When showbiz winner Josh Schwartz, creator of the popular mid-Aughts teen drama “The O.C.” and co-developer of the even more successful late Aughts teen drama “Gossip Girl,” and its 2021 sequel, sold a sprawling mid-renovation estate in Sherman Oaks in May to tennis champ Sloane Stephens for $6.85 million, he lost a whopping $1.25 million on the deal. (He’d paid $8.1 million for the 2.3-acre spread less than a year earlier.) Lucky for him and his pocketbook, he’s more than made up the loss with the $3.8-million profit realized on the nearly $9 million sale of an ocean-glimpsing getaway in Santa Barbara that the screenwriter/producer and his wife, Jill Stonerock Schwartz — they were introduced by her bestie Rachel Bilson, star of “The O.C.”, picked up about five and a half years ago for $5.175 million.
Hidden behind dense clouds of foliage and privately sited down a gated olive tree-lined gravel drive on just over an acre of lushly planted park-like grounds, in the exclusive Hope Ranch suburb that runs along an ocean bluff about five miles west of downtown, the Spanish Colonial-style home was built in 2000 and extensively remodeled in 2016.
At almost 4,500 square feet, it’s comfortably spacious without being unnecessarily huge, with four bedrooms and three and a half baths. Comfortably appointed with wide-plank wood floors, chalk-white walls and a simple fireplace between arched display niches, the combination living and dining room flows out to a sea breeze-licked arched loggia for al fresco dining and lounging with a lovely though not exactly panoramic, foliage-framed glimpse of the ocean.
The high-end eat-in kitchen, with cornflower blue custom cabinets, flows easily into a cozily proportioned family room that’s perfectly positioned for a head-on view of the ocean. An arched fireplace adds character, and attractively tall French doors swing open to a stone terrace that steps down to the swimming pool.
There are three guest…