Resorts
BACARA RESORT AND SPA
Hyatt Development Corporation
Santa Barbara, California
Design and Public Approval Processing
Modeled on a Spanish coastal village, the Bacara Resort and Spa is set on a 78-acre coastal bluff with breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean and the Santa Ynez Mountains. WHITIN DESIGN WORKS developed the project landscape Concept and Design Development plans and participated in the public processing of the landscape design for approval by the County of Santa Barbara Planning Review Board over a 5 year period. The landscape is designed in the historic Santa Barbara Mediterranean tradition, reflecting Santa Barbara's important position as a center for the introduction of exotic and Mediterranean plant species in the 1870s. The Mediterranean coastal landscape envelopes the guest room buildings, each built around a private garden courtyard. Approximately one half of the site has been preserved and restored as endangered species habitat as the the site is an important stop-over on the Monarch Butterfly migration route.