Los Angeles few Barbara and Tony Hirsch put their eyes upon idyllic Ojai, California, 13 years back and never return. The few, who attend the Ojai Music Festival yearly, had been considering a major life change away from town. They decided to remain in town for a couple of days after the music festival annually and ended up finding their dream home: a charming farm-style house on top of a mountain overlooking beautiful Ojai Valley.
At that time, the Hirsches had just remodeled their contemporary home in Brentwood, California, and Barbara remembers her kids thinking they had gone crazy for wanting to make such a drastic change so soon. Barbara says, “I love everything about this town. I adore the attachment to the land, the quality of the people, the intellectual stimulation and the arts, and I need viewing orchards daily.”
at a Glance
Who lives here: Barbara and Tony Hirsch
Location: Ojai, California
Size: 3,000 square feet plus 750-square-foot guest house
That’s intriguing:Four chickens live from the couple’s “chicken condominium.”
Shannon Malone
The majority of the main modifications made to the home involved landscaping. Despite Tony’s initial hesitation, Barbara immediately pictured a waterfall and desired an outside area for her family and friends to gather. “I want somewhere to toast marshmallows with my grandchildren,” she says. This desire resulted in the look of a delightfully landscaped mountain with a waterfall, a fire pit and a tree swing. “The mountain is a wonderful, peaceful spot for our family to gather and spend time together.”
Shannon Malone
Barbara asserts it had been love at first sight when she and Tony put eyes on their property. It was the very first and only house the couple viewed in the region.
Shannon Malone
For Barbara, color became a joyous area of the property’s appeal. She kept all the colors. The hot peach walls, together with subtle neutrals, give the home a calm, inviting feel.
Chairs: Mimi London
Shannon Malone
The home balances nation charm and contemporary art, and also the Hirsches’ vast art collection is evident in almost every room. The art in this room attractively complements the upholstered furniture, like this seat from the Mimi London showroom at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, California.
Lamp: Charles Jacobson
Shannon Malone
Barbara’s design philosophy is contemporary and minimal, however her home is nearly the opposite. She admits she understood very little about farm-style design and concentrated on simplifying, rather than changing, everything. The Hirsches abandoned their black contemporary furniture at Los Angeles and bought all new farm-style furnishings.
Upholstered furniture: Mimi London; coffee table: Hideaway House Antiques
Shannon Malone
When asked about her favorite spot in her home, Barbara immediately answers, “My private space, especially my library and office. I’m a little of a magazine-aholic, and I love to read and spread out there.”
When designing the library, Barbara and Tony included an whole wall of notebook for their set of books and magazines, which continues to grow. Barbara’s background in fashion and the arts, together with an enthusiastic interest in interior design, helped her create a warm, inviting space that mixes traditional with contemporary design.
Shannon Malone
Barbara wanted to create a welcoming space from the library. She painted the walls with green chalkboard paint, and guests decorate them with art and loving words. She’s yet to divert anything. Besides chalk, the walls are adorned with art provided to the couple by family and friends over the years.
Shannon Malone
This farm-style door and its clean lines, combined with art and inviting colors, beautifully reflect the Hirsch home.
Shannon Malone
Barbara combines her love of art and family in this picture of her husband. The picture is composed of hundreds of mini photographs of her husband’s life and loved ones. The piece hangs over a charming antique chess table from Hideaway House Antiques.
Shannon Malone
Family photos appear throughout the home, and this screen with easy mattes liner a hallway wall is Barbara’s favorite gallery.
Shannon Malone
One of Barbara’s largest design dilemmas was functioning with a smaller scale. Within her large Brentwood home, it was not an issue, but in this transition she had to adjust, especially in the kitchen. She struggled to locate a kitchen table narrow enough to fit correctly in the area, and since it’s used for everything from meetings to entertaining, it was imperative to locate the perfect one. The solution: a custom made one by Burke’s Country Pine.
Chairs: Palecek
Shannon Malone
Throughout the kitchen remodel, Barbara changed most of the appliances kept the original Viking stove. She says, “That stove is exactly what I was searching for; it says home to me.”
Shannon Malone
The upstairs guest bedroom is warm and inviting, with peach walls, antique furniture and a simple design. The bowl around the bed is a recent purchase in the Ojai Valley Inn and Spa.
Shannon Malone
Another one of Barbara’s favorite spots is the upstairs bathroom, attached into the bedroom. The ease of the bathroom gives it a serene sense and offers a beautiful view of Ojai Valley.
Shannon Malone
The guest house is furnished entirely with things from Barbara’s mother’s home. Barbara says that her mother has been her main design inspiration: “My mom ought to have been an interior designer. She was always ahead of her time.”
Shannon Malone
The bedroom at the guest house depicts Barbara’s former contemporary, minimalist design aesthetic.
Shannon Malone
After hearing tales from her mother about a farm in Europe, Barbara had always dreamed of living on a farm, owning cows and growing vegetables. When the Hirsches moved to their new home, they immediately planted a garden and brought in cows, who live in this cute “chicken condominium,” since Barbara calls it.
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