Westmont Magazine A Safe Environment

Santa Barbara Beautiful has awarded the prize for Best Firescape Design to the Las Barrancas development in Montecito that houses Westmont faculty. Santa Barbara Mayor Marty Blum presented the honor to the college in September.

The award for firescape design honors those landscapes that combine beauty with safety, lessening the danger of starting or fueling fires.

Grant Castleberg and Phil Suding of Castleberg Suding Landscape Architects designed the Las Barrancas development’s landscaping. Steve Gowler of Cold Springs Landscape and Joe Hunter of Hunter Landscape were the landscape contractors and Randy Wilson of Wilson Landscape is responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the design.

The Las Barrancas development, adjacent to the Westmont campus, currently includes homes for 30 Westmont faculty members and their families. In the next few years, the college will build the remaining 11 homes. The first homes were completed in 1995.