$1,450,000

Some houses you tour. This one you feel -- the moment you step under the heritage oak and through the door.Tucked beneath that magnificent oak on a quarter-acre of established gardens, 505 South Ventura Street is an Ojai original: a 1980 wood-and-adobe home with soaring vaulted wood ceilings, exposed beams and skylights, and not one but two fireplaces -- a sculpted adobe hearth in the living room, floor-to-ceiling stone in the family room.The backyard is the main event. A covered patio built for long dinners -- built-in barbecue island with a grill plumbed to natural gas (no propane tank to run out mid-dinner), seating for eight, ceiling overhead -- looks over the pool and spa, surrounded by mature plantings that make it feel a world away. It isn't. Libbey Bowl, the Arcade, and downtown's restaurants are a short walk from your front door.Inside, the upstairs primary suite is a private retreat with its own bath and two walk-in closets. Two main-level bedrooms flex easily as guest room and home office. Hardwood and tile floors, central A/C, a 21/2-car garage, and garden paths with quiet corners throughout complete the picture.Homes with this much character, on this much land, this close to town, rarely come up. This is the Ojai life, ready to live.