OJAI

city, Ventura county, southern California, 12 miles (19 km) north of Ventura, in the Ojai Valley flanked by mountains. The site originated under Spanish rule as an outpost rancheria of the San Buenaventura Mission (now in Ventura). When the settlement was first laid out in 1874, it was named Nordhoff after Charles Nordhoff, a California booster and author of California for Health, Pleasure and Residence (1872). In 1916 the community was renamed Ojai, after the valley, and citizens were encouraged to remodel or maintain their structures in the Spanish-mission style. Ojai later attracted artists and crafts people as residents, as well as various spiritualists and religionists advocating meditation, yoga, theosophy, naturalism, astrology, holism, and so on. Tourists and vacationists are attracted not only by the scenic valley but also by an abundance of pottery studios, antique stores, galleries, shops, and boutiques in and around Ojai city. The Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament is held annually in April; the Ojai Festival featuring music is held in May. The classic film Lost Horizon (1937) was partly shot in the Shangri-La of Ojai Valley. Pop. (1990) 7,613.