The Santa Barbara Biltmore (also known as the Biltmore) opened in 1927 as part of the Biltmore Hotels chain. Now styled as the Four Seasons Resort—The Biltmore Santa Barbara, it is a luxury hotel located in Santa Barbara, California. Its landmark Spanish Colonial Revival architecture and gardens are on the Pacific Coast in Southern California, in the United States.
The architectural design of the hotel and outdoor garden rooms is a masterful synthesis of the Mediterranean Revival, Spanish Colonial Revival and Moorish Revival styles of architecture. It was designed by architect Reginald Johnson and landscape architect Ralph Stevens in 1926-1927. It was a $1,500,000 enterprise built by the Bowman-Biltmore Hotels Corporation of New York City, with a 5 March 1927 groundbreaking. The 'Coral Casino' and 'Butterfly Beach' are adjacent to the Biltmore.
Four Seasons Hotels bought the Santa Barbara Biltmore in 1987, later renaming it the 'Four Seasons Resort Santa Barbara.' In 2000 Ty Warner acquired ownership of the hotel through his Ty Warner Hotels & Resorts, while retaining Four Seasons as the management company. A historically sensitive major $240 million restoration and services updating followed. The historic 'Biltmore' name was added back to its moniker soon after as the 'Four Seasons Resort; The Biltmore Santa Barbara.' Since its 1927 opening however, the hotel has continuously been known simply as 'The Biltmore.'
Fred William Stringer, produced ornamentation and murals for the Hotel. He was doing this in England, moved to Canada prior to 1920, then was brought to Southern California to do backdrops, sets and theater ornamentation for the fledgling movie industry. Stringer also did similar work for several hotels and theaters in the Los Angeles area.