Sexton, Joseph, 1842-1917
Joseph Sexton 1842-1917
The son of a gold-rush entrepreneur, Sexton began his nursery business in the late 1860s on a portion of the newly subdivided Rancho La Goleta. In addition to profitable land holdings along Hollister Avenue, the Sexton family maintained the well-respected Santa Barbara Nursery and Floral Depot on lower State Street. According to Victoria Padilla’s Southern California Gardens: An Illustrated History, his Santa Barbara–based enterprise “was considered to be one of the most complete and extensive” in the United States at the height of the Victorian era, with both imports and exports taking place between Hawai'i, Asia, Australia, Chile, and southern Europe. By 1880, the family had outgrown its modest two-story farmhouse and commissioned noted architect Peter J. Barber to build an Italianate-style home. In 1992, the Sexton family estate (at 5490 Hollister Avenue) was deeded into the National Register of Historic Places.
— From Santa Barbara Independent 2016-02-25.