Real estate usually adds value to any city it’s in, but the little suburb of Hope Ranch in Santa Barbara also adds history. An unincorporated suburb, the area is in a hilly spot right by the coast.
Records on Santa Barbara’s Hope Ranch reveal that this lovely piece of real estate was used by local Native American tribes as far back as ten thousand years ago. The Ranch is a small area with a population of around 2,200 as of the 2000 census, and it’s well known for beautiful houses and fantastic views.
The first private owner of Hope Ranch was Lt. Narciso Fabregat of the Santa Barbara Presidio. The lieutenant had arrived in Santa Barbara to fight Bouchard a well known pirate at the time. On May 16, 1843 the Governor of California granted Lt. Fabregat 3,382 acres of land that became The Ranch. A few years later the land was sold to Thomas M. Robbins, a storekeeper who understood the value of real estate and he promptly added an additional 3,281 acres to the plot of land.
The name of Hope Ranch came into play in 1861 when Thomas Hope, a boarding house owner/aspiring sheep rancher bought the land from Robbins’ widow for $8,000. Hope raised sheep as he had done as a boy, and became quite wealthy during the civil war when the demand for wool needed for soldier’s uniforms caused prices to soar.
Hope decided to build a house and hired the best architect in the county, a Mr. Peter J. Barber. Today, the Thomas Hope House still stands and is an official County Landmark. Hope died in 1876 and his will divided his land into two parts with one half going to his widow and the other half going to his six children.
Delia Hope sold her western half of The Ranch in 1887 to a holding company for the Southern Pacific Railroad for $250,000. The story told of the sale is that Mrs. Hope required that the payment be made in gold coins and, sitting at a marble table, she tested each coin and refused $20,000 of them as being inferior. The bank made good on them the “inferior” gold coins and the land she sold marked that day the start of the present day Hope Ranch.
Real estate is always an interesting topic and there are many areas of Santa Barbara that have historical value. But the details of how Hope Ranch was developed are unique, and provide a wonderful glimpse into the history of Santa Barbara.