Emily Blunt and John Krasinski’s new home on 5 acres in Ojai
Hollywood married couple Emily Blunt, 29, and John Krasinski, 33 this month, recently bought a four-bedroom, 4,200-square-foot house in Ojai, California, according to the Los Angeles Times and other news outlets.
Ojai is a mellow town about 30 miles east of Santa Barbara and about 80 miles northwest of Los Angeles -- not far, but not exactly commuting distance from Hollywood, which is what makes it so popular as a celebrity retreat.
The home was listed at $2,495,000, but Krasinski and Blunt picked it up for just $2,150,000, Zillow sales records indicate. Maybe that helps take some of the sting out of a $170,000 loss that Krasinski had to take last year on a house in West Hollywood. (He bought the two-bedroom place in 2006 for $1,050,000, Zillow reported, and listed it last year for $945,000. It eventually sold for $880,000.)
The U.K. Daily Mail calls the home an "eco-mansion," and TMZ declares the couple "environmental warriors" for buying "a $2 million house way out in the country -- run on RENEWABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGY!!!!" But we have to agree with the Curbed real estate blog, not to mention TMZ's own commenters, that this seems a bit of a stretch. Yes, the home has solar panels and a well, but two people occupying a 4,200-square-foot home on 5-plus acres of land doesn't feel like a warrior-level model of sustainability.
Despite its size, the house hardly seems to qualify as a mansion, either. While the grounds would be a beautiful place to enjoy Ojai's legendary "pink moments" at sunset, the home is decidedly unglamorous -- certainly not on par with Reese Witherspoon's Wallace Neff-designed retreat, though to be fair that estate is listed at almost five times the price, so we can't expect them to be comparable.
The property's location can hardly be beat, though: It's within walking distance of Ojai's quaint downtown and equestrian and walking trails, with the option to buy 8 adjacent acres that adjoin Los Padres National Forest. Seems like the perfect place to exercise if you're, say, an actress training to co-star opposite Tom Cruise in a sci-fi action movie called "All You Need Is Kill," and maybe in the running to portray Ms. Marvel in an "Avengers" sequel.
Witherspoon is probably smart to be moving away, if Jimmy Kimmel is to be believed. Krasinski is prone to breaking into his neighbors' homes -- well, Kimmel's anyway -- to set up elaborate pranks like an animatronic-Santa tableau and a garden scene of a monster bursting from the ground (as we learned from Huffington Post):
They start swapping neighbor stories at about 1:30 in the first clip above, then continue in the second part below:
And we're unreasonably proud to report that we think we've dug up for you the exact zombie sold on SkyMall that Krasinski used to scare the bejabbers out of his neighbors, just in time for Halloween or as a housewarming present for the new Ojai residents. Can't you just imagine dozens of these crawling out of that pristine lawn?
OK, we admit we have a sick sense of humor. Also: This was a suggestion for Krasinski and Blunt's actual friends, not stalkers and wannabes. We know you knew that, but just for the record.
