Bounded by Santa Barbara, Micheltorena, Garden and Arrellaga Streets, the full city block ahead of you is Alice Keck Park Memorial Garden. Designed by Grant Castleberg ASLA, the landscape is known for color and motion. This ground was once the site of artist Albert Herter's El Mirasol Hotel, demolished in the 1960s.
In 1975 the property was purchased and anonymously donated to the city, and that gift included funds to convert the land into gardens and an endowment for their maintenance. Two years later the donor’s identity was revealed — Alice Keck Park (1918–1977), daughter of William Myron Keck, founder of Superior Oil Company. There is a family link to the Herters: W. M. Keck’s sister Caroline had been the widow of Everit Herter, who died in World War I. The City dedicated the gardens in 1980 and named them in Park’s honor.
As you walk, notice the way Castleberg’s design choreographs plantings and pathways across this single block, a small, intentional world created from hotel grounds and private generosity. Two neighbors frame this block: the Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara over on Santa Barbara Street, and Alameda Park across Micheltorena Street.