The Magic of J. Woeste

For Nearly Three Decades,
Jefferson Woeste Has Welcomed
Locals and Visitors Alike to
His Los Olivos Garden Shop,
Where Every Corner Holds a Story

By Tiana Molony | Photos by Ingrid Bostrom
September 11, 2025

Find more Fall 2025 Home & Garden stories here.

Jefferson Woeste, owner of J. Woeste in Los Olivos | Credit: Ingrid Bostrom

Jefferson Woeste, the owner of J. Woeste in Los Olivos, was practically born with a garden shovel in hand. By the time he was 9, he had planted his first pepper tree — an early act of devotion to the soil that would shape his life in ways only a third-generation Californian could understand.

His avó (Portuguese for grandmother), who seemed always to smell faintly of lemon verbena (she kept the leaves tucked in her apron pockets, as if they were a secret charm), was the one who first taught him to see gardening not as labor but as a kind of inheritance.

Growing up, he would watch her tend to her “fabulous” flower garden, and he would eventually do planting of his own. “I used to plant the flower beds at the house,” he recalls, “and dabbled in the backyard with different types of plants — I’ve always enjoyed it.”

Not only did she grow beautiful flowers, but both his avó and avô (Portuguese for grandfather) were homesteaders. “So, all the food that was on the dinner table came from their garden and their cattle.”

The love of growing and nurturing that his grandparents instilled in him naturally led Woeste to pursue hands-on work with plants. During college at California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly), he worked at a nursery, mowing lawns and doing, as he says, “whatever it took to keep my bosses happy.”

In the late ’80s, Woeste and his husband, Bruce Cleveland, would end up purchasing half of that very nursery business, owning it for a decade before deciding to turn a new leaf.

Credit: Ingrid Bostrom

Just before the turn of the century, they arrived in the Santa Ynez Valley with plans to open a new business. A visit to a real estate office in nearby Santa Ynez turned up nothing promising — until the agent slid them a flyer for a 114-year-old farmhouse for sale.

They drove straight there. Cleveland hopped out of the car to peep over the fence, leaving Woeste in the front seat. “I just saw it and [knew] it’s the right one,” Cleveland remembers. He turned around and told Woeste to “call the Realtor.”

They called but quickly realized they didn’t have the funds. On a whim, they asked the then-owner, Ralph Quackenbush, if he’d “carry paper” or provide seller financing. Quackenbush agreed, and the property was theirs. “It was because of Ralph that we were able to acquire that property,” Woeste recalls. Naturally, he and Cleveland celebrated the success over ice cream sundaes.

That was in 1998. Over the past 27 years, Woeste has served multiple generations of loyal customers. “I have watched children grow, get married, have babies, and they’re bringing those babies to the store,” he reflects. “So, we’ve been through a lot of generations.”

At J. Woeste, you’ll find a variety of eccentric home and garden pieces. | Credit: Ingrid Bostrom

J. Woeste has since evolved from a run-of-the-mill garden store into a destination for eccentric home and garden pieces, specializing in succulents and a carefully curated mix of unique items — from pots with animated faces to miniature houses fit for fairies.

As Woeste jokes, “We were doing it before Martha ever was.”

It’s a treasure trove of the kind where you can roam around for hours and never get bored. One can’t simply pass by items, but instead must crouch down and inspect them with a magnifying glass, like Sherlock Holmes.

To acquire their unique selection, Woeste spends a lot of time on the road, traveling extensively to trade shows and markets in cities such as Atlanta, Dallas, New York, and Las Vegas.

Woeste and Cleveland travel far and wide
to curate items for the shop. | Credit: Ingrid Bostrom

When Cleveland isn’t working at their other business, Trends, a hair salon in Santa Maria, he’s on the road with Woeste. “I feel privileged that I can actually take off because of my business,” says Cleveland. “I can set my hours, and we can travel together to find all these treasures.”

Woeste feels a sense of pride in traveling far and wide to source for the store. “When you think about everything that’s in that store, I purchased because I like it,” he notes, “it’s kind of like your house, where everything is in your home because you selected it.”

With a seemingly never-ending selection of treasures, it’s easy to get lost in all the magic — so much so that you might forget to leave. That was precisely the case for two women who got locked in the store’s yard one night. They had to crawl through the gate to get out, Woeste tells me.

The next day, the women returned, laughing about the experience, and it became their favorite story to tell at gatherings. Woeste thinks they were enjoying the shop so much that they simply didn’t hear the music turn off or the fountain cease flowing, indicating closing time. “It speaks to the point,” he notes, “that people love J. Woeste.”

Over time, the shop has become a beloved fixture in Los Olivos, located at the corner of Alamo Pintado and Nojoqui avenues. It’s hard to miss these days, as a comically large red chair outside has become a popular photo opportunity. There are always people around.

“I love to drive by at night,” Woeste says, “after dinner, and people will just be there.”

J. Woeste, 2356 Alamo Pintado Ave., Los Olivos; jwoeste.com.

Credit: Courtesy