Historic Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum Building in Santa Barbara Hits the Market After 40 Years

The Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum building in Santa Barbara has been listed for sale. 

Located on 21-23 West Anapamu Street, the historic building housed the well-known Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum for around 40 years. 

The 8,404 sq. ft. commercial building has been listed for sale at $3.3 million, according to a Colliers listing. 

Located off State Street and adjacent to Public Parking Lot 4, the building will be delivered vacant and can be used as a creative office, gallery, cultural center, boutique retail, or mixed commercial building, the listing stated.

Spanning two floors, the building was originally constructed in 1903 and has served several functions since then. During its initial years, it was used as a private residence before functioning as a funeral home in the 1920s.

In the 1950s, the building housed a fraternity house for the University of California, Santa Barbara, and in the 1960s, it was used as a dress shop and antique store. Over the next decade, the building was the location of a plant store, with a dance studio at the upper floor. 

Between 1975 and 1980, the Thin Air boutique operated from the building until an arson fire gutted it.

In 1985, the building housed a nightclub until the following year, when David Karpeles and Mounir Ashamalla purchased it and opened the museum.

Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum’s Decades-Long History in Santa Barbara

Founded by David and Marsha Karpeles in 1983, the Karpeles Manuscript Library preserves over a million historical documents pertaining to literature, religion, science, political history, music, art, and exploration. 

Open Tuesday through Sundays, the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum displays thousands of historical documents and has presented several exhibits, including the Anne Frank Exhibit that was attended by more than 30,000 students, according to its website. 

The website, however, does not mention the closure or relocation of the museum. 

The museum has many historical artifacts on display, such as the Documentary Birth of America Archive, the Torah Exhibit, the Jurassic Park Exhibit, a replica of the globe used by Columbus, and handwritten scores by several famed composers. 

The museum also displays a collection of dinosaur items, including dinosaur eggs, a dinosaur feather, and a footprint fossil. 

Additionally, it has the computer guidance system used on the Apollo 11 lander flight to the moon, a Gemini space program space capsule rocket guidance steering gyroscope, and the control panel for the world’s first space station, Salyut.

In addition to the Santa Barbara location, the Karpeles Manuscript Library also has museums in Buffalo, New York; Gloversville, New York; Duluth, Minnesota; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and St. Augustine, Florida.