Description
Introducing Los Limoneiros, a hilltop estate with Craftsman character and mid-century influence, built in 1912 by Nathan W. Blanchard, Sr., a member of Santa Paula's original founding family and co-founder of Limoneira, as a gift to his son Nathan W. Blanchard, Jr. and wife Josephine. The residence later underwent a thoughtful 1946-48 reimagining attributed locally to architect Roy Wilson that organized the home around a central courtyard and pool. The renovation was subsequently featured in Sunset magazine in the 1940s. Its name, Los Limoneiros, Portuguese for "lemon lands," honors the Blanchard family's citrus legacy and the Limoneira story. By 1922, one in eight lemons consumed in the United States came from Ventura County, most from Limoneira, earning Santa Paula its reputation as the citrus capital of the world.A long gated driveway ushers you to a single-level, U-shaped footprint wrapped in horizontal siding and set on handsome river-rock base walls. Deep eaves with classic Craftsman brackets meet wide panes of glass and sliders, creating an architectural conversation between eras that floods the interiors with light and valley views. Inside, the living room spans the view side with a wall of glass opening to an extra-wide covered veranda that overlooks the mountain silhouettes, capturing a true indoor/outdoor flow. The dining room is all daylight and greenery, while the cheerful kitchen pairs crisp white cabinetry and long prep runs with a central island, stainless appliances, and charming awning windows for easy cross-breezes. The original two-wing plan remains: a bedroom wing on one side, and a service/laundry wing on the other, connected by a central hall. On the lower level, a generous speakeasy style lounge with bar/kitchenette, fireplace, and flex gym zone offers bonus hangout space. Adjacent, a stone-walled room with arched steel-sash windows and brick flooring, believed historically to have served as a root cellar, invites future use as a wine cellar, workshop, or studio. Outdoors, the property lives like a private park: garden rooms, meandering water features, two tea houses, a classic lawn tennis court, an avocado orchard, and a pool with companion pool house create a resort-style setting from golden hour to starlight. There's even a chicken coop for fresh-egg mornings. The landscape includes over two acres of plantings and dozens of fruit trees: more than 50 avocado trees (Hass, Fuerte, Bacon, Reed, Mexicola, and Pinkerton), along with citrus varieties including Ojai Pixie tangerines, Valencia and navel oranges, Meyer and Eureka lemons, Oro Blanco grapefruit, and calamansi. Additional highlights include chirimoya, pomegranate, guava, persimmon, mulberry, fig, mango, loquat, plum, apricot, and peach trees and more creating a rare collection that enriches both the landscape and the table. The property is further defined by live hedges, mature oaks, California bay, walnut, cedar, pine, olive, pepper, and canary palms, all interspersed with roses for color and texture. Moments from the Santa Paula Art Museum and the Agriculture Museum, with unique outings like Sunburst Railbikes from the historic depot, the estate also places you close to beloved local spots like Tlaquepaque known for their handmade tortillas, Rabalais' a Cajun-inspired bakery and bistro, and Hozy's Grill. Just 16 miles to Ojai, 14 miles to Ventura's beaches, and 65 miles to Los Angeles, Los Limoneiros feels close to everything yet exists in its own world.
