A young journalist asked me this question: How has the Valley changed since you arrived?
Well, having a greenhouse full of marijuana used to be frowned upon…
When I landed at Santa Ynez Elementary in the fall of 1966, I was a 13-year-old eighth-grader. The girls, including my future wife, ignored me completely. The boys surrounded me in a circle the first day, and Tommy Lopez said “You know what you are, Etling? You’re an Okie.” Then they too ignored me completely.
Actually I had traveled 2,572 miles west for what I suspected was an insult, from my birthplace in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, population 137,000. Old Salem was settled by Moravian pacifists in 1753; George Washington slept there on June 1, 1791. The tobacco barons of Winston, where the R.J. Reynolds Building, a model for the Empire State, soared 22 stories into the sky and the Winston Tower rose 30, would have found the two tired blocks of Santa Ynez about as attractive as a dumpster fire.
My folks hailed from Wisconsin and Michigan originally. My mother was a registered nurse; my dad, an engineer with Western Electric. He had transferred to a position at Vandenberg AFB to get my asthmatic mother away from the humid South.
Now I am a father of two and grandfather of two, a graduate of UCSB, with MBA work at Cal Lutheran. I learned to surf, hauled hay, engineered for four telephone companies, and since 1990 have been a full time real estate broker. I’m happy to report that upon our mutual graduation from Santa Ynez Valley Union High in 1971, Tommy Lopez said “You’re a good surfer, Etling.”
Certainly the most gratifying change I have seen is the renaissance of the Chumash tribe. The reservation was a forgotten backwater in 1966. My mother became involved with the Head Start program and said times were hard. A federally assisted housing project helped erect some new units. In 1983 an inflatable bingo parlor made its appearance. From such humble beginnings, the tribe progressed to today’s high rise hotel and profitable casino. They have purchased significant real estate, including 1,400 acres in the heart of the Valley, where some 253 families are expected to build new homes. I’ve seen Chumash artifacts at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, and I look forward to visiting their impressive new museum.
The Valley’s name recognition got a boost when Ronald Reagan, then Governor of California, purchased the 688 acre Rancho del Cielo from the Cornelius family in 1974 for $527,000. But it was Michael Jackson who made it internationally known, after the singer bought Sycamore Valley Ranch from Palm Springs developer William Bone in 1988. David Crosby, Bo Derek, Bernie Taupin, Michael McDonald, Pink, Jimmy Messina, Jimmy Connors, John Forsythe, Cheryl Ladd and Fergie have been among the famous folks residing here. I showed Batman (Adam West) property one day, but he bought in Ojai.
Valley wide, the economic trend over the last 58 years has been almost without exception a steady upward arrow. My folks paid $32,000 for 2920 Deer Trail Place, a 2,000 square foot, four bedroom, two and a half bath, three year old ranch style home on an acre in Santa Ynez Oaks. A comparable neighbor just sold for $1,500,000.
The town of Santa Ynez seemed frozen in time in 1966. Nostalgic cowboys hosted mock gunfights on Saturdays at the swap meet by the Maverick Saloon. It gradually revived. Realtor Tom Bohlinger built a new building at the corner of Edison and Sagunto. A large hotel and a small B&B moved in down the street. The venerable Sanja Cota Market recently transformed into an upscale bakery. The store’s name referenced the “zanja de Cota” (“Cota’s ditch”), a Mission era canal providing water power for a mill by Mission Santa Ines, built by Mr. Cota.
When I moved here it seemed like everything beyond about a half mile from the high school was green fields. Now most of those fields have a house on them. Remington Estates (1985, 24 lots) and other homes along Refugio popped up, as did the YMCA, built on the lot donated by the Holzheu family across from SY High, where the smokers hung out.
Around 1970 my high school teacher, Dean Gilchrist, took our data processing class (it was early days – we learned how punch cards work) to the Los Angeles headquarters of Computer Sciences Corporation, founded by valley resident Fletcher Jones. After Jones landed his Beech Debonaire “straight down” (according to a witness) near his 3,616 acre Westerly Stud thoroughbred farm, it was split into thirty parcels, ranging from 98 to 240 acres. Billionaire investor Tom Barrack owns a number of them, and hosts charity polo tournaments there on fields where I once hauled hay. I made a film about it for a class at UCSB in 1975. “Broken Arrow: Valley Hay Haulers” may be seen on vimeo.com.
The foothills have seen numerous developments, among them Woodstock Ranch (split in 1973: 2,400 acres total became 116 lots), Rancho Ynecita (split 1967: 42 roughly 20 acre parcels), and Oak Trail Estates (subdivided 1973, 726 acres became 63 five to twenty acre parcels.) The Orton family’s 3,300 acre Bar GO ranch (named for Gragg Orton) was split in 2006 into seventeen ranchettes of 120 to 438 acres. President Biden recently vacationed there.
Tax laws changed, and the thoroughbreds moved to Florida. Leonard Firestone and his son Brooks established Firestone Winery in 1972, kicking off the winery boom, and local agriculture began to be dominated by grapes.
I opened a real estate office in Los Olivos in 1997. It was a quiet town, mostly art galleries, plenty of parking. All that changed after “Sideways” in 2005. Tasting rooms flooded in, and the streets were packed on weekends. Rents soared.
Over time Los Olivos developments included sixteen twenty acre parcels at Rancho Cuerno Largo (1993), fourteen one to twelve acre lots at Los Olivos Meadows (1995), and a few new homes on the former school property. Mattei’s Tavern has transformed into a posh Auberge Resort in 2024.
Solvang has drifted a bit from its Danish roots. Skytt’s Solvang Mill lumber yard, dating back to the town’s founding in 1911, recently closed and may become a hotel. Nielsen’s Lumber, founded by my wife’s grandmother’s brother, is holding on. Dania Hall, one of the town’s first public buildings, built in 1913, was demolished in 1974; the site became the Greenhouse Restaurant and is now home of Pesant’s Feast. Imposing Atterdag College, opened in 1914, was leveled in 1970. My mother was Director of Nursing at the retirement home that partially replaced it.
In 1966 the intersection of Alisal and Mission Drive had two car dealers on the north side, and two gas stations on the south. Just down Alisal was a bowling alley with a couple of pinball machines. The community came together in 1974 to erect the Solvang Theaterfest, a welcome performing arts venue. The imposing former Santa Ynez Valley Bank building at Copenhagen and First now hosts retail shops and a sausage garden. The feed mill in the heart of town where I bought hay hooks in 1971 was replaced by my father-in-law’s Scottish antique import business, and now houses the Winston Hotel.
Massive discount outlet stores and a classic carousel came and went. Costco, Amazon and Covid decimated the long time retailers, including a children’s store my in-laws ran for fifty years. Iconic Rasmussen’s, one of the first establishments in town, just turned into a t-shirt and surf shop. After incorporation in 1985 Solvang had more revenue and various civic improvements followed, including a city hall, a skate bowl and tennis courts at Hans Christian Andersen Park, two new public restrooms in town, and a visitor’s information kiosk.
Many homes have been added in Solvang over the years. The Jackson family’s Alisal Ranch built a lake and upwards of 80 residences around their golf course. New subdivisions included Creekside’s seventy-four lots in 1979, around 66 lots in Village Collection, 76 or so in Nyborg Estates, sixty-seven parcels called Sunrise Village begun in 1979, a dozen or two houses along Fjord Drive called Alisal Meadows, and most recently about 175 homes in Skytt Mesa. There are 34 “Thoroughbred” condos, 31 “Solvang” condos, 22 “Rosenborg” condos, 84 “Mission Oaks – Phase One” units plus a bunch in Phase Two. Small shopping centers went up on the northwest and southwest sides of the intersection of Alamo Pintado and Mission Drive.
An animal park run by Pat and Ted Derby had a short life in Buellton, featuring Tugboat Annie and a menagerie with Brosi (a Siberian tiger), Neena the elephant, and a 600 pound bear, Sweet William, among others. Two subdivisions added about 50 twenty-acre parcels in the Jonata/Bobcat Springs area. The town incorporated in 1992, and extended the civic boundaries to allow hundreds of new homes. In 2024, local landmark Pea Soup Andersen’s closed its doors after a century serving travelers. Firestone/Walker and Figueroa Mountain Breweries are popular additions. A Tractor Supply chain store has claimed the big box hardware niche. And there’s CVS and Albertsons and their outliers. The huge ganja greenhouses on the riverside are a novel touch.
Educationally speaking, I am impressed by better offerings and infrastructure at all the schools. The Advanced Placement courses my kids took at SYVUHS were far beyond what I encountered. The Fighting Bobcats of SY Elementary now have a gym and more playing fields. SY High built a drama theater and new classrooms. Los Olivos’ campus is much improved. Solvang School was remodeled and added a culinary program. Jonata has accrued new students, faculty, and infrastructure. Ballard School added new classrooms and playgrounds.
I love Refugio Beach, so in closing I’m making it an honorary part of the Valley. Surfboards have gotten shorter, and sadly the State has allowed all the palm trees to wash away.