best known
for the sculpture of Atlas at Rockefeller Center. The
nine bas-reliefs depict scenes from Arthurian legends,
which form a band between the tops of columns on
the south side of the estate and feature Lawrie’s signature
etched in stone.
The south elevation of the estate is dominated by
a dazzling terrace of herringbone brick and turquoise
reflecting pools, which descends via a walkway graced
with additional water features – ending at a stately Roman
temple or casino. The prevalent rectangular shape
of the pools, terraces and walking paths in the gardens
provide a tranquil atmosphere while water transports
from one place to the next via narrow, shallow channels
that are terraced to create cooling water. The estate includes
numerous original brick pathways offering opportunities
to take in the lovely trees, and to reflect on
the peaceful atmosphere across the grounds.
El Fureidis is a place of legendary provenance and
has at times received credit for playing host to many
memorable tenants and visitors, including Thomas
Mann, Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill, Charles
Chaplin, and John F. Kennedy. It is perhaps best known
in recent years as a location for the 1983 film “Scarface,”
and the wedding scene of Michele Pfeiffer and
Al Pacino. The estate is one of only three residences in
Montecito designed by Goodhue, and is a true piece of
art history
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