The docent-led tour at Casa del Herrero

Why it is on the list

George Washington Smith designed the house for the industrialist George Fox Steedman; it was finished in 1925, and Lutah Maria Riggs added the octagonal library in the 1930s.¹ It is on the National Register of Historic Places and has been a National Historic Landmark since 2009-01-16.¹ The rooms still hold their original antiques, artworks and fittings, and the tour ends in Steedman's own workshop.²

It is the wrong choice with children under 10, who are not admitted on the docent-led tours.² On Thursdays the house is closed and the tour covers only the workshop and the gardens.² For a garden rather than a house, the docent-led tour at Lotusland is also in Montecito.

How to get it

Book a ticket for the docent-led tour through the visit page; it runs Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 10 AM and 2 PM and lasts 90 minutes.² Tickets are $85 a person, free for members, and cannot be refunded or transferred.² For a private tour, call (805) 565-5653 or write to casa@casadelherrero.org and ask the tour and programming manager, Ainsley Diehl (ext. 103).³¹ Tours go ahead in rain; if the staff cancel for weather, they write and refund the ticket.² Conservation work on the fountains, the greenhouse and the gardens is under way and may be visible during tours.²

Discretion

The drive turns off E. Valley Road through wooden gates, and parking inside is very limited, so arrive in one car.³ Photographs are allowed in the house, gardens and workshop, but no flash indoors and no tripods.²