The Spanish Castle of Courts
Near Santa Barbara, California
Rising over downtown like a Moorish fortress, the Santa Barbara County Courthouse is often called the most beautiful public building in America. It was built between nineteen twenty six and nineteen twenty nine, in the wave of rebuilding that followed the great earthquake, and designed by the architect William Mooser the Third. Rather than a single block, it sprawls across a full city block in an L shape, with sandstone arches, hand painted tiles, a sunken garden, and towers that evoke a Spanish castle.
Two features draw the most visitors. The first is the Mural Room, once the county supervisors' assembly chamber, where the artist Daniel Sayre Groesbeck covered the walls with sweeping scenes of early California history, beginning with the arrival of the Spanish. He painted the whole room by hand over a span of months.
The second is El Mirador, the clock tower. An elevator and a stair climb to an observation deck high above the street, where a nearly full circle view takes in red tile rooftops, the Santa Ynez Mountains, and the Pacific. The original Seth Thomas clock works still keep time inside.
Remarkably, the building is still a working courthouse, hearing real cases while tourists wander its arcades below. Admission is free, and it remains the crown jewel of the city's Spanish Colonial vision.
