Quien Sabe Garden

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Many thanks to everyone who's tried to help with my enquiry about this garden. I don't have much more definite information yet but I still have some leads to follow up. It seems to have been made originally by Mr and Mrs John D. Wright and was, strictly speaking, perhaps in Montecito rather than in Santa Barbara. At least, the Wrights were among the moving spirits in a sort of 'Montecito Preservation Society' which began in the 30s and still continues - and it sounds as though their house and garden was one of the many large belle epoque houses and gardens in that area. It even, like Lotusland, had a famous cactus garden. At least, it had in the 1930s, though I don't remember Donald Culross Peattie mentioning it when he rented the place in the 40s.

 

(The internet tells me that there are water catchment areas in Montecito called Quien Sabe Valley and Quien Sabe Point Valley but I don't know if those are connected to the site of the Quine Sabe garden.)

 

If I get any more definite information I'll certainly post it here. It sounds, from the safe distance of the other side of the pond, as though a history of all the major gardens in the Santa Barbara/Montecito area would be a very interesting and worthwhile project... Anyone tempted?!

 

Tim