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Vista del Mar School

Driving up the coast on the northbound 101, just before the massive Mariposa Reina oil facility, this old Spanish style building sits.

Today, this quaint little structure is the home of the Channel Islands Marine & Wildlife Institute, but it was built in 1927 to serve as the Vista del Mar Union School.

Longtime locals remember an old fighter jet parked beside the school for years and some have fond memories of playing on the aircraft. We’ll get to that later, but let’s start with how this school came to be in such a beautiful location.

In 1926, three one room schoolhouses were combined to make the Vista Del Mar Union School District. The powers that be chose this location since it was centrally located between the 3 schools.

The schools that were combined were the Orella School, the Las Cruces School, shown above, and the Alcatraz School, that was right across the highway from the present site.

During the construction, classes were held temporarily in a building donated by the Tidewater Oil Company. The beautiful new school was opened for class in 1927.

Built by Hans Skytt of Solvang, it sat on a four-acre, ocean view parcel, deeded from the Hollister family. The style was Spanish with a red tile roof.

Several small houses were built around the school for employees, that are also still there today.

The Vista Del Mar School served kids well, from El Capitan, out to the Ranch and up to Las Cruces for decades.

But in 1959, it got even better.

Early in 1959 the school’s principal, Warren Binzley, was at a cocktail party at Vandenberg AFB. Mr. Binzley casually asked a General Wade if it would be possible to get an out of service airplane to put on their playground.

 The General said maybe, if Binzley could get a veteran’s group as a sponsor…. The Goleta Amvets stepped up and an F-86 Sabre jet fighter was located in Tuscon, Arizona. It was taken to Vandenberg and demilitarized before it was ready for delivery to the school.

The Marine Helicopter Transport Squadron from El Toro volunteered to deliver the 6,800 pound plane to the school, one half at a time.

A second chopper brought in a crew of technicians and landed in a nearby field. They made the event a training exercise for the men.

The delivery was scheduled on a Friday afternoon and the little school was brimming with anticipation. Several journalists and photographers from local newspapers were on hand to record the event.

Notice the students watching from behind the fence as the soldiers tend to the delivery. The crew went to work on the jet immediately.

The jet was reconstructed on site by the Air Force crew, as the whole student body watched excitedly.

Late that same Friday afternoon, Captain Barnes ceremoniously handed over the keys of the cockpit to a beaming Principal Binzley.

The original cost of the jet was $500,000, but now it was a piece of playground equipment.

The F-86 was placed right in the middle of the playground, complete with cockpit, controls and instruments.

The children were thrilled.

It did not have an engine, guns, rockets or bombs, but that didn’t make it any less appealing to the youngsters.

It was a hit!

Such a hit, in fact, they had to build steps up to the cockpit after one eager kid fell and broke his arm.

Class pictures taken on the jet wings became a tradition.

Class pictures taken on the jet wings became a tradition. Shown here, the class of 1986.

The unusual playground structure gave the little school some fame for years to come.

The jet was visible from the highway, so lots of random visitors stopped to check it out. Many were sincere aficionados of military aircraft….

 And others were just vandals, that wanted a piece of the old warbird. Locks were eventually put on the cockpit to keep people from stealing bits and pieces.

Which brings us to the motivation for this page. The old F-86 made quite an impression on some youngsters. This young man’s life was definitely influenced by that airplane on the playground. Mark Tautrim started at Vista del Mar School in 1960. (His mother, Luzena  Erro, was in the first class to graduate from the Vista Del Mar School, and his daughter would be in the last.

Young Mark was so moved by sitting in the cockpit of that Sabre Jet, he went on to become a pilot at the young age of 22. This skill helped him land a great job on a huge ranch in Northern California, with lots of airplanes and a grass runway! Read an amazing story Mark wrote about the jet here. It was this story that motivated us to do this page.

We mentioned the Tidewater Oil Company earlier. They had been on the Gaviota Coast since the 1890’s, and as their operation changed hands through the years, it continued to grow.

By 1972, the oil plant was bigger than ever and still growing, creeping closer to the school. The red arrow shows Vista Del Mar School.

By 1986, it was nearly surrounding the school, and Chevron had plans for further expansion. It became undeniable. Concerns for the children’s health and safety forced the school to be closed after nearly 60 years in its primo Gaviota location. After the closure, contaminated soil was found very near the former schoolgrounds.

Chevron quickly built a temporary modular school a mile down the coast while they figured out where to build a permanent replacement. They spared no expense to try to make up for the displacement, providing the school with a science station complete with computers, a big deal in 1986. They also built a soccer field with a running track around it.

The Vista Del Mar school in 1989, closed up and surrounded by oil company structures and equipment.

After over 6 years of negotiating and political wheeling and dealing, a site was secured near the old town of Las Cruces, north of the Gaviota pass. Built and paid for entirely by Chevron, the $20 million Vista de las Cruces School opened in 1992.

The former school and surrounding land was given back to the Hollister family, and the stucco, red-tiled building sat empty and useless, slowly falling into disrepair.

In 2004, the Gaviota Fire burned 7,500 acres in the area, destroying phone and electric lines to the now abandoned building.

The popular F-86 was repossessed by the government and taken to McClellan Air Force Base near Sacramento where it was repainted and put on display. Years later it was restored again. Here is a link to that story, with tons of great photos and info.

The beautiful old school sat abandoned and forgotten for 20 years, a victim of vandalism and a camp for trespassing transients.

In 2006, the Hollister family donated the building to the Channel Islands Marine and Wildlife Institute, dedicated to rescuing, rehabilitating and releasing marine animals. They continue their good work in the old school building to this day.

Vista Del Mar was unique in that they had so few students, they became like a family.

Dennis Kittle, shown here, still speaks highly of the wonderfully unique experience teaching there was.

And the education those kids got left a lifelong impression.

Ruthie Holman sent us this class photo from 1968. She loves remembering her days at Vista Del Mar.

Generations of local kids got a great education in a beautiful location at Vista Del Mar School on the Gaviota Coast.

Sources: Lompoc Record, Santa Maria Times, Santa Barbara News Press, “the Gaviota Land”, Merlyn Chesnut, Santa Ynez Valley News, Jeff Kruthers, Walker Tompkins.

Very Special Thanks to Mark Tautrim, Guner Tautrim, Bruce Brownell, Dennis Kittle and Warren Binzley.

Categories: Goleta History

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Tom Modugno

23 replies

  1. I went to VDM-all grades- boy does this article brings back memories. I also remember falling asleep in the nose of the jet during recess. Thanks- tugs at my heart. Love the photo of the jet & a beautiful picture of ‘chicken cave’ in the back ground.

    1. Hello Cheryl! It’s Cindy Wallace, my sister Debra told me about this site just today. Because I saw your reply I had to say “hi”. Going to Vista was such a happy time, growing up where we did was more than most could ever pay for or imagine. We all were privileged. A greeting also to all that see this and remember me!

  2. My brother and I went to Vista Del Mar during the school year 1964/65. I was in 5th grade and he was in 7th. My father was the custodian and drove the “big” school bus. My mother worked in the kitchen and drove the “little” school bus. We lived in one of the two houses that were there at the time (the one next to the garages) in one of the photos. We loved playing on the jet and having our own private play ground. Thanks for sharing this.

  3. There’s also a fascinating bit of history regarding the lady in the red dress toward the front of the 1968 photo – Mrs. Dee Mease (Howardine Mease). She was the mother of many Vista students and volunteered in the classroom. While out of state in Washington, she and her family came on a wounded woman who later died – she had been left for dead by assailants – and Mrs. Mease, a gentle soul, had the presence of mind to talk to the wounded woman and gather the evidence that led to the murderers’ conviction. A truly impressive act by one of the kindest women who ever lived in Gaviota. https://law.justia.com/cases/washington/supreme-court/1971/41792-1.html

    1. Mrs, Dee Mease was my grandmother…. sweetie and loving woman who ever lived,, my brother and I went to this school…. a few times with our aunts…

  4. Thanks so much Tom for doing a fantastic job on this article! After my son, Guner, told me that he sent my story about Vista’s F-86 Sabre Jet to you, I had no idea that you would take it and plunge forward to do so much more research! My daughter, Kimberly, who lives in Spain, loved the article – it has brought back to her many fond memories.

    I’ve had a great time tracking down some of the stories behind the jet, but no more enjoyable than looking up Warren Binzley, my 8th grade teacher and principal of VDM (and the person who acquired the F-86 Sabre Jet). I found him through googling him and then calling him. To my delight he remembered me from 1961, and he and his wife drove up from down south and visited with my wife and me, and gave me his file on Vista which included lots of information on the F-86 Sabre Jet that you included here. What a connection – for those of your readers who knew Mr. Binzley, he is doing very well, looks very fit and healthy, and is living a wonderful life. It was SO great to see him! He remembered all eight of my 8th grade classmates!

    Thanks to you again for your research and the compilation of the many articles as well as for the interviews you conducted!

    1. My pleasure! Thanks for all the great info you provided. I’m glad you and your family enjoyed the finished product. One valuable by-product of this page was it allowed me to meet the legendary Dennis Kittle:)
      Let me know if you think of any other historic tidbits that might be worth some investigation. Thanks to you and your son for being excellent stewards of the coast and all the best to you and yours.

  5. Another gem of history unearthed by you Tom. Great job. Keep them coming. Lots of stories in this region and we are lucky to have you around to remind us of them. Such great photos you found too!

  6. I went to school at Vista Del Mar in the 50’s for my 5th,6th, 7th grades and had Miss Poore and Mr Binzley for teachers. It was the best school I ever went to. Mr. Binzley kept snakes in our classroom and one week end while cleaning their cages he was bitten by a rattlesnake. He also had Arthur Murray dance instructors come once a week for about 6 weeks to teach us ballroom dancing. So much fun. He was very creative in all of our Christmas plays and activities. He loved kids…I have only great memories of my time there and have stayed friends with many of the kids I went to school with. Also, Henry Klein was our music teacher, another great memory.

  7. I was in vista del mar in 1968 I’m in the photo I have a yellow shirt next to Dion Lopez and Cathy also is Juan Castillo

  8. Wonderful article. Dennis Kittle is my cousin and it was fun to read about the history of the school. Well done!

  9. I remember going to VDM until moving in 1948.
    I lived about a quarter mile from the school by the Golespie’s store (sp).
    I remember coloring the back of a Cheerios box with a picture of the Lone Ranger and Tonto on it. I would win a horse, Lone Ranger outfit and a set of cap guns.
    I dreamt about riding down the old road past the oil holding tank into the arroyo to school, tethering my horse, and going to school.
    Well I Won a picture of the two.
    Mrs Moorhouse was my teacher

    DickHollister

  10. Wow snuffy,
    Looks like we should have knowen each other.
    I moved about the time you started.
    My teacher was Mrs Moorhouse if I spelt it correctly, and I lived just up the coast about a quarter mile.
    The only house there.

    Dick Hollister

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