County Courthouse - Tourist Attractions

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County Courthouse
updated: Jul 17, 2010, 9:45 AM

By the Dedicated Staff

They call the Santa Barbara County Courthouse (located at the corner of Anacapa and Anapamu Streets), with its architecture copied from Spanish castles, a historic masterpiece.

Constructed in 1926-1929 in the aftermath of the 1925 Santa Barbara Earthquake, the courthouse challenges any public building in the state for style and artistic touches, even though it's the working-day home for local judges, lawyers, and those on trial. But if you're not a legal eagle or history buff, we've got five fun reasons you'll want to visit the courthouse .. or revisit it if you've been there before.

For the romance. Small wedding ceremonies are frequently conducted in the Sunken Gardens, the lavish green space sheltered by the courthouse's L-shaped building. You might catch a happy couple celebrating their big day. Picnics between sweethearts are common on the lawn.

We even know one couple who got engaged inside the courthouse, on the circular rotunda steps. If you want to really get serious, the Hall of Records, in the courthouse's corner, is the local place to apply for a marriage license.

It is great for kids. One tour guide challenges her younger tourists to count all the windows they can see on the courthouse and adjacent Old Jail Wing. They can't really be wrong .. Lillian, the guide, says she doesn't know the actual answer. But Edhat does. Here's a story we wrote about counting the windows in the courthouse, so you can encourage them to guess higher! Even our sharpest guessers had trouble with this window counting challenge. By the way, the asymmetry of the courthouse windows, and some of their peculiar shapes and sizes, is another trait from of the mudejar style architecture, created by the Moors in Spain.

If an hour-long tour (they're offered daily, see this website for the schedule) seems like too much time at attention for a youngster, running around out on the lawn is a great way to work out some extra energy. And the view from the tower will be sure to impress them. (See No. 1.)

To see the paintings. The Mural Room is the most breathtaking of the artistic creations within the courthouse walls, and the murals by Canadian artist Dan Sayre Groesbeck depict Cabrillo's arrival in California and Vizcaino's visit to the coast in 1602, during which he gave the Santa Barbara Channel its name on the Feast Day of Saint Barbara.

A January 2010 fire damaged the mural room art and an extensive restoration is currently underway. It's worth stopping by on a week day to watch the restoration experts, who are washing the walls to return them to their former glory. Here are some photos of them at work. Fun fact: The original painting of the mural room cost $9,000 in the 1920s. Total cost of the courthouse at that time: Just over $1 million.

A set of five paintings by Dutch artist Theodore Van Cina (there are actually six in the series, but once has mysteriously disappeared) hang along the second floor of the Figueroa Wing of the building and depict famous events in Santa Barbara history going back to 1542, including a funeral, a wedding, the city's founding, a pirate attack and Cabrillo's arrival.

To marvel at the details. There is something artistic and creative around every corner at the courthouse, from handmade tiles on the floor to the ceiling paint. One local's advice: "Look up! If you don't crane your neck you will miss half of the interesting things to see." The ceiling, painted by Italian artist John Smeraldi, isn't flecked with gold, but a combination of zinc and copper makes it look that way. Check out the big doors.. several of them have little doors hidden within the big door like Russian nesting dolls, a Spanish tradition that pointed to prosperity.

For the view. The courthouse clock tower, El Mirador, is one place in town where you can understand why some travel writer started calling Santa Barbara "the American Riviera." (We're guessing it was a travel writer, because nobody around here talks like that.) The foothills and the sea are visible in equal measure and it can be hard to decide what to look at first. Very helpful skyline points are noted on the placards along the tower railings. It'll help you plan where you want to go next on your local journey, and make for some great photographs to remember Santa Barbara forever. Even if you're a local.