|
To Shangri-La! In
a Valley Setting, Posted February 13, 2010 By
George Medovoy, Editor You'd never know it driving down the 101 along California's coastline, but about 90 minutes north of Los Angeles on the way to Santa Barbara, there's an exit leading to an enchanting Shangri-La, the Ojai valley. Merge onto Highway 33 and you're soon in the same breathtaking valley which the director Frank Capra discovered for "Lost Horizon," his 1937 film starring Ronald Colman and Jane Wyatt.
(Poolside at the Emerald Iguana boutique hotel in Ojai -- a taste of dreamy Ojai)
Over the years, man have been touched by the valley's sublime beauty. The first, perhaps, were the Chumash Indians. And they must have been moved, as we are today, by the valley's famous "Pink Moment" at sunset, when the light kisses the Topa Topa mountain range, itself a strange quirk of nature because of its east-west orientation. "If you're into all that," one Ojai native told me, "it's supposed to make it a sort of a spiritual vortex." Over the years, this valley rich with orange groves has attracted newcomers of every sort searching for that elusive special "something." The first to arrive here, in the late nineteenth century, were easterners drawn by Ojai's mineral-laden hot springs and dry air as "miracle cures" for lung ailments. In the 1920's, the Indian philosopher Krishnamurti established a home in the valley's East End, now the Krishnamurti Library & Visitor Center, attracting other thinkers like the British pacifist writer, Aldous Huxley, who spent World War II here, and painter Jackson Pollack. The philosophers kept coming, including Theosophists in 1926 who established a hilltop library with 10,000 volumes of Eastern and Western thought known today as the Krotona Institute of Theosophy - Krotona Library. At Meditation Mount, a 32-acre site overlooking the valley from an eastern vista point, locals hold monthly full-moon meditations, which executive director Roger Collis terms "spiritual activism," focusing on non-denominational prayer and contemplation "to build a more compassionate, just and peaceful world."
(A cottage at the Emerald Iguana set in lush suroundings) It's enough to transport you to spiritual realms, so when we checked into the Emerald Iguana, an adults-only boutique hotel of suites and cottages with whimsical touches reminiscent of the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi, we found a "Garden of Eden" filled with orange Cana Lilies and Birds of Paradise that seemed ideally suited to the Ojai mystique. Set in a quiet neighborhood dotted with 1920's-era cottages under giant oaks, the hotel was just what the doctor ordered to rejuvenate our souls -- a fact that became clearer to me when I noticed a couple by the pool sharing a bubbly together!
(A patio under an umbrella of lush foliage at the Emerald Iguana)
The Emerald Iguana is the brainchild of Marc and Julia Whitman, an iconoclastic husband-and-wife team, who fit right into the scheme of things in Ojai. Marc is an architect drawn to Gaudi's work, while Julia, who manages the hotel, is a self-taught interior designer and landscaper, who doesn't seem to miss a beat. According to Julia, the hotel's "hand-touched influence" incorporates California cottage style with a large dose of Gaudi, whose other-worldly style is synonymous with the Barcelona skyline.
(Marc Whitman's broken-tile iguana at Ojai's Emerald Iguana boutique hotel) Beyond
iconic curved arches, the most pronounced Gaudi touch at the Emerald Iguana is
Marc's playful water fountain, a broken-tile iguana, which transported me back
to Gaudi's broken-tile salamander I first saw in Barcelona's Parc Guell. What Marc and Julia started with here was old housing desperately in need of a complete overhaul.
(A quiet, lush spot on a terrace at the Emerald Iguana)
But the work was not without its unexpected moments, like discovering a 1920's-era newspaper article about Babe Ruth stuffed into an old wall. No two cottages at the hotel are alike: Julia has given each of them their own "personality," including playful names. Ours, a two-story suite named "Cricket," was a mix of homey and chic, with antiques and an assortment of hardwood furniture Julia shipped home in three containers from Indonesia.
(The living room, looking down from the second floor) Downstairs sat a heavily-embroidered blue-gray sofa with gold pillows, next to a full kitchen and a small dining area, which, in turn, led to a cozy patio under a canopy of trees. The upstairs bedroom had terraces on either side, which made for places to sit and enjoy pleasant moments of reflection. Before a patio dinner at the town's Osteria Monte Grappa, we took a leisurely walk to Bart's Books, the most unconventional used bookstore I've ever seen, where books are for sale on the street on the quiet corner of Matilija and Canada Streets.
(Books are for sale on the street at Bart's Books in Ojai)
Before Bart's, there was a 1940's one-bedroom honeymoon cottage on the site, but when Richard Bartinsdale - Bart -- bought the place, his collection of books, so the story goes, got so out of hand that he offered them for sale on street-side shelves. Thus, Bart's Books was born, and today, books are still sold on the street, with a can to put your money in after hours on the honor system. Bart's courtyard is divided into different book subjects, including travel, where Charles Kuralt's "A Life on the Road" really dated me, as did the old-fashioned stick candy for sale at 10 cents a piece on the counter. In a room called "The Gallery," there were books on famous artists, including a really lovely retrospective on Gaugin. The original honeymoon cottage is covered from floor to ceiling with books, including some wonderful cookbooks in a blue-and-white Dutch motif kitchen. Bart's
current owner, a twentyish guy who introduced himself simply as Matt, was talking
to someone wearing a cowboy hat behind the counter. The next day, after a generous continental breakfast around the Emerald Iguana's intimate pool, it was time to meet David Mason, the man known in town as "Mr. Ojai," who has owned the Village Florist for 46 years.
(The Ojai popst office and its iconic clock tower) Mason's shop is located in Ojai's Mission Revival-style shopping "Arcade," whose design was conceived by the Ohio glass magnate and philanthropist Edward Drummond Libbey. Across the street is the post office building, with a bell tower that resembles the campanile in Havana -- and plays music at noon. Mason was nostalgic about memories of movie stars he once knew here -- and whose signed photographs cover the walls around him, like one of "Battle Cry" signed by Tab Hunter and another by Anthony Hopkins, who "lived here for quite awhile." One
memorable photo depicts Mason at dinner onboard a ship headed for France with
a number of celebrities, including June Allison and Maxine Andrews, one of the
Andrews Sisters, whose work entertaining troops in World War II was being honored
at a D-Day ceremony. Mason recalled first seeing Rita Hayworth at the Ojai Valley Inn and Spa, where he bell-hopped on weekends as a teen-ager. Many stars of that era were there, Mason said, and one day Hayworth came in off the golf course to have lunch. "She had on white shorts, a…white shirt…and no make-up," he said, "and her hair was just stuck to her face from sweat." Mason was "just so disappointed" that it wasn't the same Rita Hayworth he knew from "Cover Girl." But a redeemable moment was at hand, when Hayworth, now wearing a long, white chiffon gown and a full-length mink coat, "her hair done up in big red curls," stood under a spotlight at the reservation desk, taking it all in "for all it was worth." "Everybody couldn't take their eyes off her," Mason remembered, "she was just absolutely so magnificent." At The Kindred Spirit, it was fun looking through the jewelry items, and at KAVA we found some lovely Moroccan cookbooks. Down the street was Bonnie Lu's, an honest-to-goodness 1930's diner if ever there was one, and at the Ojai Village Pharmacy, owner Fred T. Leivo told of plans to recast his store back to its 1891 look, even sharing a photo of the original.
(Music in Libbey Park, a summer community event with an Americana flavor)
In the evening, with the air delightfully balmy, we strolled to Libbey Park, where people were stretched out on the grass or sitting in folding chairs, listening to music from the bandstand. Soon parents and their children were marching to the sounds, holding colorful balloons in the air, a rare Norman Rockwell moment in this valley town so cut off from the rest of the world and its troubles. Then, as if to mark the end of another perfect day in "Shangri-La," came the strains of "You're a Grand Old Flag," with the crowd singing "Ojai, oh, Ojai…we love you, Ojai, oh yes we do." WHEN YOU GO… Ojai is located on scenic Highway 33, about 20 minutes from Highway 101 in Ventura, about 85 miles from Los Angeles International Airport, and 40 minutes south of Santa Barbara. For visitor information, contact the Ojai Visitors Bureau at (888) 652-4669, or visit www.ojaivisitors.com. For the Emerald Iguana, call (805) 646-5277 or visit www.emeraldiguana.com. Rates start at $169 midweek to $379. (The Whitman's own a second boutique hotel at the entrance to Ojai called the Blue Iguana Inn, which is dog-friendly upon approval and, besides the guest rooms, suites and bungalows, includes vacation houses on the property). THINGS TO DO IN THE OJAI AREA
Every October, local painters, sculptors, potters and other creative types open their studios to visitors during the Ojai Studio Artists Tour, October 9 and 10. Ojai for Biking Ethusiasts For biking enthusiasts, the Ojai Valley Trail was once a rail line used toransport Ojai oranges to the coast. Lake Casitas was the site of the 1984 Olympics canoeing and rowing events and is about three miles from the town center. Popular Ojai Festivals Festivals include the Ojai Music Festival, the Ojai Wine Festival, the Lavender Festival, and the Ojai Playwrights Conference. Check with the Ojai Visitors Bureau for dates. The Krotona Institute library is open Tuesday - Friday from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. and 1 - 5 p.m. on weekends, with some 10,000 books on site. For information, call (805) 646-2653. The Krishnamurti Library and Visitor Center is open to the public Thursday and Friday from 1 - 5 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. For information, call (805) 646-2390. An
Outing to Ojai Olive Oil One afternoon, we went on a pleasant outing to Ojai Olive Oil, which was formed 12 years ago by Ron and Alice Asquith on property originally planted with olive trees in 1880. We headed out of town on Ojai Street toward fields of orange groves, a reminder of an idyllic Southern California I knew in the early 1950's.
(The Asquith's under an olive tree at Ojai Olive Oil) Ron Asquith told of finding old olive trees on his property, which "created the interest and what caused us to start planting more olive trees and later producing our own olive oil." "All my life I've been interested in agriculture," he said, "and loved farming, since I used to go as a child to my grandfather's farm in Illinois." Ron, who once worked for Occidental Petroleum, has a Ph.D. in psychology, "which," he joked, "you can see is directly related to the production of extra virgin olive oil." The Asquith's produce organic extra virgin olive oils, peppery and mild extra-virgin olive oils, as well as extra-virgin olive oils flavored with lemon, mandarin, garlic, and rosemary. All of the ingredients for the flavored oils come from the farm, except for the garlic. Alice, a native of France, said that there is "more rosemary than we could ever use."
(Alice pours a sample of one of the olive oils during a tour and tasting) The Asquith's also sell balsamic vinegars imported from Modena, Italy, aged up to 18 years in a variety of styles: traditional, cinnamon-pear, pomegranate, premium-white, tangerine, and violet; olive oil-based soaps and face cream; and olive trees in one-and two-gallon containers. The company's first olive oil was produced from original trees, but its orchard has since grown to 2,500 trees, with nine different varieties. Ron consulted the University of California at Davis to identify the type of trees he first found on his farm and was put in touch with a professor at the University of Cordova in Spain, who identified them as Spanish Lechin de Sevilla. "Twenty years ago," said Ron, "it was difficult to get a chef to think about using extra virgin olive oil. But now with the emphasis on healthy eating, all of that has changed dramatically." In addition to the Ojai Farmers Market and Southern California locations, Ojai Olive Oil products are sold all over the country via the web. For more information, visit www.ojaioliveoil.com, or call (805) 701-3825. | ||
 |
