This delightful 2br/ 2.5ba Creekside Village condo offers 1389 square feet of gorgeous, light-soaked space that is the perfect blend of comfort and convenience. A sun-drenched living room with high ceilings opens to a sleek kitchen with stainless steel appliances and granite countertops and an adjacent casual dining area. A private porch off the living room provides easy access to the outdoors. The Creekside community offers resort-like amenities including a pool, spa and club room. This townhome offers stylish comfort in a prime location.
This pristine 5br/4ba mid-century modern masterpiece is artfully positioned on its nearly one acre lot to command uninterrupted views of the Topa Topas and the northern ridge. It offers 3,673 sqft of refined living space and lush, private grounds with stately oaks, drought-resistant landscaping, and fruit trees. Floor to ceiling windows create an ambiance of airy openness, while the pool, spa and lounging areas invite one to enjoy the outdoors. A Tesla Powerwall and 28 solar panels are among the many upgrades. It is a slice of architectural heritage infused with the magical experience of Ojai. Offered at $3,875,000
Featured Listings
OJAI VALLEY
2092 Los Encinos Road
3 BED | 3 BATH | 2,658 SQFT. | LISTED FOR $1,700,000
Welcome to 2092 Los Encinos Road, a traditional-style home beautifully situated in the heart of Ojai, California. As you step inside, you are greeted by a spacious and inviting living area, where exposed beam ceilings and skylights flood the room with natural light, creating an airy and welcoming atmosphere. . The living space features a cozy fireplace that adds warmth and charm, perfect for gatherings or quiet evenings at home. The heart of this home is undoubtedly its meticulously designed kitchen, equipped with modern appliances and ample counter space, making it ideal for culinary enthusiasts.
SAN T A P AULA
4 30 N Palm Avenue
2 BE D | 1.5 B ATH | 1,124 SQF T | LISTED FOR $549,000
Welcome to 430 North Palm Avenue, a fully renovated traditional condo in Santa Paula.This 2-bedroom, 1.5-bathroom home offers 1,124 sq ft of thoughtfully designed living space. The PUD boasts contemporary appliances and a private cement patio. Enjoy the convenience of being located in a prime spot within the complex, just above the large community pool and clubhouse. Situated in the heart of Santa Paula, this home provides easy access to the city’s charming downtown, local shops, dining, and historic attractions. Embrace a lifestyle of comfort and convenience in this serene and inviting community.
PAULA
12617 Koenigstein Road
4 BED | 2.5 BATH | 2,995 SQFT. | LISTED FOR $2,400,000
Discover a hidden gem in the prestigious Upper Ojai Valley at 12617 Koenigstein Road. This property sits in the heart of Bear Canyon, along Bear Creek, beneath the foothills of the Topa Topas. Once a retreat for old Hollywood, this enchanting Craftsman-style, historical farmhouse is beautifully situated on roughly 6 acres of verdant land, bordered by a tranquil creek. The grounds are a haven of peace, with four different water features and sources. The most eye-catching and ear soothing is Bear Creek which feeds fresh water through a beautiful waterfall into the Koi Pond. Embrace the opportunity to own a slice of paradise, where luxury meets history in the heart of Ventura County.
Meet Jeff Belzer
Jeff Belzer is your dedicated Realtor® committed to enhancing your real estate experience in Ventura County and beyond. A Ventura native, Jeff’s deep community ties and passion for real estate make him a standout in the industry.
Jeff’s real estate journey began in 2010 after gaining experience in the wholesale sector and obtaining his license. His family background in real estate and healthcare instilled values of integrity and service, which he carries into his work. Known for his unwavering commitment to clients, Jeff ensures a seamless and rewarding experience whether you’re buying or selling.
His reputation for trust, reliability, and results is built on referrals from satisfied clients, reflecting his exceptional service and expertise. With over a decade of experience in the Southern California real estate market, Jeff offers extensive knowledge and innovative strategies to achieve optimal outcomes.
Ranked among the top 1.5% of RealTrends America’s Best Real Estate Professionals in 2023, Jeff’s accolades highlight his dedication. However, his genuine love for Ventura County, from its tight-knit community to its stunning coastal scenery, truly drives him.
Contact Jeff Belzer today and let him turn your real estate goals into reality.
SANTA
Bret Bradigan
FINDING OJAI ON STAGES
"So you’ll find often, when you ask these people why they’re fighting, that “It’s more fun to fight than work in the mines or as slaves on the great haciendas.” — John Reed
One of the most influential pieces of writing I've read recently came through complete accident. I was given a hand-me-down Kindle reader, and among the free content with which it came stocked was "Insurgent Mexico," an odd choice but one that intrigued me enough in a fit of boredom to read anyway. It didn't take but a few pages before I was fully absorbed into John Reed's account of Mexican revolutionaries fighting against Porfirio Diaz' corrupt, sclerotic reign.
Though he came from wealth and moved easily among the elites at Harvard, Reed was an intrepid journalist who embedded with Pancho Villa's forces in northern Mexico, witnessing at close range and in grave personal danger the elan vital and, yes, fun that these ill-equipped peasants had fighting for freedom and personal dignity. Reed was only 26 years old, 10 years from his death of typhus in Russia as he witnessed the birth of the Soviet Union. The result was "10 Days that Shook the World." He is the only American enshrined in the Hall of Soviets, and he was depicted in an Oscar-winning film starring and directed by Warren Beatty.
What fired my attention was his deeply human account of the rhythms of Mexican life. People came from all over to the remote mountain village of El Oro with their mules and on foot for three days of drinking and dancing. The main attraction was The Pastorelles, a version of the highly allegorical miracle plays that are often attributed as having gave birth to modern drama. In an early days of the pandemic, I talked on the Ojai podcast with Shakespeare actor and scholar Michael Addison about the context of these miracle plays on the evolution of Shakespeare, where a vivid character like Falstaff might have originated as a depiction of Gluttony. You can see early traces of Shylock, Iago and other villains through the depictions of Satan and his demon legions. Reed found it remarkable at how audiences cheered the villains, because they could recognize, and identity with, the complicated nature of humanity.
What Reed recognized is that these plays gave birth to modern theater through their blend of religious allegories and folk traditions knitted together through lively performances. These insights connect directly to Ojai, a small village that looms large in America's imagination because of the stories that are told about us, and which we tell about ourselves. It's key to why I publish the OM and OQ, and why I produce the Ojai podcast. As I write this, we've got "Spamalot" onstage at the Ojai Art Center, Ojai Performing Arts Theater's top-notch productions, and next month's Ojai Playwrights Conference, which culminates in public performances of new works by America's brightest theatrical minds. It's a busy summer on stage.
All of these, much like that Mexican village which Reed wrote about with such dazzling insight and empathy, illuminate and inspire our lives, transcend time by blending tradition with innovation, help us understand current issues and timeless themes and breathe life into the narratives that help us navigate this strange rock in space. Not bad for a little town perched on the eastern edge of the Pacific Rim.
FOUNDING FATHERS & MOTHERS
While Edward Drummond Libbey is rightfully regarded among Ojai’s chief benefactors — having been behind the building of such Ojai landmarks as the Ojai Valley Inn, St. Thomas Aquinas Church (now the Museum), Post Office Tower and the Arcade — others have been very influential in shaping Ojai’s identity. Here’s a few:
Annie Besant. Free-thinker, feminist and noted Theosophist. Though she only spent a few days in Ojai, she brought Krishnamurti to Ojai, and helped buy hundreds of acres of property in Ojai, (now the sites of Besant Hill School and, along with A.P. Warrington, the Krotona Center) which she called “the smiling vale.” She is considered one of the pioneers of introducing Eastern mystical thought to the West, and was an early advocate of India’s independence. and the labor movement.
Jiddhu Krishnamurti. The spiritual teacher and writer, came to Ojai in 1922, sponsored by the Theosophical Society, though he later broke with that group (“The Leaderless Path.”) He gave talks to many thousands of people each year, in the Star Camps in the oak groves west of Ojai (now the site of Oak Grove School. He once held the Guinness Book of World Records for having spoken to the greatest number of people.
Weather in Ojai
Beatrice Wood. The famed ceramicist’s (“The Mama of Dada”) greatest work of art may well have been her life. The irreverent, avant-garde Wood lived and worked in Ojai for decades until her death in 1998 at age 105. She inspired two classic movies, Francois Truffaut’s “Jules et Jim,” and James Cameron’s “Titanic.” She attributed her longevity to “chocolate and young men.” Her autobiography was appropriately titled, “I Shock Myself.” Many of her distinctive, whimsical, luminous luster-glazed pieces are on display at her former home, now the Beatrice Wood Center, in upper Ojai.
Sherman Day Thacher. After coming West to farm and care for an ailing brother, the Yale-educated Thacher realized that he was going to need another source of income. So he founded The Thacher School in 1887. Now one of the most prestigious preparatory academies in the country, its founding creed was “teach a boy to ride, shoot and tell the truth.” Also, in 1896, his brother William founded “The Ojai,” the country’s oldest amateur tennis tournament. Among Thacher’s more illustrious students were industrialist, aviator and film producer Howard Hughes and three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and novelist Thornton Wilder, who wrote his first play while a Thacher student.
OJAI QUICK FACTS:
The name “Ojai” is believed to be derived from the Ventureño Chumash word ‘awhaý, meaning “moon.” In 1837, Fernando Tico received a land grant and established a cattle ranch. Thomas A. Scott, who had financial success with oil and railroads, bought the Ojai Valley in 1864 for oil exploration. By 1868, Scott, through his agent Thomas Bard, began selling properties to homesteaders. By 1874, R.G. Surdam plotted out the town he would call Nordhoff, renamed Ojai in 1917.
Ojai is about 90 miles northwest of Los Angeles and 30 miles east of Santa Barbara. The valley is about 10 miles long by 3 miles wide, surrounded by hills and mountains; the rare east-west orientation with a slight southward tilt gives the valley an extraordinary sun exposure; Ojai’s citrus and avocado crops are highly prized. This orientation also gives rise to Ojai as a spiritual destination.
It was due to the resources and organizing energy of Ohio glass manufacturer Edward Drummond Libbey that Nordhoff was rebuilt and renamed Ojai, inspired by the City Beautiful Movement. By 1917, with the construction of the Arcade and Post Office Tower, the town took its present shape.
The city’s self-styled nickname is “Shangri-La,” based on the story that Ojai was the backdrop (later left on the editing room floor) from the 1937 movie as the mystical sanctuary of James Hilton’s novel “Lost Horizon.”
JULY CALENDAR OF EVENTS podcast events
INDEPENDENCE DAY PARADE | JULY 4 10 A.M. | 4thOfJulyInOjai.Com
JULY 3
Visions of America Concert
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Location: Libbey Bowl
Contact: OjaiTheater.org
This free multimedia show features musical performances by Sophie Holt, Jimmie Calire, and B. Valentine with a stirring rendition of “The Way We Were.” The program focuses on patriotic photographs by Joe Sohm, accompanied by renowned pianist Roger Kellaway, with lyrics by Oscar winners Marilyn and Alan Bergmann, and narration by Clint Eastwood.
JULY 4
Fourth of July Parade & Fireworks Times: Parade at 10 a.m., Fireworks at dusk, gates open at 5:30 p.m.
Location: Ojai Avenue for the Parade, Nordhoff High School for the Fireworks.
Contact: 4thofJulyinOjai.com
Considered one of America’s finest small-town Independence Day celebrations. The Fireworks show includes food trucks and live music.
JULY 20
Fleetwood Mac Tribute by Mirage
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Libbey Bowl
Contact: 805-646-5581 ext. 120 LibbeyBowl.org
OJAI BAND CONCERTS | JULY 10, 17, 24, 31 | OjaiBand.com
JULY 27
Eagles Tribute by the Long Run Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Libbey Bowl
Contact: 805-646-5581 ext. 120 LibbeyBowl.org
JULY 28
Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Libbey Bowl
Contact: 805-646-5581 ext. 120 LibbeyBowl.org
AUGUST 1-4
Ojai Playwrights Conference’s New Works Festival Time: Varied.
Location: Thacher School’s Milligan Center for the Performing Arts
5025 Thacher Road
Contact: Info@OjaiPlays.org
805-633-1170
Among America’s most prestigious workshops for established and newly discovered playwrights.
Location: Ojai Valley Museum 130 West Ojai Avenue.
Contact: 640-1390
Come see why there’s so much historical hullabaloo about the “smiling vale.”
JULY 14
Coffee & Cars
Dates: Second Sundays of the month Times: 8 to 10 a.m.
Location: Westridge Market parking lot
Come check out classic and luxury cars from the area’s proudest collectors. Here’s your chance to learn from the owners about the history and importance of some of the world’s most incredible automobiles.
THURSDAYS
Ojai: Talk of the Town Podcast New episodes come out Thursday evenings through the OjaiHub.com newsletter. Come listen in to the fun.
Photo by Stephen Adams
MINIMALIST WILDLAND SANCTUARY
On 44 pristine acres in Upper Ojai, this modern compound includes a 2700sf main house, a 900sf guest house, a pool and terraces all enfolded in the crook of a dramatic eastern ridge with unparalleled privacy and magnificent views of the Topa Topas, the Upper Valley and Sulphur Mountain. Designed by its architect owners to be a serene, airy, modernist experience completely in harmony with the landscape, this is a truly unique Ojai property that honors both the rawness of nature and the fearless possibilities of contemporary design and construction. Offered at $5,250,000
A luxury villa/vineyard estate providing the ultimate in architecture, design, craftmanship, and setting. Brand new construction of the 5100 sqft, 4br/5ba home is finished with the highest quality materials, appliances and fixtures. An H-shaped floorplan separates private sleeping areas from public social areas. The open living area includes a chef’s kitchen, a 2-sided fireplace, and a wine tasting room. The grounds feature a 100% organic vineyard, pool/spa with epic views, and multiple courtyards and verandas to take full advantage of the spectacular natural setting. Offered at $8,995,000
DAREN THOMAS MAGEE
BY BRET BRADIGAN
THE ILLUSTRATING MAN
Magee’s Distinctive Drawings and Messages Have Brought Him Hundreds of Thousands of Followers. It All Began With One Humble Ojai Postcard
With its confident lines, symmetry, neutral color palette, and strikingly original concepts, Daren Thomas Magee’s work is instantly recognizable. He’s created murals at Summer Camp Ojai and in a bathroom at the Rancho Inn, as well as thousands of postcards at local hotels and other businesses. He has received commissions from Adobe, Penguin Books, The Gap and other national retailers.
Magee grew up in Lockport, N.Y., 30 miles north of Buffalo, near the western terminus of the Erie Canal. A typical Rust-Belt town, its population has been shrinking for decades. It’s an unlikely place from which such a renowned illustrator and graphic designer would come to Ojai. “I’ve managed to drop my cold, exterior shell as I’ve become more acclimated to the California lifestyle,” he said.
Magee, during his conversations on the Ojai podcast, said he went through the motions in his youth. “I was going through high school without any sense of direction. Friends were branching off
DAREN MAGEE’S DISTINCTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS, TYPOGRAPHY AND WHIMSICALLY PROFOUND MESSAGES ARE TAILOR-MADE FOR THE WORLD OF ON-LINE RETAIL, WHERE HE SELLS HIS DESIGNS AT REALFUNWOW.COM
to decide what college they were going to,” he said. “I was fortunate enough to have access to a vocational program my junior and senior years. I remember we toured the facility, they had car mechanics, beauticians, hospitality ... and they had a graphic design program. Brandnew Macintosh computers, digital and print-making, all this equipment I’d never seen before.” All of a sudden, “I could spend all day creating, so I made an immediate decision to take it.
“I got the highest grade in my class and perfect attendance,” he said. And, as a bonus, he got to quit math. “Math just scared me.”
Then after high school, “nothing,” he said. “I didn’t really have any idea of how to pursue this as a career path.” He spent months on a solo backpacking adventure across Europe. “It was incredible, I learned all sorts of life lessons.”
From there, “It was menial job after menial job. I worked in Yosemite for a few seasons, but the job was still waiting tables for people from all around the world, who feel entitled, who expect a level of service that they shouldn’t from a national park, and certainly not from a hungover artist.” He also had a stint as a “trim-migrant” in Humboldt County, in the harvesting and processing of marijuana, site of the “Murder Mountain” documentary.
“It was in the middle of nowhere, millions of miles from safety. People there govern themselves in a ruthless, lawless way.”
He and his partner settled in San Francisco where he paid the rent with gig jobs through Taskrabbit, “I did lots of Ikea furniture assembly,” he said, feeling like he was “gravitating from where I had a boss, to truly a job with no boss, where I do what I want.”
During a visit to Joshua Tree, he and his partner met a couple from Ojai, which precipitated their move to Ojai. “There was a weird limbo period, where I starting to draw more and more; irreverent, silly doodles, strange and funny, very much in
a Sergio (Aragoñes)-vein. Here’s where I was supposed to be, on this piece of paper, focusing on creating something.”
His tools have evolved since he began working on an iPad, which gives his drawing the hand-made feel, and he can then open them in Photoshop “to give them a rustic, rugged feel ... I couldn’t do what I do without Adobe Creative Suites.” He also credits Instagram for making his career possible. “How else would people from Japan find me?”
He launched his Instagram account with a modest number of followers, fewer than 500. “It was mostly friends and family members, ‘Hey look at what Daren is doing now!’ they’d say. I believe in the ‘Field of Dreams’ analogy, you really have to put yourself out there. If you build it, they will come.”
As his Instagram following grew into the hundreds of thousands, the orders started coming in. He was working at Rancho Inn’s Chief’s Peak Bar at the time, (“I wanted to align myself with whoever the cool movers and shakers were,”) living in a $900 a month rental (“Anyone who knows Ojai knows that’s unheard of,” he said) and starting to find a creative groove, when he hit on the plan to create an Ojai postcard.
“That’s my advice, anyone who wants to become an illustrator, if you live in a place with any sense of pride, create a postcard that distills what the town is, get it printed at VistaPrint — they have crazy sales, so cheap. I printed out 1,000, put them on counters, Beacon Coffee was one,” he said. “Every month, sometimes more, I’d put out a new stack. I’d be standing in line getting coffee, see someone pick it up, put it in their pocket, and get a thrill.”
At some point, every entrepreneur’s dream came true: his side hustle became his main hustle. “I started making a little money, started to get commissions,” he said. “I didn’t know what illustrators made, how to price my work. I had a lot of fear around Imposter’s Syndrome. But when work started to come in, I’d ask my co-workers to cover my shift, start giving away my shifts because I had illustration work coming in.”
His Instagram reels solidified his presence with their thoughtful, funny and wry observations on commerce, life in a small town, personal growth and social media. Also, troll clapbacks. He know his celebrity quotient was upward bound when he began attracting trolls. “If you give people an excuse or a reason to say something shitty, they will take it. When people are sad
ABOVE LEFT: MAGEE WITH THE MURAL HE CREATED AT MONICA ROS SCHOOL. ABOVE: A SELECTION OF DESIGNS
or lonely, and see someone else living their dream, it brings out their resentment. A lot of lessons have come out of it, for sure,” he said.
Speaking of lessons, for the past four years Daren and his friend Jaymee Carpenter have produced the “Mystical/Cynical” podcast, wherein Magee is the cynic and Carpenter the mystic. The two debate life’s big questions like fatherhood, ayahuasca and hip hop with an easy rapport. One fan described it as “like therapy by proxy; listening to a couple of smart guys figuring out their stuff.”
He also opened The Wow! House on 157 El Roblar Road in Meiners Oaks, where he proclaims, “I’m never open.” His art is showcased and his podcast produced on site.
Magee creates under his Real Fun Wow brand, which began as something his murmured to his partner as he was falling asleep. “The fact that my brand precedes me as a person, I think that was unintentionally beneficial ... a lot of things can live under that, as opposed to just one man creating things,” he said.
He is trying to establish himself as an individual artist, apart from Real Fun Wow. “So if I can go more into the fine arts world,
which is a place I’ve never spent any time in whatsoever, it’s a whole other kind of place to say, ‘here’s a piece of art. Does this thing have any kind of value to you versus a coffee mug?’A big part of the process of art to make the step from function to just pure art,” Magee said.
The online world that made his career possible is changing. “It’s more of a pay-to-play model now,” he said. “And so you have to buy into it. Social media, it’s not dead, but it’s not what it was when I got started. I hear it from a lot of my followers, and they say, ‘I don’t see your work anymore.’ That’s just because the algorithm has deemed my work as not interesting to you anymore.
“It’s like, ‘If you don’t get me in the first three seconds, I’m out of here.’ And I like to do these, not long-form videos, but I like to take a minute and say what I have to say,” he said. “I’m hoping that somebody finds a way to create something of a niche product that gets back to what that original of it (Instagram) was.”
Ojai may have inspired some of his design aesthetic. It certainly made room for it. “I am eternally grateful. I get to run my business from the comfort of my couch,” he said. “You can do whatever you want in this town, if you have enough gumption, put in enough
DAREN THOMAS MAGEE’S ORIGINAL ARTWORK FOR THE COVERS OF THE SPRING 2021 OJAI QUARTERLY & 2024 OJAI VISITORS GUIDE
Located within walking distance to downtown Ojai, this elegant family home has it all. Light and bright, you will love the open spacious floor plan. The beautifully detailed kitchen and den open to a sunroom, with a massive rock fireplace, which overlooks the private backyard and swimming pool. There are four fireplaces, a large office, downstairs primary bedroom with a ‘spa-like’ bath, formal living room and formal dining room — all with incredible details, balconies and patios to bring the outside in. This property, just over an acre, has an art studio, garden sheds, meandering pathways, a bridge leading to a five star chicken coop, orchards, vegetable and rose gardens, wonderful mature trees, views of the mountains and, yes, a Tree House. There is a one bedroom attached guest quarters. Private and quiet and yet so close to shops, restaurants, and the Ojai Arcade.
This wonderful original Ranch Style home was built long before its time. You will enjoy the details this three-bedroom, twobath home has to offer. The spacious light-filled rooms and gorgeous gardens will draw you in and you won’t want to leave. This charmer is waiting for you to make it your own. One of Ojai’s hidden treasures you will not want to miss. Private and quiet, located on one Ojai’s most quaint roads.
1 SHELF ROAD 3.5mi
EASY | Elev. Gain: 200 ft | Overlooks downtown Ojai.
VENTURA RIVER PRESERVE | 7mi
EASY TO MODERATE | Elev. Gain: 520 ft (Wills-Rice). Trailheads at end of Meyer Road, South Rice Road and Baldwin Road. Great for birding.
HORN CANYON 5.5mi
STRENUOUS | Elev. Gain: 1,600 ft. Trailhead near Thacher School’s gymkhana field. Goes to shady stand of 80-foot tall pines.
ROSE VALLEY 1mi
EASY | Elev. Gain: 100 ft
Trailhead at Rose Valley Campground. Leads to a spectacular 300-foot, two-tiered fall.
PRATT TRAIL 8.8mi
STRENUOUS | Elev. Gain: 3,300 ft | Trailhead off North Signal Street. Goes to Nordhoff Peak. Clear day? See forever.
COZY DELL 2.2mi
MODERATE | Elev. Gain: 740 ft | Trailhead 8 miles north of Ojai on Maricopa Highway. Short, intense hike that also connects to trail network.
SISAR CANYON 22mi
STRENUOUS | Elev. Gain: 4,800 ft to Topa Topa Bluffs. Trailhead at end of Sisar Road. Only for experienced, fit hikers.
GRIDLEY TRAIL 6-12mi
MODERATE | 3 mi to Gridley Springs (Elev. Gain: 1,200 ft) 6 mi to Nordhoff Peak. Trailhead at north end of Gridley Road.
MATILIJA CANYON 12mi
MODERATE | Elev. Gain: 1,200 ft | Middle Fork. Trailhead at end of Matilija Road. First 1.5 miles of trail well-maintained, the rest a scramble.
SULPHUR MTN. 22mi
MODERATE | Elev. Gain: 2,300 ft | Trailhead on eastern side of Sulphur Mountain Road. Views are unsurpassed.
FAMILY HOME
Located on one of Ojai’s most desirable streets and sitting perfectly on over half-an-acre, this wonderful family home is just waiting for you. This home features a spacious open floor plan with vaulted ceilings, Travertine stone floors throughout and light-filled rooms. There are two large living areas, both with their own fireplace, so you can enjoy the warmth of a cozy fire. Top of the line appliances in the large kitchen which looks out to the beautiful pool and backyard. The dining room opens to a large deck with lovely mountain views, a great place for entertaining. There are four bedrooms, three bathrooms with plenty of room for family and guests. The outdoor space is charming with meandering pebble pathways, lush landscape and mature trees. You will love splashing in the pool on warm summer days or soaking in the hot tub under the star-studded nights sky. With this ideal location you are close to hiking trails, shops, and restaurants. There is an oversized three-car garage with plenty of parking. Private and gated. Don’t miss this one!
Cocktail Gardens for Summer Entertaining
By Aimee Jo Davis-Varela
The summer entertaining season is here, which means it is time to prepare our outdoor living areas for entertaining. While you are making sure you have enough shade to keep your guests comfortable, preparing your fire pit to ensure your gatherings can go well into the night, and cleaning your grill for all those coming cookouts, here is one more thing you should consider: planting a cocktail herb garden.
Many herbs are even easier to grow than vegetables and often take up less space, which makes growing herbs great for beginner gardeners, folks with small yards, and parents or caregivers teaching kids about growing food. Of course, growing herbs is also popular with anyone who enjoys the freshest possible herbs for culinary, medicinal, or ceremonial purposes.
Fresh ingredients make the best cocktails and mocktails, and there is nothing quite like cooling off beside the pool or on a patio with a cold, flavorful beverage. I had the most refreshing, non-alcoholic cucumber fizz the other night at dinner, which was the inspiration for this month’s column.
While I do enjoy a cocktail now and then, I am not much of a drinker, but I do
very much enjoy a well-made drink with fresh ingredients. I also enjoy having a signature cocktail and mocktail to serve guests when hosting game nights and other gatherings. Incorporating ingredients right from my garden makes this even more fun.
Just about any edible herb can be worked into a drink recipe, so if you have favorites, that is a great place to start.
Here are a few more suggestions if you need a bit of inspiration:
1. Mint – Mint is so easy to grow it will take over your garden if you do not keep it corralled. Mint is best grown in a container or border to keep it from spreading. It is one of the most commonly used herbs in cocktails and mocktails, including mojitos, juleps, fizzes, mules, and spritzers, which makes it a perfect addition to a cocktail herb garden.
2. Basil – Basil is another easy-to-grow herb that has many uses in the kitchen. Aside from soups, salads, and pastas, basil can be added to pitchers or water or muddled or used as a garnish in cocktails and mocktails.
3. Sage – Sage pairs well with gins and bourbons and brings a distinctive flavor to non-alcoholic drinks. I have a huge pineapple sage plant in my garden that is one of my favorites for mocktail and cocktail crafting.
4. Lavender – If you have a garden in Ventura County, you are probably growing a bit of lavender somewhere anyways, so you might as well have some culinary lavender in your borders or right in your herb garden for drink-crafting purposes. Lavender is a pretty, aromatic garnish, but it also is perfect for infused spirits and makes a great addition to lemonade, sparkling water, and cocktails made with vodka or gin.
If you have space, you might want to consider expanding your garden to include other cocktail ingredients, such as cucumbers, jalapeños, tomatoes, limes, lemons, tangerines, tarragon, rosemary, thyme, and other herbs.
Harvesting fresh herbs from your potager to craft your own cocktails will make even the most consummate host just a bit fancier, so don’t be surprised if you suddenly find yourself referring to your covered porch as a veranda.
EAST END MASTERPIECE
Welcome to this nearly 35-acre income producing ranch located in the prestigious East End of Ojai. Truly iconic ranch nestled between McNell Creek and the Topa Topa Mountains offering you a perfect “Pink Moment” nearly every evening. This 1920’s farmhouse has four bedrooms, three bathrooms, remodeled kitchen and bathrooms, and a massive original rock fireplace. The light-filled rooms with large windows showcase the panoramic mountain views. There is a separate office/art stdio and a separate two bedroom, one bathroom guest house. Plenty of room to park all your farm equipment in the oversized three-car garage. This ranch produces Ojai Pixies, avocados, Cara Cara navel oranges, and a variety of other fruit trees. With a high-producing well along with Casitas ag water meter and solar ...living off the grid never looked so good. Rare opportunity to be part of the Williamson Act for tax savings benefits.
Ross Falvo
Keller Williams Realty “The Ojai Real Estate Guy” RossFalvo.com 805-207-5094
Nora Davis LIV Sotheby’s International Realty OjaiValleyEstates. com 805-207-6177
Kristen Currier LIV Sotheby’s International Realty
805-798-3757 thehoffgroup. com
Dennis Guernsey LIV Sotheby’s International Realty
805-798-1998
Therese A. Hartmann is a local loan consultant affiliated with C2 Financial Corporation, and is a Licensed Broker, California BRE #01048403. NMLS # 298291. Call Therese today at (805) 798-2158.
Donna Sallen
Remax Gold Coast Realtors Donna4Remax@aol.com
DonnaSallen.com 805-798-0516
Patty Waltcher
LIV Sotheby’s International Realty
Call me for your Real Estate needs. 805-340-3774
Team Deckert
Keller Williams Realty
Ray Deckert, Broker Associate ContactUs@ TeamDeckert. com
805-272-5218
Logan Hall Logan Hall Photography 805-798-0337 loganhallphotos. com
Clinton Haugan LIV | Sotheby’s International Realty 727 W. Ojai Ave. Ojai, CA 93023
The go-to place for food & sports 820 North Ventura Avenue
OJAI ROTIE
Rotisserie, sourdough, winebox 469 East Ojai Avenue
(805) 798-9227 ojairotie.com
OSTERIA MONTE GRAPPA
Rustic menu of Northern Italian fare & seafood dishes.
242 E Ojai Ave, Ojai, CA 93023 (805) 640-6767 omgojai.com
PAPA LENNON’S
Family owned, original & traditional Italian cuisine
515 West El Roblar Drive (805) 640-7388 papalennons.com
RAINBOW BRIDGE
A community gathering place 211 East Matilija Street (805) 646-6623 rainbowbridgeojai.com
THE RANCH HOUSE
An Ojai culinary destination for more than 60 years
102 Besant Road (805) 646-2360 theranchhouse.com
SAKURA OJAI
A locals’ favorite for Japanese food 219 East Matilija Street (805) 646-8777 sakuraojai.wix.com
SEA FRESH
Serving Ojai for 30 years
533 East Ojai Avenue (805) 646-7747 seafreshseafood.com
ZAIDEE’S BAR & GRILL
Patio & indoor dining with Ojai’s most tranquil views
1033 East Ojai Avenue (805) 646-5685 soulepark.com
CHEF RANDY’S LIFE OF SPICE
spicy grilled halloumi with watermelon
Halloumi is a semi-hard cheese made from sheep’s milk. It originated on Cyprus and was initially created there during the Eastern Roman Empire before gaining popularity throughout the rest of the Mediterranean region. I doubt that the Cypriots paired their halloumi cheese with slices of watermelon, but if they had, they would have loved the salty/sweet combination. When you slide the spiced halloumi and the watermelon off the skewer and into your mouth, it will put a smile on your face, and your belly will beg for more.
Randy Graham is a noted chef and writer and has been a lactoovo vegetarian for over 38 years. Chef Randy has written and published a series of seven cookbooks with original recipes developed over the period 1975 through 2020. He writes for the Ojai Quarterly, the Ojai Monthly, and the California 101 Travelers Guide. His vegetarian recipes are published in newspapers throughout Central California under the header, Chef Randy. He and his wife, Robin, live in Ojai, California, with their dog Cooper. Robin and Cooper are not vegetarians.
INGREDIENTS
:
Makes 12 individual appetizers
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground sumac
1 teaspoon ground Allepo pepper
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
8 to 10 ounces of halloumi cheese
1 small seedless watermelon
12 wood skewers (soaked beforehand in water)
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the grill to medium-high heat, about 500 degrees.
Mix the first five ingredients (coriander through black pepper) in a medium bowl. Set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the first five ingredients (coriander through black pepper) and set aside. Next, slice the halloumi cheese into 24 even cubes and cut the watermelon into 24 equallysized cubes. Thread the halloumi and watermelon alternately onto the skewers. Grill the skewers for three minutes on two sides, or until they're nicely charred and the halloumi starts to soften. Once done, remove from the grill and serve while still warm for the best flavor.
top mistakes homeowners make And 7 Ways To Avoid Them!
Home prices have continued soaring right along with interest rates, but it hasn’t much slowed the number of eager buyers out there. Considering the financial commitment it will take, it’s become even more crucial to avoid missteps.
To help, here is my top 7 list of things to avoid…
1. Skipping Pre-approval: One of the first and most crucial steps in the homebuying process is obtaining pre-approval. This step provides a clear picture of what you can afford and strengthens your offer. However, many buyers still neglect this essential step.
Pro Tip: Get pre-approved before you start your home search. This not only helps you understand your budget but also shows sellers that you’re a serious buyer.
2. Holding Out for the “One”: I get it, it’s a big decision! Still, there are folks who are kicking themselves for waiting either because they hesitated on a house that was bought out from under them, or they were priced out of the market. Holding out for a perfect home that meets every single criterion might not be the best approach. With low inventory, it’s important to be flexible and realistic about your expectations. Consider buying now, renovating after.
Pro Tip: Prioritize your must-haves and be open to compromise. Look for a home with good bones that meets most of your needs and offers potential for future upgrades.
3. Overextending Financially: Stretching your budget to secure a desirable property is tempting, especially with the current high prices and mortgage rates. However, buying more house than you can comfortably afford can lead to stress and potential regret. Focus on what you can reasonably handle in terms of
By Therese A. Hartmann
Therese A. Hartmann has more than 25 years’ lending experience. She is a Licensed Broker, California Dept. of Real Estate #01048403, NMLS # 298291, affiliated with C2 Financial Corporation. For a free consultation, call Therese today at (805) 798-2158.
monthly payments, rather than just the maximum loan amount you qualify for.
Pro Tip: Discuss with your real estate agent, tax advisor and loan officer to understand how different mortgage rates affect your monthly payments. Aim to keep your housing costs manageable in relation to your overall financial obligations. Limit stress.
4. Overlooking Additional Costs: The asking price of a home isn’t the only thing to consider. Many buyers overlook costs, such as property taxes, flood insurance, maintenance, and homeowners’ association (HOA) fees. These add up and can impact your overall budget.
Pro Tip: Create a comprehensive budget that includes all potential expenses. This will give you a more accurate picture and help you avoid financial mishaps down the road.
5. Failing to Plan for the Future: When buying a home, you’ll need to consider your long-term plans and how the property will fit
into them. For instance, if you plan to start a family, bring a parent in or adopt pets, you’ll want to ensure the home has enough space to accommodate them. And, if you’re nearing retirement, think about accessibility and maintenance needs.
Pro Tip: Work with your real estate agent to find a home that not only meets your current needs but also aligns with your future plans.
6. Neglecting to Work with Professionals: The importance of a knowledgeable mortgage pro and real estate agent cannot be overstated. An experienced professional can provide valuable insights, guide you through the process, and help you avoid common pitfalls. Going it alone has consequences including costly mistakes and missed opportunities.
Pro Tip: Partner with a trusted mortgage professional and real estate agent who knows the local programs and market well. Their expertise can help you navigate the complexities of home buying, and financing, and make informed decisions.
7. Ignoring the Home Inspection: Skipping the home inspection to speed up the process or save money is a risky move. A thorough home inspection can uncover potential issues that may not be immediately visible, such as structural problems, electrical issues, or plumbing defects.
Pro Tip: Always schedule a home inspection before finalizing the purchase. This step can save you from expensive repairs and might help with negotiating credits.
By avoiding these common mistakes, your homebuying experience will go much smoother. Remember, leaning on the expertise of professionals can be your greatest asset in making sound decisions and achieving your goals.
Little Orchard Farms – 33+ Acre Fenced, Private Retreat with 5 Wells, Orchard, Chicken Coop, Separate Studio, Stone Fireplace, Reverse Osmosis, Pond, Amazing Views, and Many Recent Upgrades. Hidden up a private road, yet minutes from town, this ranch is the best of both worlds with its privacy and location. There are more fruit trees than you can imagine; many varieties of citrus, as well as apricots, pears, pomegranates, white peaches, kiwis, grapes and more. LittleOrchardFarms.com $3,275,000
Royal Oaks Ranch - 5 Bedrooms, Upscale Finishes, Media Room, Wine Cellar, Tasting Room, Gym/Massage Room, Pool & Spa, Six-Car Garage, Bocce Court, Views, and More RoyalOaksRanchOjai.com
Roca Vista Ranch - Seven-Bedroom Main House on Approximately 10 Acres with Pool House, Pool, Spa, Outdoor Kitchen, Three-Car Garage, Two-Car Garage, Artist’s Loft, Lighted Tennis Court, Family Orchard, and Horse Facilities
$5,550,000
Ojai Commercial Property with Parking Lot, Showroom, Workshop, Office, Breakroom or Storage Room, Two Bathrooms, and Great Location in Industrial Area Evolving into Hip Entertainment District 907BryantPlace.com $1,785,000 Rose Valley Land - Create an off-grid, country retreat on 40 acres with mountain views, trails, and a natural spring in Rose Valley in the Los Padres National Forest
Ojai Land - Build your dream home on 1.25 acres in Upper Ojai with 20-25gpm well, water meter, Edison drop, and beautiful mountain views minutes from downtown Ojai. $697,500
1221 FOOTHILL ROAD OJAI
$8,950,000 BUYER’S REPRESENTATION
Romance in Ojai! A timeless Classic, this enchanting storybook compound, set on 1.6 acres of magical, park-like grounds, is a dream! Set against a backdrop of vast Topa Topa mountains, this inspired distinct five-dwelling property offers the ultimate sense of relaxed yet sophisticated country living in perfect harmony with its natural beauty, located in one of the most distinguished neighborhoods in Ojai!
