Press

January 24, 2024

Philanthropist Ann Lurie Seeks $12.8 Million for Magical Santa Barbara Estate

Designed back in the late 1940s by noted landscape architect Lockwood de Forest Jr., the serene Montecito retreat is rife with picturesque mountain and ocean vistas.

January 26, 2023

SF Chronicle: California’s hottest real estate neighborhoods: Home prices are still rising in these ZIP codes

The California housing market continues to cool from the pandemic buying frenzy, with some areas seeing home prices decline for seven months in a row. Even so, home value growth in some California outlier neighborhoods has bucked the trend, continuing to rise even as parts of San Francisco and Los Angeles push further into the red, according to the latest data from real estate listings site Zillow. The 93110 ZIP code includes the high-end oceanfront community of Hope Ranch. Randy Solakian of Randy Solakian Estates Group, who has current listings in the community, called it “a little bit of utopia” because it is safe and private, while still offering activities, good schools and cultural amenities. “Many families with school-aged kids are very determined to buy a home in Hope Ranch,” he said. “A lot of people come in without families too, mature adults with grown kids and grandkids who want a place for family gatherings and holidays.”

By SF Chronicle

November 22, 2022

CEC SB: Randy Solakian Estates Group announces $10,000 matching grant

Thanks to a $10,000 match from Randy Solakian Estates Group and a $100,000 match from the John C. Mithun Foundation, all gifts made to CEC before December 31, 2022 will be TRIPLED!

By CEC

October 5, 2022

SANTA BARBARA MAGAZINE: Market Leader

The longstanding luxury agent and his group are on a perpetual mission—to highlight the beauty of real estate and satisfy the most discerning clients in the business.

By Santa Barbara Magazine

September 17, 2022

SITELINE: Hubba Hubba in Hope Ranch

Bright, welcoming 4475 Via Abrigada ($22.5 million)—the twilight photos take it in more of a Gregory Crewdson direction—hit me right in the sweet spot: gracious 1963 architecture, huge (around 6,000 square feet) but nearly entirely single-level, with ocean and mountain views, and on 5.5 acres. The seller paid just $10.5 million in May 2019—an eon ago in Hope Ranch real estate—and we’ll have to see whether someone is willing to plunk down twice that and everything it’ll take to make the property shine (i.e., interiors, pool, guest house, wider driveway…). P.S. The hot tub is the largest I’ve ever seen. I think it would seat at least 16 with no skin contact.

By Siteline

August 23, 2022

CEC SB: Jessica McLernon: It's About the Future of Our Children

"A healthy and habitable planet is the best legacy we can leave for our children." This is how Jessica McLernon sums up a guiding motif in her life. She was first attracted to the Community Environmental Council (CEC) because of our organization's 50-year history of successful programs and actions to protect the environment. What she really loves most, however, is CEC's focus on the future through its unwavering commitment to fighting climate change.

By Community Environmental Council

March 11, 2022

NOOZHAWK: Hope Ranch Estate on Market

Randy Solakian, Deanna Solakian Williams and Jessica McLernon of the Randy Solakian Estates Group, a team affiliated with the Montecito office of Coldwell Banker Realty, have listed a rare ridgetop contemporary estate on more than two acres with magnificent ocean views in the exclusive Hope Ranch community for $21.5 million.

By Noozhawk

March 4, 2022

WSJ: A California Home Outside Santa Barbara Lists for $21.5 Million

A postmodern home outside Santa Barbara, Calif., is hitting the market for $21.5 million, nearly triple what the owner paid for it in 2018. Atop a hill in the community of Hope Ranch, the estate spans just under 2.5 acres and overlooks the Pacific Ocean and the Channel Islands, according to Randy Solakian of Coldwell Banker, one of the listing agents.

By Wall Street Journal

January 27, 2022

DIRT: Hearst Heiress Quickly Sells Mountainside Montecito Estate

Publishing heiress Virginia Hearst Randt has made swift work of dispatching her trophy Montecito estate. First offered last November at nearly $9 million, the house sold in mid-January in a cash deal — albeit for a heavily discounted $7.5 million. Still, that sale price rings in at a hefty $2 million more than what Hearst paid for the property nearly a decade ago, way back in March 2012. Records indicate the buyer is veteran Broadway producer and philanthropist Thomas “Tom” Perakos, who is known for being the primary financial backer of “The Band’s Visit,” winner of 2018’s Tony Award for Best Musical.

By Dirt