Amid Ojai oak trees, shades of old California
In 1921, George Washington Smith designed three Ojai homes in a district being developed by industrialist Edward Libbey.
At the time, Libbey owned a 500-acre wooded area known as Arbolada. He asked Smith for designs that might define the area.
Smith, who popularized the Spanish colonial revival style in the ‘20s, did just that, creating residences that harmonized with the surrounding landscape, as if they had grown among the oaks.
One of those Smith-designed homes is now on the market. This gated and walled estate, which recently underwent restoration, includes a two-bedroom guesthouse, a three-car garage and a swimming pool.
About this house: The home was known to locals as Cathy’s Oaks when it was owned in the ‘60s and ‘70s by Harry Finley, Beverly Hills’ florist to the stars, who named the property after his daughter.
Asking price: $2,855,151
Size: The two-story house has four bedrooms and 3 1/2 bathrooms in 3,800 square feet. It sits on a 1.2-acre lot.
Features: The upstairs master-bedroom suite overlooks the gardens. There is a three-bedroom, two-bathroom wing on the opposite side of the house. The home has hardwood and tile floors, a gourmet kitchen, formal living and dining rooms, a family room and a home office.
Where: The Arbolada area of Ojai.
Listing agents: Debbie Curry, (805) 233-2638, and Rosalie Zabilla, (805) 455-3183, both with Prudential California in Ojai.
To submit a candidate for Home of the Week, send high-resolution color photos with caption and credit information on a CD and a detailed description of the house to Ruth Ryon, Real Estate Section, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A., CA 90012. Questions may be sent to homeoftheweek@latimes.com.
