Santa Barbara County Courthouse

Could this be the most beautiful government building in America?

After posting the Hope Ranch pictures my friend P.E.D. (a California native) wrote to say that Hope Ranch was one of his favorite places in Santa Barbara, the other being the Santa Barbara County Courthouse, and encouraged me to also visit the courthouse. No encouragement was needed though as it was already on my list. The above picture features the front of the building on Anacapa Street.

The courthouse is a huge structure and takes up a city block including the gardens.

This photo taken from the far back end of the grounds. 

A view of the passageway, looking out toward Anacapa Street, from the garden side of the building.

A do not miss regarding the courthouse is a trip up to the 4th floor tower for panoramic views of the city.

NNE to the mountains.

East looking across the red roofs of the building off of Santa Barbara Street & E. Figueroa Street.

Southeast across the red tile roof of the structure toward the ocean. Notice the circular tower to the middle-left, that will appear again later.

This is a northwest view looking uptown that I chose because of the beautiful sky. 

The architectural style of the building is described as Spanish-Moorish, among it's many features are imported tiles and wrought-iron chandeliers.

It has many beautiful historical murals and hand-painted ceilings.

Huge carved doors guard the courtrooms.

I'd have to say though that my favorite feature is the spiral staircase that winds up the circular tower mentioned earlier.

It goes up...

and up and up to another lookout area that unfortunately was not open on this day. 

The grounds outside the building are also quite nice as the next few pictures will show.

All in all there are six areas that can be rented for special events. This includes what is referred to as the Sunken Gardens, the location of the old 1872 courthouse that was destroyed in the 1925 earthquake. The Santa Barbara County Parks Department can be contacted for further information at this link.

Links: For information on the County Courthouse