In the early 1960s, a member of the Montecito Fire Department named Don Hathaway started decorating a tree beside Highway 101 at night, in secret. His family helped. Later he brought in friends, neighbors and firefighters. The tree was a Monterey pine near the freeway. For years, people drove past a decorated tree without knowing who was behind it.
The tree is gone now, and the tradition survived it. This December in Montecito's Upper Village follows the same pattern. A tradition, a patio and a December afternoon have each outlived their first keepers because someone else took them on.
A Tree That Moved to Manning Park
According to the Montecito Association, Hathaway eventually told people about the "Secret Santa" tree and asked that the tradition continue. With help from the Montecito Beautification Committee and Montecito Fire, it became a community event. The tradition has changed hands in clear stages:
- Early 1960s. Hathaway and his family decorate the pine by Highway 101 at night. Over time, invited friends, neighbors and firefighters join them.
- 2011. The original tree becomes distressed and is removed. Hathaway died that same year.
- The replacement. Dana Newquist and a group of donors arrange for an 18-foot Blue Aptos redwood at Manning Park, near the tennis courts. The Montecito Association Beautification Committee keeps the decorating going with Montecito Union School.
- Since then. The decorating moved from night to daytime. Firefighters, Beautification Committee members and schoolchildren take part.
The Montecito Journal covered the 2024 decorating, held on a Wednesday in early December. It counted at least 30 adults and several children. The oversized ornaments are brought back and reused every year. The Montecito Association lists this year's Hathaway Tree Tradition for Wednesday, December 2, 2026, at 3 p.m.
The secret version is long gone, but the redwood is still there, with a committee and a school taking care of it. The rest of the village works the same way.
A Patio Under New Hands
For 30 years, Via Vai ran the tented patio at 1483 East Valley Road. It closed in early 2024. Luca Crestanelli, the restaurateur behind S.Y. Kitchen in Santa Ynez, Nella in Los Olivos and the counter-service Stica, signed a lease on the space that fall. He opened Ancora Osteria there on August 13, 2026. He told the Santa Barbara Independent why this address mattered to him:
"I've always loved this location. It was the first restaurant I ever dined at in Santa Barbara."
The Independent's critic had eaten at Via Vai in the mid-2000s. At Ancora, he wrote, he felt "the exact same sensations on the exact same patio." Crestanelli is aiming for that continuity on purpose. "I like when people come in and see people they know," he told the paper, calling it "part of the club feel."
The menu brings together S.Y. Kitchen's starters, salads and house-made pasta with Nella's heartier entrées and pinsa, the light, fermented-dough pizza from Rome. The Independent noted a blistered cherry tomato pinsa at $27, Mezzi Paccheri all'Astice at $55 and a 'Cito Spritz finished with elderflower. By the critic's math, a couple who share two drinks, a starter, a salad and a pinsa will spend about $120. In its first weeks, tables were booked more than three weeks ahead. Crestanelli said lunch and brunch would likely follow, along with more seafood as the kitchen gets to know its coastal setting. His business partner, Mike Gordon, has run Toscana in West Los Angeles for 35 years.
The same kind of handoff happened a few doors away a year earlier. On November 6, 2025, Little Mountain opened in the space Pierre Lafond's Wine Bistro used to occupy, with Chef Diego Moya in the kitchen, according to the Montecito Journal. In about a year, new restaurants have opened in two of the Upper Village's best-known dining rooms, and both spaces are still serving diners.
The Shop That Has Seen Every Version
Tecolote Book Shop is a constant in the village, because it has outlasted almost everything around it. The Santa Barbara Independent marked the shop's centennial in August 2025. It is at 1470 East Valley Road and owned by Mary Sheldon with her business partner Herb Simon.
The bookshop also gives the Upper Village a physical center. The Montecito Journal has described the village green as sitting in front of Tecolote. Edhat's 2025 event listings place the Upper Village Green at the corner of San Ysidro and East Valley roads. That patch of lawn is where this year's main holiday afternoon is centered.
Holiday Magic, Redrawn Around the Green
In 2024, Holiday Magic was a car parade. The Montecito Journal billed it as the fourth annual Holiday Magic Car Parade, held on Saturday, December 14. An Upper Village Sip & Shop ran from 3 to 5 p.m., followed by the parade. Rosewood Miramar served hot cocoa and cookies, and Maitland Ward played music. Vintage vehicles, a restored 1937 fire truck, local firefighters, Search and Rescue, and students from Montecito Union and Cold Spring schools all took part. The Santa Barbara Independent described the route as a loop from the Upper Village through the Lower Village and back through Montecito.
For 2026, the Montecito Association's listing describes an afternoon on the Middle Green. "Holiday Magic in Montecito" runs Saturday, December 12, from 3 to 6 p.m. It includes shopping at participating Upper Village businesses, live music, hot chocolate, ornament and card making, letters to Santa and a photo booth. Tecolote Book Shop will host a holiday story time, and the San Marcos Madrigals will perform. Admission is free.
The format is new, but much of the substance carries over from 2024. The 3 p.m. start, the shopping and the live music all return, now set on the green between the shops.
The Association's December Calendar
The Montecito Association's winter listing puts the Upper Village afternoon alongside four other dates. Taken together, they run through the first half of the month.
| Date | Time | Event | Hosted or led by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wed., Dec. 2 | 3 p.m. | Hathaway Tree Tradition, Manning Park | Montecito Beautification Committee and Montecito Fire |
| Thu., Dec. 3 | Evening | Coast Village Road Holiday Event | Coast Village Road |
| Sat., Dec. 5 | 5 p.m. | Light Up a Life, 43rd annual | Hospice of Santa Barbara |
| Tue., Dec. 8 | 4:30 p.m. | Menorah Lighting Ceremony | Chabad of Montecito |
| Sat., Dec. 12 | 3 to 6 p.m. | Holiday Magic in Montecito, Upper Village | Montecito Association |
The Coast Village Road evening features carols, the Santa Barbara Youth Symphony, Nutcracker performers from Santa Barbara Festival Ballet, and Santa lighting the tree and collecting letters. Hospice of Santa Barbara's Light Up a Life ceremonies are free and open to the public, serving Goleta, Santa Barbara, Montecito and Carpinteria.
On a weekend afternoon in December, the village has three places to visit. The redwood at Manning Park carries a tradition from the 1960s. The patio at 1483 East Valley Road is open again as Ancora Osteria. The green in front of a hundred-year-old bookshop fills with ornament tables on the twelfth.
At Eric Haskell Group, we have spent four generations watching Montecito's institutions pass from one steward to the next, and we treat the homes around them the same way. If you're thinking about the next chapter for a property near the Upper Village, we'd welcome the conversation. Request a Bespoke Valuation.
