Historic Buildings in Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara has a lot to offer those who live there or those just on a vacation. Some of what we love about the area are the historical buildings and landmarks. Just a few of those historical buildings will be highlighted here.

Santa Barbara Historical Museum

The Santa Barbara Historical Museum contains several beautiful and educational exhibits. You can view some of their collection online or explore their virtual exhibits until they’re open for in-person visits again. This museum also has a variety of educational programs for students in the area. It’s a wonderful place to go if you want to learn more about the local area.

The building itself was finished in 1964 and is one of the oldest cultural institutions in Santa Barbara, California.

Santa Barbara County Courthouse

The Santa Barbara County Courthouse is arguably one of the most beautiful buildings in the city. This Spanish-Colonial style courthouse finished construction in 1929. You can take a self-guided tour to get an interesting visual history lesson about the area. The tours are free.

You can also take a virtual tour of the mural room to see large, detailed paintings about the early history of the city, starting before the Spanish even arrived. The mural room used to be the Supervisors’ Assembly room, but now it’s used for weddings and various social events.

One of the more notable parts of the courthouse, the clocktower, was installed in 1929, and is still ticking to this day.

Old Mission Santa Barbara

The Old Mission Santa Barbara is a stunning, active parish church. It was first founded in 1786 by the Spanish Franciscans. The present church was constructed in 1820, with three different churches being present before that. The Old Mission also has an Archive-Library, which collects historical and cultural resources about Franciscan history, Missions, and the communities they interacted with. 

You can go to the Old Mission for daily self-guided tours, any day of the week. You can also schedule a private tour in advance, with a group of at least 10. If you’re lucky enough to visit on Memorial Day Weekend, you can view beautiful artwork in the year I Madonnari Street Painting Festival. This event showcases large-scale pastel chalk masterpieces.

Granada Theatre

The Granada Theatre is a renovated theater located in downtown Santa Barbara. Originally built in 1924, and reopened to the public after renovations in 2008.  It is the home to several different types of entertainment. The Santa Barbara Symphony, State Street Ballet, Opera Santa Barbara, UCSB Arts & Lectures, and so much more. This theater is also the only one in Santa Barbara that features a 4K HD resolution cinema system with a 40’ screen for feature length films.

The theater is open year round, and with 1,553 seats, it’s a great place to go for a variety of entertainment. The Granada also offers its Founder’s room to local nonprofits for meetings, conferences, gatherings and more. Learn more about the Granada Theatre here.


There are several beautiful buildings that didn’t make this list. You can view more of them and visit this website to learn more about all the beautiful architecture of this historical area.

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