Writer’s retreat: private room in home on restful 1/4 acre property near LA

Description

The rental includes a spacious main-floor bedroom in a 5BR owner-occupied home, with a private entrance at the back of the house accessible through a gated side yard. The room itself is over 400 sq ft, with vaulted ceilings and southwest-facing windows with expansive views of wild space, spectacular sunsets, and the Santa Monica mountains in the distance. The en suite bath has a double vanity, large tub and separate white tile shower; furnishings include a comfortable king bed, Danish teak furniture, a MCM loveseat, small writing desk, and a mini-kitchenette tucked into one corner (small fridge, microwave, toaster oven, and electric kettle). Extra amenities include a smart tv with paid subscriptions to Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon prime, an overhead fan with remote, blackout curtains, and a variety of pillows and blanket/comforter weights to choose from. French doors offer a private entrance to the studio, opening onto a back patio with multiple seating areas and a beautiful drought-tolerant upper yard with roses, garden beds, and a small pond. Paths on either side of the back hill weave among more garden beds, many fruit trees (guavas, peach, pear, lemon, persimmon, fig, apples, oranges), and a gnarly old grape vine that looks spent during the winter months but magically leafs out again to provide shade for a large picnic table in the summer. The space is ideal if you’re hoping for a peaceful quiet retreat space where you can focus on your writing and research, and/or if you’ve been longing to get away from your usual haunts to slow down, relax, recenter yourself, and rejuvenate in sunny SoCal in the company of nature’s beauty and bounty. The gift of this location is that, although you’re in a sleepy suburb, the property can make you feel transported far from the madding crowd, and at the same time, so many amazing resources and opportunities are within easy reach! Downtown LA and everything it has to offer is just an hour’s drive away; in just 30 minutes you can find yourself in the center of Hollywood, or overlooking the whole city from the white-marbled walkways of the world-class Getty Museum. A 45-minute drive will bring you to Pasadena, Ventura, Malibu’s beaches, Santa Monica, or the Getty Villa. Santa Barbara is 75 minutes to the north, and the amazing archives, galleries, and gardens of the Huntington Library are 75 minutes straight east. Your housemates will include an LGBTQ professor at a small nearby private university; another adult renter who occupies the “upstairs flat” (2 BR/1 BA); and 4 cats of varying ages and disparate personalities. You will share access to the main kitchen, living room, and laundry as you wish, but you’re also welcome to keep to yourself as much as you’d like. We’re friendly, low-key, and pretty quiet; we sometimes share meals, but not always, and we’re open to whatever degree you want to engage with us and be part of our household. As the property is a working farm/garden, we’ll be out and about in the yard at times, and if you’re outdoors too, you’ll just need to navigate with a bit of care among the tools/dirt/boards/pots/piles of green waste and yard and garden projects in various states. If this sounds to you like it might be a promising environment in which to spend part of all of your sabbatical, either getting focused & getting your work done or getting your energy & groove back, please don’t hesitate to reach out to express interest and ask questions. While I envision this as an ideal situation for one person, I’m willing to consider renting to a couple, if it seems like a good match, for a modest additional cost per week. However, I’m not willing to negotiate at this time to take on additional pets, or to include children into the mix. (A few more photos are imminent…)

Private Space Offered