Carrillo Recreation Center

This is a Craftsman Prairie School design that was built in 1914 and has been in steady use ever since. For example, more than 1,000 folks attended a “Welcome Home” dance one evening in June 1919 to celebrate the return of local soldiers after World War I.

A Santa Barbara paper wrote, “About 1,500 people made merry in the beautifully decorated interior of the Center, while red Chinese lanterns cast a soft glow over the court … Lively strains from the municipal band … contributed the one added touch needed to make of it a veritable fairyland.” The dances ranged from waltzes to fox trots.
(The architect was J. Corbley Pool.)

Image: Carrillo Recreation Center c. 1920, courtesy Edson Smith photo collection Santa Barbara Public Library

Casa de la Guerra

This is one of the buildings highlighted on Santa Barbara architecture tours. But did you know that in 1913 this historic adobe was used as a location by the “Flying A” film company for a silent movie called “The Ghost of the Hacienda”?

You can learn about this home and numerous other buildings on the Sabado (Saturday) tour with the Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara.
Image: scene from “The Ghost of the Hacienda”