12135 Chumash Road

Description

Designed by John Davis, the architect famous for his fire-resistant structures, this strikingly beautiful ranchette/hacienda/villa will win your heart. Just a stone's throw from downtown Ojai, you'll feel like you live in the last house on the edge of the wilderness - nothing but open sky and mountains. The property has unobstructed views of the sacred Topa Topas and is flanked by a hundred-year-old apricot orchard on one side and the Los Padres National Forest on the other-- the pot of gold at the end of a one-street road that is as charming as it is rustic. Built from scratch in a field that had been fallow for fifty years, the buildings/units are simple but beautiful, and utterly unique - the product of great forethought on the part of the owner as both units are under 1200 square feet, deliberately constructed this way in case someone else with a vision wanted to build a much bigger house in the pasture that could also accommodate horses. All utilities are built on a T so that they would be easy to pull if a new owner wanted to make their own dreams come true. On the property itself, there is an orchard, Greek olives beside the lap pool, a small red barn now used for storage that adds the perfect farmhouse touch against the mountains that rise up on all sides - with a bonus home office that has its own deck. All on a drought-conscious drip, over fifty varieties of roses add color and brilliance to the stone paths that go from one house to the other. If that weren't enough, the elegant lap pool on the orchard side is capped off with a jacuzzi that has the best view of the Topas on the property, and likely in the county. This solar-powered property -- two-years old, all new high-end appliances --has been developed with taste, beauty and utility in mind, but probably most appealing is that it still holds great potential for someone who brings their own vision. Truly one-of-a-kind.