161 N Garden Street

Richard Orne, Architect | Garden Street Studios | Dual Zoned (Commercial and Residential) Live/Work Art Compound. Escape the pressures of big city life for this unique live/work art compound less than a mile from the beach in downtown Ventura. At the confluence of Main Street and Ventura Avenue, this property is ideally suited to take advantage of the many delicious restaurants, cozy boutiques, public parks, and hiking trails that make this small city such a charming place to live. Bike paths nearby go up and down the coast, inland to Ojai and Pine Mountain, and beyond. Here you can let your guard down: your shoulders relax, it's easy to find parking, and a friendly greeting from passersby is common in this pedestrian-friendly community. In a quiet neighborhood, with an existing mix of multi-unit residential, commercial, artists' studios, and light industry, on a two-block long street with no through traffic, the architect has created a compelling environment for living and working in community. Legally zoned for both commercial and residential purposes, four separate structures on the property allow for a variety of live/work configurations. On one hand, the combination provides an outstanding single-family alternative, with four bedrooms, four bathrooms, and three additional studio spaces, each with its own powder room. On the other hand, the property represents a unique investor opportunity as fully-rentable income property. Each unit has its own individual utility metering, with the possibility of as many as seven different tenants, and all units will be delivered vacant at closing. Finally, as a commercial property, the individual spaces could be used for storefront, office, creative, fabrication, or retail purposes. The permutations and possibilities are virtually endless. The architecture itself is quite exciting, with a vintage 1920s bungalow in back and three new stand-alone structures in front, each with a one-bedroom apartment upstairs and a studio space downstairs, and lushly-landscaped outdoor gardens and courtyards in between. The cantilevered orthogonal volumes, exposed structural steel, corrugated metal cladding, and ribbon window system are evocative of the Case Study House program, enhanced for contemporary living. Inside, a restrained palette of materials enlivens interactions, with sliding polycarbonate panels, polished concrete and colorful Marmoleum floors, and operable windows for cross breezes and views of nearby hills and snowcapped mountains beyond. The original bungalow has been completely renovated from top to bottom, with metal board-and-batten siding in dialogue with the front buildings, cork floors, all new finishes, covered decks, and French doors opening onto a private outdoor patio. Original 1924 Bungalow in back has been fully renovated (1 BD, 1 BA, 678 SF); Three new structures built in 2022 each have an apartment upstairs (1 BD, 1 BA, 638 SF) plus a studio/workshop/second bedroom downstairs (1 BD, 1/2 BA, 377 SF), for a total of 1,015 SF each. 4 Separately-Metered Addresses, 7 Units | 4 Bedrooms, 3 Studios | 7 Bathrooms | 3,723 Square Feet | 7,840 SF Lot.