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One of the main purposes of this web site is to give you valuable information about the Ojai Valley, Ojai Real Estate, Ojai Valley Neighborhoods, Ojai Valley Homes and Land.

Welcome to the Ojai Valley, one of the most unique, beautiful and wonderful places in the world to live. We are Andro Kotula, Belinda Wynn and Trent Jones, Ojai Valley Realtors. We welcome the opportunity to assist you in locating, purchasing, or selling a property in the Ojai Valley. Whether it is a home, a vacant land parcel or commercial property, we are here to represent you.

Ojai Valley Neighborhoods, Ojai, California,
best places to buy a home in the Ojai Valley

Andro Kotula, Belinda Wynn and Trent Jones working together as a team assisting buyers in locating homes in the Ojai Valley. Call (805.640.8354) or E-mail us today.

As local Realtors and residents we would like to personally welcome you to our home town, the Ojai Valley.

One main reason you want to call us is that we know the different neighborhoods and can give you inside information about the types of homes and benefits of each area. The Ojai Valley is made up of six major communities / neighborhoods. (Scroll down for more details on the Ojai Valley) They are the City of Ojai, and the communities of Upper Ojai, Meiners Oaks, Mira Monte, Oak View and Casitas Springs. Other defined Ojai Valley neighborhoods and communities would include Estate homes in Saddle Mountain, Rancho Matilija, Persimmon Hill and the Arbolada There are also unique, out of the way communities such an Matilija Canyon where the living is remote, wild and free.

Location Map - view map showing the six Ojai Valley Neighborhoods.

Located in Ventura County, California, the Ojai Valley is a one-of-a- kind place to live, work and raise a family. There are approximately 32,000 residents living in the Valley. Ojai Valley Real Estate prices range from $200,000 to well over $5,000,000 with an average sales price ranging from $450,000 to $800,000.

Moving to Ojai?

New York Time Article Living In the Ojai Valley

The Magic of the Ojai Valley

My name is Trent Jones. I am an Ojai Valley Realtor and I have the privilege to live in this magical place called the Ojai Valley. Perhaps it is the surrounding Los Padres National Forest, the orange and avocado groves, the pink glow of the mountains at the end of each day, the friendly people or just the quiet easy going rhythm of this place that has captured my heart and caused me to call this beautiful valley home sweet home. Whatever it is, I know I am at home in Ojai. I moved to the Ojai Valley in 1997 from Burbank. I left Burbank because I wanted to get away from the stress of living in a big city. Not only did I get away from the stress of city living I found a magical and exciting place to live and work. I often tell my wife Olga, Ojai must be as close to heaven as you can get on earth. One thing I love about the Ojai Valley is that instead of being surrounded by city I am now surrounded by mountains and mother nature.

As I stand high above the Ojai Valley at the Denison Grade looking out over the Valley I wonder what it must have been like hundreds of years ago as smoke rose from the camp fires of the Chumash Indians. Perhaps I would have been able to hear the faint sounds of the Chumash Indian children playing, dogs barking or men and woman busy with their daily chores. This ancient culture of American Indians were some of the first people to inhabit North America and inhabited areas of the Ojai Valley and other areas along the Pacific Coast between Malibu and Paso Robles, as well as on the Northern Channel Islands. Before the white man arrived there were some 150 independent Indian villages.

The Ojai Valley had much to offer these early inhabitants. The natural hot springs up in the Matilija Canyon areas and other parts of the Valley was surely one of these attractions. Another was the pleasant year around climate and abundant wildlife. In addition the Chumash Indians considered the Valley a sacred place where it was said they experienced spiritual vibrations from the Topa Topa Mountains that tower over the valley below. I am also sure that the spectacular sunrises and sunsets along with the brilliant pink glow of the mountains caused even these ancient peoples to take pause and be in a state of reverence.

It is said that the word "Ojai" is derived from the Chumash word "A'hwai" (pronounced aw-ha-ee) meaning moon. If you have ever experienced an Ojai Valley full moon you will know the magic of the word A'hwai . However, let it be known that there is some disagreement of the actual meaning of the word A'hwai where some claim the true meaning is "the nest" referring to the way the mountains encircle the elongated east-west valley. I suggest we let the scholars fight over that one.

Other Chumash words still linger about and are used by the locals. For example the word Kuyam (koo-yahm), a Chumash word meaning "a place to rest together" is used by the famous Ojai Spa to describe its signature mud treatment.

These early peoples inhabited this part of the world from more than 8000 years. Today, there are still many local people who can trace their ancestry back to these historic Chumash communities. Occasionally at Lake Casitas descendants of the Chumash Indians and other Indian tribes gather in a great Pow Wow to celebrate their ancestry.

In 1542 the Juan Rodriquez Cabrillo anchored his fleet off what is now Ventura. The Spanish Missionaries soon followed. When the first Spanish missionaries arrived, there were believed to be as many as 22,000 Chumash living in various Pacific coast areas. Eventually the Missionaries and the early settlers in their quest to civilize and convert them to Christian ways wiped out the Chumash Indian tribes.

Indian land was soon divided up and given away as Spanish Land grants. In 1837 Gov. Juan Bautista Alvarado granted to Fernando Tico a large area which was named the Ojai Ranch. He used the land to raise cattle and grow crops. Mr. Tico sold the Ranch in 1853. The land in the Ojai Valley then sold and resold, was the center of unsuccessful Oil exploration and eventual became and area where people again, like the Chumash Indians, where attracted to the Ojai Valley for its spiritual and healing attributes. If these early settlers could only see what Ojai Valley land is selling for now they would role over in their graves.

A lot of people do not know that the first name for Ojai was not Ojai but Nordhoff. It seems that in 1972 a group of early settlers named the town after the writer Charles Nordhoff. Mr. Nordhoff had written about the experiences of moving West and the settlers felt that naming their little community after him would pay him a rewarding tribute. But the name Nordhoff did not stick. Edward Drummond Libby one of the early developers of the now downtown area along with others later renamed the town Ojai after a special event called Ojai Day.

Today, The City of Ojai is by far the smallest city in Ventura County, yet it serves as a hub for the larger unincorporated areas in the Ojai Valley and as a gateway to the Los Padres National Forest. The Ojai Valley is ten miles long and three miles wide.

THE HISTORY OF THE OJAI VALLEY GEOLOGY AND ANCIENT TIMES by Don Weinman, Dec. 1997
The Book: The Ojai Valley: An Illustrated Ojai Valley History is the result of six years of intense research and an additional fifteen years of history collecting. Within these pages are thousands of little-known facts about every aspect of the Ojai Valley, California, illustrated by over 150 photographs.

The Ojai Valley Museum, a history of the Ojai Valley
General Ojai Valley Historical Information by Wikipedia Encyclopedia
A historical look at Ojai created by the youth of Ojai.

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