Best Buys In Ojai/Team Deckert – Our daily blog spotlighting the best in Ojai Valley real estate!

March 18, 2026

Quote of the Day

I went to a museum where they had all the heads and arms that are missing from the statues in other museums.

~ Steven Wright

This Day in History

March 18, 1990: Isabelle Stewart Gardner Museum theft. In the early hours of March 18, 1990, 13 works of art were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Security guards admitted two men posing as policemen responding to a disturbance call, and the thieves bound the guards and looted the museum over the next hour. The case is unsolved; no arrests have been made, and no works have been recovered. The stolen works have been valued at hundreds of millions of dollars by the FBI and art dealers. The museum offers a $10 million reward for information leading to the art’s recovery, the largest bounty ever offered by a private institution.

The stolen works were originally procured by art collector Isabella Stewart Gardner (1840–1924) and were intended for permanent display at the museum with the rest of her collection. Among them was The Concert, one of only 34 known paintings by Johannes Vermeer and thought to be the most valuable unrecovered painting in the world. Also missing is The Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Rembrandt’s only seascape. Other paintings and sketches by Rembrandt, Edgar Degas, Édouard Manet, and Govert Flinck were stolen, along with a relatively valueless eagle finial and Chinese gu. Experts were puzzled by the choice of artwork, as more valuable works were left untouched. As the collection and its layout are intended to be permanent, empty frames remain hanging both in homage to the missing works and as placeholders for their return.

The FBI believes that the robbery was planned by a criminal gang. The case lacks strong physical evidence, and the FBI has largely depended on interrogations, undercover informants and sting operations to collect information. It has focused primarily on the Boston Mafia, which was in the midst of an internal gang war during the period. One theory holds that gangster Bobby Donati organized the heist to negotiate for his caporegime’s release from prison; Donati was murdered one year after the robbery. Other accounts suggest that the paintings were stolen by a gang in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood, although these suspects deny involvement despite the fact that a sting operation resulted in several prison sentences. All have denied any knowledge or have provided leads that proved fruitless, despite the offer of reward money and reduced or canceled prison sentences if they had disclosed information leading to recovery of the artworks.

Ojai Weather

Sunny – High 93 / 59

Total rainfall for the season – 26.67

Lake Casitas water capacity – 99.8%

Wednesday, March 18, 2026

11:45 a.m.

There are two new listings on the market:

290 Encino Drive – $1,050,000

1273 S. Rice Road #100 – $320,000

Recently cancelled, withdrawn, or expired listings – back on the market as “new:”

216 N. Fulton Street – $980,000 (this had recently expired on 12/31/25)

Pic of the Day

I shudder to think what suppository directions would look like

Tuesday, March 17, 2026

12:05 p.m.

Three new listings have come to the market since Friday:

507 Gridley Road – $2,350,000

310 E. Matilija Street – $3,550,000

265 Encino Drive – $499,000

Recently cancelled, withdrawn, or expired listings – back on the market as “new:”

0 Sulphur Mountain Road – $800,000 (this recently expired on 12/31, but was listed as “10331 Sulphur Mountain Road”).
240 N. Padre Juan Avenue – $1,025,000 (this is coming soon on 4/3, but it had recently expired on 1/28).

Pic of the Day

Friday, March 13, 2026

11:45 a.m.

There are six new listings on the market:

33 Monterey Drive – $1,477,000

1176 N. Ventura Avenue – $695,000

108 E. Matilija Street – $3,550,000

205 N. Signal Street – $2,250,000

119 S. Alvarado Street – $659,000

1202 Loma Drive #67 – $285,000

Recently cancelled, withdrawn, or expired listings – back on the market as new:”

950 Woodland Avenue #26 – $399,990 (this had recently been cancelled on 2/5).

Pic of the Day

Thursday, March 12, 2026

12:00 p.m.

There are four new or “coming soon” listings on the market:

10505 Dale Avenue – $775,000

701 W. Lomita Avenue – $975,000

7343 Rose Valley Road – $950,000

3935 Thacher Road – $3,695,000 (coming soon, 3/18)

Pic of the Day

Wednesday, March 11, 2026

10:20 a.m.

There is a new listing on the market:

561 Saddle Lane – $9,850,000

Pic of the Day

Tuesday, March 10, 2026

12:30 p.m.

Three new or “coming soon” listings have come to the market since Friday:

95 Taormina Lane – $1,150,000

1202 Loma Drive #7 – $418,500

12838 MacDonald Drive – $2,560,000 (coming soon, 3/18)

Recently cancelled, withdrawn, or expired listings – back on the market as “new:”

182 Mountain View Street (land) – $525,000 (this had recently expired on 3/7).
Hendrickson Road (land) – $795,000 (this had recently expired on 2/28).

Pic of the Day

Friday, March 6, 2026

10:35 a.m.

There is a new listing on the market:

12471 Sisar Road – $1,395,000

A couple of unique events are scheduled this weekend in Ojai:

The Ojai School of Rock showcase is being held at the Ojai Valley Women’s Club on Sunday at 12:00 noon. I have nephews in this program (in the Chicago area). It’s a great way to get kids interested in music and provides a place to connect or jam with other budding musicians.
“Songs of the Vagabond Cello” – featuring Ian Maksin, who will be performing at the Ojai Art Center on Saturday at 7:00 p.m.

Have a great weekend!