Where Heritage Meets Coastal Luxury

This storied estate carries with it a legacy as captivating as its landscape, shaped over the decades by three remarkable owners. It began with oil baron Van Rensselaer Wilbur and his wife, Marguerite Eyer Wilbur, a distinguished historian and professor. The couple commissioned renowned architect Gordon Kaufmann, celebrated for his work on Greystone Mansion and the Los Angeles Times Building, to design both their Pasadena residence and this secluded coastal sanctuary. A scholar of Spanish lore, Marguerite named the property Villa Calafia in homage to the mythical Queen Calafia, the fierce Black warrior goddess who ruled the imagined island of California. Introduced in the 16th-century Spanish novel Las Sergas de Esplandián, Calafia came to embody the sovereign beauty and wild spirit of the land itself, a name befitting the estate’s poetic grandeur.

Following the Wilburs came Lucy Dabney, the infamous Montecito heiress whose whirlwind romance with a self-styled Italian mercenary, rumored to fancy himself a pirate, captivated the local press. Legend holds that he kept her confined within the estate’s walls until her family orchestrated a dramatic and daring rescue.

Since 1964, Villa Calafia has been in the care of the Looker family, internationally renowned art collectors whose works now grace the halls of major institutions including LACMA. Under their stewardship, the estate has been lovingly preserved for over six decades, maintaining its timeless character and connection to the land. Set amidst ancient oaks, sculptural stone outcroppings, and sweeping natural terrain, the property continues to reflect the sacredness of this place, land first known and revered by the Chumash people, where history, myth, and nature converge in profound harmony.