Destination:

Ojai Valley

Awash in Roaring ’20s ambiance, this Southern California retreat remains a favorite of the Hollywood crowd

By Dan Gleason

When architect Jay Morrish came to Southern California in 1988 to renovate the classic Ojai Valley Inn golf course, he was greeted with a perplexing situation: Two of the original holes had vanished. The solution to this mystery, Morrish quickly discovered, was that the holes had been bulldozed during WWII when the U.S. Army commandeered the resort for tank training. The military, not surprisingly, failed to rebuild the holes according to the specs of the original designer, Riviera Country Club architect George C. Thomas Jr.

In 1997, Morrish’s son, Carter, was commissioned to restore the lost holes, including No. 3, modeled after the 181-yard third at Pine Valley and said to be Thomas’ all-time favorite par-3. Using only old photos and Thomas’ book, “Golf Course Architecture in America,” Carter pinpointed the location of the lost holes among the scrub and sycamores and brought them back to Thomas’ original design—no simple task, considering that he had to tweak them to accommodate modern irrigation and cart paths.

Like those two “lost” holes, the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa is very much alive and well these days. A low-key escape from the glitz and glamour of L.A., which lies 90 miles to the south, Ojai was originally the private estate of wealthy glass manufacturer Edward Libbey, who built a country club for his affluent friends and guests in 1923. The property was transformed into a resort in 1931 and quickly became a favorite getaway for movie stars and socialites.

Tucked in a valley that runs north to south, Ojai is bordered on either side by the Topa Topa Mountains. Guests enjoy the unique treat of seeing both sunrise and sunset against the hills, coloring the rocks red-orange and framing each day in what the resort aptly calls “golden moments.”

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