A Special House for Sale

"The oaks grow uncrowded and invite the sunshine to play among their leaves"

Edward Drummond Libby

This wonderful little home is a classic intact example of the authentic Spanish architecture of early California

It happens to be on the same street that I live on but is up the road a way. 

I have walked by it many times and sighed because it has fallen in to a bit of disrepair,

but I love it none the less. 

And yes...its for sale!

It sits across the road from the Libby Stables.  

A renovation documented by designer Kathryn Ireland in her wonderful book 

Creating A Home.  

That amazing house, shown below, is now the vacation home of actress Reese Witherspoon and her children.

This little house, not quite as grand, has all of the details of a 1920's ranch home that make it great project for the preservationist or perhaps a crazy person...like me...who loves a challenge

The house was built in 1917 by Edward Drummond Libby for his Chauffeur.

It is nestled among the 100 year old oaks and is a small and simple house with 

 3 bedrooms and 2 baths.  The architecture is not all that remarkable but I would suspect that Wallace Neff had a hand in the construction, because he was designing properties all over Ojai for Mr Libby

The barrel tile roof and the thick hand made brick walls are just wonderful.

There is something about the simple single story house that is so pretty on a large lot like this one.

It is hard to capture the romance of  this little house and the stillness that surrounds you when you stand under these huge old trees

Time stands still

One of the things I noticed about this house the first time I walked by, is the heart shaped cutout of the shutters. 

 Above is the little guest house.  

Look at the size of the big rocks around the porch!

I would suspect the green trim was more of a turquoise than this darker color when the house was first built

The original entrance is still here and is as charming as it must have been in the 1920's

 Stone patios and off kilter raised beds are very typical of what you see in most of the historic homes in the Ojai Valley

Every thing was built right on site with stone quarried from around the property.  

It has a few citrus but is generally sort of a hog pog of vegetation with lots of old succulents and cactus

The hand hewn front porch timbers are still  intact as are most of the casement windows and doors.

This is a humble home, to be sure, but the potential is amazing...

You can view more details here

And Hey.... we could be neighbors!

I will be looking at this home myself in a week or so and will share more then!

The Libby Estate, designed by architect Myron Hunt  in 1908  is for sale as well.

You can view that home here

It is truly a work of art

Have a wonderful and restful Labor Day

Hope you enjoyed the tour

~kelley~