24/7 Trauma and Biohazard Cleanup in Montecito, CA

Montecito is an unincorporated census-designated place in Santa Barbara County, tucked between the Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean just east of the city of Santa Barbara, and it is famous as one of the wealthiest enclaves in America - its median home price was $7.5 million in 2024.

The name Montecito is an archaic Spanish word for woodland or countryside, and the Chumash people lived along this stretch of coast for more than 10,000 years before Spanish settlement.

In the mid-1800s the Montecito hills were a notorious haven for bandits and highway robbers who hid in the oak groves and canyons to prey on coastal travelers, before Italian settlers arrived and built farms and gardens that reminded them of Italy.

Montecito's population was 8,638 at the 2020 census, down from 8,965 in 2010 and 10,000 in 2000 - one of the few California communities that has slowly shrunk.

Montecito has 3,157 households averaging just 2.37 people, 73% of its homes are owner-occupied, and it skews older than almost anywhere in California, with a median age of 50.7 and nearly a third of residents aged 65 or over.

Architect George Washington Smith made Montecito famous for Spanish Colonial Revival design, and its landmark estates include Casa del Herrero and the 1906 Bertram Goodhue-designed El Fureidis.

Lotusland, the celebrated botanical estate garden created by Ganna Walska, is one of Montecito's most famous attractions.

Montecito's best-known beach is Butterfly Beach, facing due west across from the Santa Barbara Biltmore, and the Rosewood Miramar Beach resort sits on Miramar Beach.

Westmont College, a Christian liberal arts college founded in 1937, has its campus in Montecito, making it the community's largest educational institution.

Montecito was evacuated five times in four months between December 2017 and March 2018 - first for the Thomas Fire, then for the deadly January 9, 2018 mudflows that killed 20 people after rain hit the burned hillsides.