History of Knowlwood

Knowlwood Tennis Club is a member-owned and operated family tennis club that sits on the site of the original Knowles Family estate. Willis Knowles and his wife, Brenda, came to Santa Barbara in 1892 to escape the cold of Ohio’s winters.  Willis was a member of the Knowles family who founded Knowles, Taylor, and Knowles China Company, makers of fine china.  The family purchased eight acres of wheat fields near what is now East Valley Road. It is there they established their estate. In 1896, the family moved into their home, which was designed by Willis.  Willis served not only as architect but also as designer and contractor.  The first floor of the home was built using sandstone found on the property.  Today, the house serves as the club’s clubhouse.

Tennis played a role in life at the Knowles Estate from its earliest days. The first tennis court was built on the Knowles property in 1900. It was the Knowles family tradition to open their court to others every Saturday afternoon.   Bob Knowles has recounted fond memories of getting up early on Saturday mornings to line the clay court in preparation for the day’s festivities.

When the Knowles family decided it was time to sell the estate, they refused to sell it to developers. Instead, they chose to sell it to a group of local tennis players, some of whom played on the Knowles court regularly.  The group then set about developing a club fashioned after the Bakersfield Racquet Club, where Brian Rapp played in his youth.  The goal was to develop a family oriented, private club where children were not only welcomed but encouraged to play.

 Founding members of the club include Brian Rapp, Palmer Jackson, George Manset, and Dr. James McKittrick. The club began with fifty members, grew to 125 and in 1990 increased to the current limit of 175 members. The club began with just the original Knowles court. Over the years the club has grown to include 10 courts (8 hardcourts and 2 clay courts), a pool, spa, and BBQ area. In the early years the members did all of the maintenance, including painting the buildings and planting the gardens. The club continues to be governed by a volunteer member Board of Directors who oversee all aspects of the club.

Jerry Hatchett was hired as the club’s first pro in 1970. The teaching program began with Saturday afternoon “Hit with the Pro”, where anyone could put a dollar in the jar and hit with the pro for as long as they wanted.  During his 47 years as Knowlwood’s Head Pro and Tennis Director, Jerry not only developed an extensive teaching program but helped develop and nurture the unique family atmosphere at Knowlwood.   Many “Knowlwood kids” have gone on to be successful high school, college and pro players. Several others have returned to Knowlwood as teaching pros. Still more have returned home to Knowlwood as adult members. The special Knowlwood atmosphere has developed a true love of the game for several generations.

 Knowlwood still embodies the philosophy of the original property owners who welcomed friends and families to play an afternoon of tennis and enjoy the gardens and refreshments of Brenda Knowles.

Brian Rapp’s Personal History of Knowlwood

In 1966, when I first arrived in Santa Barbara, tennis was played almost exclusively at the public courts along Highway 101 and on 2 courts at the Miramar hotel, when not in use by guests staying at the hotel.

However, the most exclusive Court in town was the old concrete court, located on the 8 acres, owned by the Knowles family at 1675 East Valley Rd. There was a group of regular tennis players, who by invitation only from the Knowles family, had permission and access to play on the court:  George Clyde, supervisor for the first district, Peter Edwards, a well- respected architect in town, and George Manset, a first class local player.  George Manset invited me to play doubles with them on a regular basis on that court.

The court was built on an East-West axis, and as the youngest player, I was always placed with the sun in my eyes while playing against them after work at the end of the day.

The Knowles family resided in the home that currently is the clubhouse, which I think was built in approximately 1905.  As Mr. and Mrs. Knowles became less and less able to get up and down the stairs, they split off 1 acre and moved to the residence that Peter Edwards designed along the lower parking lot adjacent to E. Valley Rd.

While we  four were playing one day, they came to the court and asked to meet with us to kindly inform us that they were starting the planning process to divide the remaining 7 acres into seven residential lots, in order to raise money for their future needs.

Birnam Wood had just applied for approval to subdivide the old lemon orchard and packing shed, creating a country club ,surrounded by residential lots, which may have influenced the Knowles plans

While discussing this future lot split possibility, I inadvertently described my experience growing up near a family, neighborhood tennis and swim club in Bakersfield and what an impact it had on my life.

The group met several times and decided to reach out to the neighbors to see if there were any objections, and if they would support us, in an attempt to get a local, family-oriented, private club organized to purchase the Knowles’ property.

I met with all the neighbors and was able to get unanimous support, and then met with the Supervisor George Clyde and the planning staff at the County, and learned they were willing to support the project during the permit process.  The Knowls’ family was supportive of the effort and was willing to delay sale, to allow us two or three months to raise the  asking price, which I recall to be approximately $125,000 and to secure County approval.

Next we created Knowlwood Tennis Club, a non profit California corporation, with 100 shares to be sold to the first hundred members at $1000 apiece.

Palmer and Joanie Jackson and their young family had just moved to Montecito from Los Angeles, where they had been members of a family swim and tennis club, and were keen on recreating such an entity in Montecito.

After some arm twisting, we were able to raise the first 50 memberships and gave $50,000 as a good faith deposit towards the purchase price to the Knowles family.

The escrow for the project closed in 1966. We arranged to get a loan to purchase the property, used the members’ fees to build the courts, and finally the pool.

No tennis facility in town was designed as a family tennis club where children were welcomed, and their friends were welcomed, to play with members and against each other at their convenience with no guest fees. As a result, many children who learned to play tennis at Knowlwood went on to play local top level high school, and collegiate tennis around the country.

The inspiration for this club came from my experience growing up at the Bakersfield Racquet Club, where I played tennis as a child and during my high school and college years. The club was family oriented and I borrowed their Bylaws and accessed that experience for the vision that became Knowlwood Tennis Club.

As new members joined over the years, we were able to add two new courts, use the existing old court as the teaching court for our new pro Jerry Hatchett. Jerry was an assistant coach at UCSB, and who after twisting his arm, I hired as our first pro.  Jerry remained as Head Pro at Knowlwood Tennis Club for  ____ years and has remained true to the original vision of an inclusive family club.

Once we filled the first 50 memberships, we were confident that the pool and additional courts were necessary.  The club voted to expand, filling out the balance of the members to an initial 100, and borrowed the funds to complete that construction.

The rest is history!

And today Members continue to chip in money, time, energy, and solicit their friends and neighbors to join our family club.