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a comfortable setting for families, neighbors and
visitors. As a first step, he ripped out acres of asphalt.
His vision was short lived however, and crippled
by the economic fallout from September 11, 2001,
Schrager abandoned his hip, contemporary revival of
the 14-plus acre property; what was left continued
to decay.
The Warner Plan
Beanie Babies founder
Ty Warner
bought the
property in the spring of 2005 for more than $42
million. Warner, who also owns Four Seasons
Biltmore, Coral Casino, San Ysidro Ranch and
Montecito Country Club, was no stranger to
Montecito real estate, but when trying to make
his Miramar dream a reality ran into community
discontent with other projects. His vision? Establish
a nostalgic scene out of the 1950s, “the kind of place
where Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin would bring
their kids.”
Warner has said his inspiration for the property
came in recognizing the intrinsic value in the setting,
and the history of the property itself. He hoped
to give aesthetic longevity to the original design,
bringing back the blue roof tiles which would evoke
memories of a former Miramar. He hoped to provide
charm and easy comfort for families visiting the hotel;
it would be a place where visitors could simply and
perfectly connect to the beach. Warner used residents’
memories as a layout for the new Miramar: Grover
the bellman greeting visitors, beach bonfires with your
“best girl,” eating popsicles while waving at the train
conductor, and playing along the boardwalk.
He too hoped to renovate the cottages, and build
new buildings that would appear to be former
estates and residences that had simply evolved. The
“cottage-style” theme and the famous boardwalk
from the original Miramar would be present in
Warner’s plan, while slight changes would be made
in the color scheme of the new buildings. Warner
hoped to give homage to the original Miramar while
expanding its amenities; this included the familiar
blue and white striped awnings and bright blue
lounge chairs lining a sparkling glass pool.
After doing some initial work to support and protect
the cottages to prepare them for renovation, and
after dabbling in the Santa Barbara County planning
process, Warner decided to sell the property in
November 2006. He estimated the cost in developing
the property to be as much as $300 million, although
he never officially presented any plans.
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