About the Santa Barbara Club

Rich in History

During the winter of 1890, local ranchers and businessmen began sharing drinks and tales with wealthy industrialists from the East who were staying for the season at Santa Barbara's posh Arlington Hotel. With horses being a common interest, a loose sort of brotherhood formed known as the "Arlington Jockey Club." So pleasant was this association that their sentiment soon grew to establish a permanent men's club with its own clubhouse.

It was in this manner the Santa Barbara Club was formally established in 1892. It is the oldest Club in Santa Barbara and is believed to be the oldest social Club between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Members moved into the Club’s finely-appointed, two-story clubhouse in 1904 where it remains today. For over a century, men of distinction have gathered at the Santa Barbara Club for friendship and social discourse, creating a particularly enjoyable atmosphere of meaningful congeniality.

Historically, much of the planning and development of the City of Santa Barbara took place within the confines of the Club, including the planning and development of Santa Barbara’s water system and the building of Gibraltar Dam. The Union Oil Company was created here. Sherman P. Stow, the ranching son of Southern Pacific’s most famous lawyer, was an early member as were Thomas M. Storke, the Pulitzer Prize winning publisher of the Santa Barbara News-Press, and Medal of Honor recipient General Pierpont Morgan Hamilton.

Famous guests would stay at the facilities, oftentimes for extended periods, including Frederick Remington, Andrew Carnegie, John Hammond, Edward Harriman, and Max Fleischmann. As in years past, current members, successful in their field of endeavor, proudly carry on the Club's tradition, along with their wives, who share clubhouse access, use, and privileges.

Current Day

Designed by architect Francis Wilson, the first floor includes a formal Lobby, a Main Dining Room that hosts many of the Club’s culinary events, the Bar & Game Room, a Lounge & Card Room with baby grand piano, a large Library containing volumes dating back to the 1800's, the Remington Room as a popular board meeting room and the more intimate Borein Room. Each room enjoys a spacious fireplace and turn of the century ambiance. All rooms and events are serviced by a large, modern kitchen. A particularly enchanting area is the club’s garden, which can be viewed from the main dining room. It is an oasis of tranquility within the town and serves as the locale for garden parties in the summer.

Breakfast and lunch are served five days of the week, and there are a variety of afternoon and evening gatherings for conversation and games. Dinners are served weekly with many themed cuisine menus, often pared with the remarkable wines from the nearby Santa Ynez Valley. Throughout the year special occasion parties are held for Club members and guests to celebrate many of the traditional family occasions and holidays. Members often sponsor non-member events to take advantage of the Club’s unique setting and long standing reputation for exceptional cuisine.

Club members also participate in a number of special interest groups within the Club, such as the Luncheon Club, Breakfast Club, Entrepreneurs Forum, Investors Club, Wine Group and yes, the Arlington Jockey Club. The Club also sponsors a noontime and evening lecture series featuring prominent speakers. Through the Club's reciprocity agreements, Club members can also enjoy access to nearly one hundred other private clubs, domestic and foreign.

As a service to the local community, the Santa Barbara Club offers its historic facilities for use by a select number of Member’s sponsored outside organizations and foundations. The facilities and grounds are made available for fundraising purposes by appropriate outside groups. The second floor, initially designed as private rooms and baths for extended stays by members traveling into town from the outskirts, has been refurbished into private offices for club members, a private office for visitors, and the expansive President's Room, available for relaxation and meetings. All private rooms offer high speed Internet access.

Cloaked in history and tradition, the Santa Barbara Club’s enduring purpose remains a gathering place for those who enjoy the fun, companionship, wisdom, education, and exchange of ideas achieved by close acquaintance with others.

The Santa Barbara Club is fortunate to be an active participant in the daily affairs of one of the world's most desirable small cities. Located at the base of the Santa Ynez Mountains on the shores of the Pacific Ocean, Santa Barbara enjoys a year round mild climate. It offers its residents and visitors an abundance of cultural and recreational activities, as well as numerous fine resorts, inns, and restaurants.

Santa Barbara's more recent history includes the emergence of the nearby and popular Santa Barbara County Wine Country, an area where numerous vintners are growing premium grapes and nearly one hundred wineries are producing wines of distinction.