Oh hi Ojai! In last month’s ELLE Reese Witherspoon takes us on a tour of her beautiful Ojai (LA Getaway) home. It has a simple southern charm that is not annoying and very classic and understated. Still keeping in mind the cool essence of the California summer and relaxed vibe. What I love most of Reese’s luxury pad is how comfortable it feels. Like people actually live in it, and it is not a museum where you can’t touch things and certain rooms are off-limits.
As told by ELLE Decor: “Reese Witherspoon’s Southern charm has lit up such hit comedies as Legally Blonde and Sweet Home Alabama, and her skill and intensity brought her an Oscar for her role as country singer June Carter Cash in Walk the Line. But when she purchased a historic Wallace Neff ranch five years ago in Ojai — a bucolic village in the foothills north of Los Angeles that served as Shangri-La in the 1937 film Lost Horizon — Witherspoon took on a far less flashy role. ‘When you buy a beautiful piece of art, you don’t really own it,’ the preservation-minded actress says of the hideaway, where her family spends weekends and holidays. ‘You’re just the caretaker.’
The property sits on seven acres that include a swimming pool, a barn, a horse paddock, and guest cottages.For Witherspoon, who grew up in a 1930s brick house in Nashville, the elaborate stonework, arches, soaring fireplaces, and turrets of the Libbey Ranch were magical. So were the sylvan surroundings.
In L.A., the actress lives in a Mediterranean-style home with her husband, talent agent Jim Toth, and Ava, 12, and Deacon, 8, her two children with ex-husband Ryan Phillippe. She and Toth are expecting their first child, even as she continues her busy schedule, playing fugitive Matthew McConaughey’s true love in the upcoming thriller Mud, and preparing to star in Atom Egoyan’s Devil’s Knot, based on the trial of the West Memphis Three. So Libbey Ranch provides a serene setting to be with her family, and looms large in her approach to parenting. ‘It reminds me of growing up in Tennessee, where we spent all day outside,’ she says. ‘I wanted my children to have that experience, to get muddy and hang out with the animals.’
The great room typifies Witherspoon’s style. A simple country kitchen opens onto a dining area with a long table and a mix of Swedish chairs, tufted leather benches, and his-and-hers linen wing chairs. ‘We had 20 people here for Thanksgiving last year,’ says the actress, ‘so there has to be plenty of places to sit.’ On a typical weekend, the grown-ups gather outside and watch their kids run around, or they play rummy indoors. ‘Everyone congregates around the stone fireplace in the great room. It’s cozy and warm,’ says the actress. ‘In the summer, it’s the coolest room, because of the stone.’
To Witherspoon, the house is more than just a beautiful home. ‘It’s meditative and restorative,’ she says. ‘As soon as I drive through the gate, I relax. The air is fresh, the phone isn’t ringing, you can’t access e-mail. Time slows down. Within an hour I’m lying on that couch taking a big fat nap. It’s like having a little bit of Tennessee in California.’ ”
Via [ Elle Decor ]
