Arnaud Barbieux, Owner
A Best Management's owner, Arnaud Barbieux, launched his estate management career in 1996, when he was tapped to oversee the Montecito residence of corporate executive Ed Snider—who remains a loyal, satisfied client to this day. Eight years later, Arnaud acquired the assets of a larger property management company, and A Best Management was born.
Today, Arnaud manages several high-end estates throughout Montecito, Santa Barbara and along Carpinteria's beachfront Padaro Lane. As a licensed general contractor, certified arborist and trained horticulturalist, he is highly qualified to oversee a wide variety of landscaping, maintenance and construction projects. With fluency in both French and Spanish, he can hire, communicate with and supervise the best vendors in town.
Arnaud previously operated a landscape contracting and tree surgeon business, and prior to that, was on staff with the City of Santa Barbara Parks and Recreation Department. As a young adult, he also traveled around Europe, where he gained valuable experience at various small organic farms and family craftsman enterprises, and taught English in Taiwan.
Currently living in Montecito, Arnaud is able to respond quickly to any emergency situation on his clients' properties. A San Francisco native, he was raised in California, France and the French West Indies, and has made his home in Santa Barbara since 1994.
Diana Andonian, Administrative and Personal Assistant
Diana began assisting Arnaud in the Spring of 2012 with property management. She has a BA from UCSB and did grad work at UCLA. She has two grown sons and has lived in the Santa Barbara and Carpinteria area since 1969, currently residing in Carpinteria.
She comes from a long-time business owner background having managed her own professional event planning and stationery business for 35 years. She also has experience working as a property manager and personal assistant.
Her strengths include attention to detail, organizational skills, extensive computer background and she is highly people-oriented having worked in the professional service and retail industry most of her life. She speaks French and some Spanish and has established strong relationships with vendors and contractors of all types.
She is also a competitive tennis player as well as a violinist and singer.
Additional Staff
As our clientele continues to grow, so will our staff. Besides a standard background check, each employee will be carefully screened for their emotional and intellectual stability, their commitment level and their ability to do the job with grace, poise and integrity.