Several members of the Irvine family were prominent in Goleta Valley in the early to mid-20th century.

Peter, who came to Goleta from Scotland as a 17-year-old at the turn of the century, worked for years managing ranches for various owners, including Charles Smith, George Edwards and the widow of John Faxon More.

He acquired his own property when he purchased a lemon and walnut ranch at 5001 Hollister Ave., a parcel referred to as the former Scull estate, according to Walker Tompkins in his book, “Goleta the Good Land.”

Peter Irvine and Mary Begg, daughter of Peter and Jessie Begg, were married and became parents of a daughter, Gladys, in 1902.

Peter’s younger brother Fred, born in Aberdeenshire in 1895, reached the Good Land in 1909, where he and another brother, David, leased the Goleta County Farm and worked it together.
After combat duty in World War I, Fred returned to the region and worked on the John More and Pomatto Brothers ranches before moving to Gus Den’s ranch, now home to UCSB, to raise hay and beans. He married another daughter of Jessie and Peter Begg, Rose, in December of 1921 and the couple became parents of two sons, Albert and Peter.

Another brother, Alex Irvine, lived in Santa Barbara.

The patriarch of the family, Peter Sr., came to the region from Scotland in 1908 managed the Goleta Cemetery until his death in 1918. His widow, Elizabeth, died in 1921.

Peter was involved in an interesting historical anecdote when he purchased the dance floor of the Campbell mansion in Elwood at auction and had it moved to Oak Park, where it was well-used for decades. After the earthquake of June 1925, Peter was quoted as saying that “everything breakable” in his home in the 5000 block of Hollister was smashed, and his backyard pond emptied, stranding fish in an empty pool.

Former property of Peter and Mary Irvine — including a Craftsman style home, water tower and barn at 5048 Via Lara south of Hollister near San Marcos Road — was granted historical landmark status by the county in recent years.

Mary and Peter Irvine died within three years of each other; he in February of 1965 at 90 years old, and she in 1968.

Photo courtesy Goleta Vally Historical Society