Downsizing to Oakwell Farms

There’s a tiny little cul-de-sac in Oakwell Farms, barely an elbow in the road, where several garden homes sit beneath a multitude of large, shady oaks. It’s obvious that DeeAnn and Skinner Simpson’s home belongs to a gardener because huge baskets of ferns hang from the oaks around their home. The landscape near the front door is lush and fragrant, in spite of a dry summer. The alluring exterior promises an interior to match.

For the Simpsons, the trail to Oakwell Farms began two years ago with a decision to downsize and simplify their lives. They raised three children in Olmos Park in a 1929 Mediterranean home, complete with a pool, slide and inviting party house. When the children left home, the couple moved to a condo in the same neighborhood, downsizing to 3,000 square feet.

After they moved to the condo, a friend of DeeAnn’s put a contract on the garden home in Oakwell Farms. Her circumstances changed; she cancelled the contract but not before she’d shown the Simpsons around. “I just couldn’t get it out of my head,” DeeAnn says. “The floor plan was perfect for us. The house needed some renovation, but I could see myself living there. Skinner liked it, so we bought it.”

The home’s 2,000-square-foot plan is very open and allows the Simpsons to display treasures acquired from their world travels.  “The security afforded to us at Oakwell Farms was a major attraction,” DeeAnn says. “We travel a lot, and we can just lock the door and leave without a worry for our home. It really suits our lifestyle.”

The Simpsons scheduled major renovations on the house and then spent the following three months in France.  While they were gone, the flooring and kitchen countertops were replaced, a room was added, walls were removed, and the house was painted in various shades of pale pink. “It takes a real man to live in a pink house,” Skinner chuckles. That says a lot about his sense of humor and strength of character.