Page 181 - WDT Magazine Egypt

Story and Photography by
Priscilla Lister

t may have originated as a fictional place in
James Hilton’s 1933 novel, “Lost Horizon,” but
that mystical, harmonious paradise that epito-
Imizes utopia where people are permanently
happy and even age very slowly can actually be
found in Southern California.
I found it during a getaway to two fabled towns
where three historic, exceptional inns seem to
evoke the California Dream. I discovered my own
nirvana in idyllic surroundings where restorative
activities truly lifted my spirits.
I literally felt something magical in the atmos-
phere.
I began in Ojai, where I checked into the Ojai
Valley Inn and Spa (www.ojaivalleyinn.com), a
storied hotel that began in 1923 when Edward
Libbey, a wealthy Ohio glass manufacturer,
commissioned California architect Wallace Neff
to build the Ojai Country Club in the Spanish
Colonial style.

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