The Arrow Shirt Estate!

The Arrow Shirt Estate!

The Arrow Shirt Estate!

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Frederick Forrest Peabody was a senior executive of Cluett Peabody and Company in Albany, New York that produced the popular early 20th Century Arrow mens’ shirts, collars and cuffs. It was Peabody’s marketing skills that created the famous Arrow Man image, an ad campaign that pushed shirt sales to over four million every week by the 1920s.

When Peabody wasn’t selling shirts, he vacationed in Santa Barbara, California. Peabody was enchanted with the town, its weather and the views from the Santa Barbara hills. Determined to find the best hilltop land for views to build his home, Peabody set about his search on horseback. He settled on what is known as Eucalyptus Hill with 350 degree views of the Montecito Valley Mountains, Pacific Ocean, Santa Barbara Harbor and south to the Channel Islands. Though still living in New York, Peabody hired a landscape architect to bring in trees, which included citrus, palms and eucalyptus. He first built a house on the property for his newly divorced daughter and had a popular local architect, Francis Underhill, draw the plans for his own home. Construction began in 1913 and was completed in 1915. Designed in classical Mediterranean style, the Peabody’s named the estate Solana, the Spanish word for "sunny place." When they were finally able to move into the home in 1917, the family held many galas and fundraisers there and were major contributors to the development of the city. They devoted their retirement years to philanthropy both locally and abroad.

Recently Solana has undergone three years of renovation and reconstruction, making it one of the most significant homes in California. The 11-acre property consists of the 22,727 square foot main house, a large two bedroom guest cottage, swimming pool, reflecting ponds, two staff apartments and two three-car garages, encompassing an overall eight bedrooms and 25 bathrooms. The main house has a treed center courtyard and patio with plantings of palms, bamboo and tree ferns. Instead of interior hallways, all rooms open to the courtyard. The home features European forged bronze hardware, 18th century wall sconces and 17th century French oak paneling and mosaic floors. For more information.

In 1912, Forrest Peabody of Arrow Shirt fame had the ability to buy the best view property in the entire Santa Barbara area. Asking $49 million.

Source: www.sothebyshomes.com