The Hill Barons' Kitchen ~ a delicious fantasy for foodies

Preface
Inspired by living on the remains of the Quien Sabe ranch, the story of Paco evolved helped by fascinating conversations with the present owner and others who remember the way this region was in the first part of the 20th century. The current popular image involves its "millionaire estates," which enjoyed a boom around 1920 when the area's shady lanes were traveled by as many as 3,000 cars a day bringing tradesmen to and from mansions in progress of building. America's foremost architects, including the likes of George Washington Smith, Francis T. Underhill, Bertram C. Goodhue and Frank Lloyd Wright were erecting English manor houses, Normandy castles, Italian palazzos, Cape Cod Colonials and incredible marble palaces many sitting like castles on the verdant soft summits of Santa Barbara and Montecito. In 1930 Harold C. Chase, a noted realtor published a roster of over 200 "major" estates.

Among them were McCormick's "Riven Rock," Hammond's "Bonnymede," Bothin's "Piranhurst," Murphy's "Rancho Tijada" (since 1945 the campus of Westmont College), Knapp's "Arcady" (since subdivided), Peabody's "Solano" (later the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions), Gray's "Graholm" (now the Brooks Institute of Photography), Mine. Chana-Walska's "Lotusland," Gillespie's "El Fuerides," Bliss's "Casa Dorinda." Ludington's "Val Verde," Clark's "Bellosguardo" and may more. The finest gourmet market in the west, Diehl Brothers, is also a location central to the book. Situated on State Street it was a center for superb meats, fresh produce and all the most desired products from around the world. This story reveals a slice of that phenomenal time with a spotlight on the spectacular events and the Chefs with staff who created the fantasies that entertained the region until the terrible downturn of the depression that changed everything.