Joan Tapper

Santa Barbara

Writer and Editor at Freelance

writer, editor, traveler fascinated by history and the eclectic

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Articles

A Flock of All Trades

3 weeks ago | bluedotliving.com | Joan Tapper

“We’re trying to stack a lot of functions in one enterprise,” says Jenya Schneider about Cuyama Lamb LLC, the company she owns and operates with her husband, Jack Thrift Anderson. “We’re using a natural tool” — a flock of 1,000 merino sheep — “to manage our rangeland, manage fire, build soil health, and care for native ecologies … and produce meat and fiber at the same time.
Santa Barbara’s Bookstore Gems: Community Hubs, Literary History, and Unique Finds — Santa Barbara Magazine

Nov 20, 2024 | sbmag.com | Joan Tapper

From cultural exchange to shopping for gifts, local bookstores are alive with possibilities Written by Joan TapperPhotographs by Sara PrinceFrom talks by authors to art exhibits and other community events, bookstores are more than the sum of their wares. And with the holidays coming, books make great gifts.
Rent ‘Em,Cowboy - Santa Barbara Magazine

Sep 3, 2024 | sbmag.com | Joan Tapper

Written by Joan TapperThe Old West heritage of Santa Ynez was embraced by Tom and Joan Bohlinger, who built a two-story commercial building with clapboard siding and a wooden sidewalk at the corner of Edison and Sagunto Streets in 1989. The couple ran their real estate business there for decades while leasing space to other firms as well.
Booked Up! - Santa Barbara Magazine

Aug 6, 2024 | sbmag.com | Joan Tapper

Summerland’s newest hot spot Written by Joan TapperGODMOTHERS bookstore may be in the center of design-focused Summerland, but the volumes on the shelves are not mere decoration. Currently in a soft opening, the bookstore is set to debut officially on September 8, with a wide selection of fiction and nonfiction, nature, cookbooks, YA and kids’ books (complete with weekend story hours), and everything in between, including a healthy selection of gorgeous coffee table tomes.
Garden Glory - Santa Barbara Magazine

Jul 24, 2024 | sbmag.com | Joan Tapper

Lotusland’s Annual Gala Raises a Million Written by Joan TapperPhotographs by Isaac Hernandez, David Mendoza IIIWhen the lotuses bloom at Ganna Walska Lotusland, it’s a signal that the annual gala fundraiser for the world-renowned horticultural treasure is at hand. And the signature flowers were certainly putting on a show for the 500 guests who came to celebrate The Way of the Lotus on Saturday, July 19, and the 30th year of the garden’s opening to the public.
Pure Gold - Santa Barbara Magazine

Jun 19, 2024 | sbmag.com | Joan Tapper

Written by Joan TapperPhotographs by Nell CampbellThe beginnings were modest, but the spirit of creativity was there from the start: On the summer solstice in 1974, artist and mime Michael Gonzales got a couple of friends to sashay up State Street in honor of his birthday. They ended up at the library lawn, where a few musicians and dancers and some intrigued passersby joined the fun.
Garden Gone By - Santa Barbara Magazine

Apr 3, 2024 | sbmag.com | Joan Tapper

Written by Joan TapperPhotography by Slim Aarons/StringerIn 1970 society photographer Slim Aarons captured Mr. and Mrs. J. Gordon Douglas at the steps of their hillside Montecito estate. The grounds of Il Brolino—Italian for “the little garden”—had been designed in 1922 for lumber heiress Mary Stewart by landscape architect Florence Yoch and Lucille Council to complement the Mediterranean villa–style house by architect George Washington Smith.
Reviving History: Casa del Herrero Emerges from the Shadows to Preserve Santa Barbara's Architectural Legacy — Santa Barbara Magazine

Apr 3, 2024 | sbmag.com | Joan Tapper

Written by Joan TapperPhotographs by Matt Walla/RizzoliThe history of CASA DEL HERRERO—House of the Blacksmith—and of Santa Barbara are inextricably linked: On the morning of June 29, 1925, George Fox Steedman, owner of his family’s foundry in St. Louis, was staying at the Santa Barbara Club when a devastating earthquake hit the city, leveling most of downtown. He headed for his new home in Montecito, which had just been finished after three years of construction.
Blooming Splendor: Inside the Spectacular Floral Showcase Fundraiser at Rose Story Farm — Santa Barbara Magazine

Apr 3, 2024 | sbmag.com | Joan Tapper

At a fundraising event, everything was COMING UP ROSES—and hydrangeas, dahlias, and more Written by Joan TapperPhotographs by Sara PrinceWith a jaw-dropping abundance of flowers and design imagination, the Rose Story Farm showcase event last November—a fundraiser for Casa del Herrero—was a huge, sold-out success. But it all started out far more modestly, says Danielle Dall’Armi Hahn, who owns the farm with her family.
Mary Nobles Conrad — Santa Barbara Magazine

Nov 27, 2023 | sbmag.com | Joan Tapper

Written by Joan Tapper | Photographs courtesy of Kendall ConradFor roughly three decades the aspiring authors and famous literary lights of the Santa Barbara Writers Conference knew her as the power behind the scenes. Barnaby Conrad Jr may have held center stage of the annual series of weeklong workshops, panels, and presentations, but Mary Nobles Conrad—who died on November 1 at age 88 at her home at Rincon Point, Carpinteria—was organizer, hostess, and the person who made it all happen.