Vermont

Our daughter started college in Vermont in 2020 and we have fallen in love with this state. Vermont is a place, but also a state of mind that revels in outdoor beauty, good food, and the preservation of unique small towns and cities. Visitors love Vermont for its colorful fall foliage; ski mountains like Killington, Manchester, Stowe, and Mount Snow; mountain vistas; and attractions for families and kids. Although Vermont is an inland state, it has beaches and water sports at the Lake Champlain, along with many lakes, streams, and swimming holes. Our Vermont Vacation rentals are central located in Manchester and Dorset.

A short drive from New York and Boston, Southern Vermont has ski resorts, historic sites, outlet shopping, beautiful village greens, fall foliage, and covered bridges. The large ski areas -- Stratton, Bromley, Magic Mountain, Mount Snow -- offer winter and summer fun. Principal towns are Manchester, Dorset, Brattleboro, artsy and bohemian; Wilmington; Bennington; Arlington, home of Norman Rockwell. Manchester is a historic resort town with great shopping. Check out Chester for antiquing. Visit Pawlet for some real historical sites.

Ojai, CA

Ramaa’s family moved to Ojai in the 1970s to follow the renowned spiritual teacher Krishnamurti. They moved 16 times across Ojai and know every part of this beautiful town. We feel 100% sure that our home is one of the most unusual properties in Ojai. It is a gem within a gem. This small, quiet city 80 miles north of Los Angeles has long attracted spiritual types. The famous sunsets in Ojai — often capped by a phenomenon called “the pink moment,” when the light hits the Topatopa Mountains just so, bathing the Ojai Valley in shades of pink it is magical.

Ojai, a 4.3-square-mile city with about 8,000 residents, sits in the Ojai Valley, a scenic recess in the Topa Topa Mountains, about 15 miles inland from the Pacific Coast. Its downtown village is walkable and filled with shops, restaurants and the Ojai Valley Museum, an exhibition hall inside a historic church, clustered along its main vein.

A citywide ban on chain stores, enacted in 2007, has helped locally run businesses, like the used bookstore Bart’s Books and the European-style deli Marché Gourmet, succeed. (Chain brands are not allowed in Ojai).

When you come stay at our Ojai Vacation rental you’ll find an abundance of things to do. Wellness tourism is a major draw in Ojai, and spa resorts like the Ojai Valley Inn are a popular draw. But just a five-minute drive from downtown Ojai, the neighborhoods open up, and areas including East End where Casa A’Way is located, Persimmon Hill and Saddle Mountain Estates offer bridle trails, valley views and ample land. Los Padres National Forest borders Ojai on the north.

The first residents of Ojai were Chumash Indians, who called the Ojai Valley “A’Way” or “Awhai,” meaning moon, according to the Ojai Valley Museum. Edward Libbey helped design and build the town center. Ojai was incorporated in 1921.

Ojai’s quiet nature has long drawn people in search of ecological and spiritual enlightenment. First inhabited by Chumash Indians and popular with disciples of Jiddu Krishnamurti, the Indian Theosophist leader who made his home there, Ojai is a hotbed of meditation retreats, herbal medicine shops and vegan eateries. When the Thomas Fire formed a ring of flames around Ojai in late 2017 but spared its city center, some locals credited Ojai’s purported seven-energy vortexes for protecting them. Was it a mystical, spiritual vortex that saved the heart of town from the fire, the belt of fruit trees that surround us or simply a shift in wind?

Our favorite restaurants: Dutchess, The Ranch House, Farmer and the Cook, Le Fuente, Pinyon, Ojai Rotie, Rory’s Place, Nociolla, Boccali’s on the East end.

Venice beach, California

We moved to Venice in 1998 and have seen the evolution of this eclectic community. Our home is centrally located on a magical street called Superba. We had driven past the street signs and were drawn to a word that felt like it summarized our view on life. We love hosting guests in Venice because this town is a character that everyone falls in love with.

Abutting Santa Monica’s south side on the Pacific Coast Highway, Venice Beach—or simply Venice—was developed as a Los Angeles beach resort that paid homage to its Italian namesake with canals, piazzas, pedestrian bridges, a lagoon, and a colonnaded business district. Designed by eccentric Abbot Kinney in 1905, Venice’s original waterways and charming beach cottages can still be seen on Dell Avenue in the Venice Canal Historic District. Rent a bike and ride around the canals and down to the beach which is only a short 12 minute bike ride.

Today’s Venice, is famous quirky happenings on its iconic beachfront boardwalk, where mimes, jugglers, musicians, and street performers of all kinds inhabit an ever-changing and unforgettable bohemian subculture. You may also see some of the country’s best pickup basketball games on local outdoor courts. Watch it all from the loud and lively waterfront skate park, or sit near the daily drum circle on the beach. Feel free to grab a can and a stick—or anything that makes noise—and join in.

Then ride home to the quiet of our Venice Superba neighborhood and walk to Abbot Kinney Boulevard for dinner at Gjelina. On Venice’s south side, boho-chic Abbot Kinney Boulevard contains a mile-long stretch of high-end restaurants, posh galleries, and edgy boutiques selling furnishings and fashions. On the First Friday of each month, food trucks and live music line the boulevard, but any day is perfect for stopping by Strange Invisible Perfumes to procure hydro-distilled eaux de toilette. Shop for comfy-cute loungewear at All Things Fabulous, or browse custom stationery and writing utensils at Urbanic Paper Boutique. Cafés and food trucks make sure you don’t go hungry while you shop.

Our favorite restaurants: Gjelina, Superba Bread, Ospi, Dudley Market, Butcher’s Daughter, La Cabana, Cafe Gratitude.

Manchester, VT vacations

We are always proud to have guests stay at our vacation rentals in Manchester, VT and Dorset, VT. There’s so much to do here and our Vermont homes are centrally located. From shopping and dining, to cultural, outdoors activities and community events, Manchester is the quintessential New England community. Ideally located in southwestern Vermont, Manchester is easily accessible to the rest of the Northeast but tucked into the Green Mountains in the picturesque Battenkill River Valley. Our Vermont vacation rental homes are premium homes and are perfect for families or groups of friends who want to be in the center of town, the village or Dorset.

Even The New York Times is impressed with “the goldrush” of people headed to Manchester.

Manchester has over forty fantastic eateries. From casual to formal, international to American cuisine, we have a restaurant you’ll love. And with over a thousand hotel and motel beds, from family-friendly to four-star resorts, you are sure to find lodging to suit your needs. For more information about local events visit the Town’s Facebook page for the most up-to-date information about what’s happening in Manchester.

Our favorite restaurants: Silverfork, Depot 62, Christos, Thai Basil, Dorset inn, Up to Eat Breakfast, Copper Grouse, The Avocado Pit, The Reluctant Panther