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Discover Ojai Homes, Ojai Valley Real Estate, Ojai Estate Homes, Ojai Land, Ojai Real Estate Agents
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, vacant land parcel or commercial property, we are here to represent you.
Click here for the absolutely best list of Ojai homes currently for sale. This unique list of Ojai Valley Properties is complete with pictures, addresses and sorted by price range areas. Easy to use this detailed list, prepared specifically for you by three Ojai Realtors who live in Ojai and know the area.
Use this Ojai Valley Real Estate web site to learn more about the Ojai Valley, Ojai Valley Neighborhoods and Ojai Valley Real Estate.
Ojai Valley Neighborhoods, Ojai, California,
best places to buy a home in the Ojai Valley
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.
Click here to view a location map of 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 $300,000 to well over $5,000,000 with an average sales price ranging from $600,000 to $800,000.
Ojai Valley Featured Homes
Here are just a some of the homes and Land currently for sale in the Ojai Valley. Click here to get a 100% complete list of homes and land.
- Click here for a sample list of hot properties currently for sale in the Ojai Valley and other areas of Ventura County
- Click here for an exclusive list of homes currently for sale ... eMailed directly to you ... this is by far the very best list of Ojai Valley Homes currently available.
- Ojai Valley Land for sale!
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- Ojai Land. Fantastic 10 acre Ojai Valley Land Parcel just 15 minutes to downtown Ojai. Located just 1/2 mile off of Ojai-Santa Paula Road on Sulphur Mountain Road, this level 10 acre parcel on the valley floor has beautiful 360 degree views, is set-off of Sulphur Mountain Road down a long legal easement. Incredible views of Topa Topa Mountain and the surrounding hills and forests. New survey and topography map included. Well and electric panel to be completed for new owners.
- Click here and E-mail us a request for more details and a complete list of all Ojai land currently for sale.
Click here - Nov. 30 Article in the New York Time about Ojai
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 one 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 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 Libbey 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 City of Ojai which is the heart of the Ojai Valley, is off the "beaten path", some fourteen miles inland from the ocean. You have to go out of your way to get here and that is just how the residents like it. This is not a Wal-Mart town and never will be. Instead, you will find many small town, family-owned businesses, one movie house, some great "down home, kick back" coffee houses, a weekly farmers market with organic fruits and veggies, one small town local newspaper, some incredible art galleries, quaint shops and many fine restaurants. For the outdoor lovers there is a world famous 18 hole champion golf course, numerous hiking, biking and horse trails, a full service athletic club complete with tennis and two pools, acres of peaceful park lands and Lake Casitas.
Ojai is a community where, on the 4th of July everyone comes-out to watch the local parade and the fireworks. It is a community where people gather to raise money for and provide support for the land conservancy, Ojai Valley youth, the arts and to promote local theatre and music and film festivals. You will find all the major churches here, a number of meditation centers, health food stores, fitness centers and yoga centers, dance studios and more. There are world famous private schools here and excellent public schools. It is a place where the stress levels are low, the dress code is casual and people are just down-right friendly. There is always something going on here and if you want to get involved and participate, you will never be bored or lonely. In the Valley there are more than 250 clubs and organizations that provide a wide-range of cultural, fraternal, and social opportunities. Flowers will bloom here all year-round and the weather is almost always perfect. By 10 PM this town is in bed and all is quiet except perhaps the distant sounds of a group of coyotes in the nearby Los Padres Mountain Ranges.
Click here - Nov. 30 Article in the New York Time about Ojai
Click here to view a map showing the location of Ojai in Ventura County
Click here to learn more about why people move to the Ojai Valley.
Click here to learn more about the history of Ojai and the history of the Ojai Valley.
Other Ojai Valley Historical Notes
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