California Suite
Savoring their time together, three generations—Blair (holding the ribbon), Loren, 9-year-old Elouise, 7-year-old Duke, and 3-year-old Kate—illustrate the meaning of close family ties.
Citrus, horses, beach life, and philanthropy are all on the BOOTH family agenda
On the walls of Loren Booth’s study in her Carpinteria ranch house hang half a dozen depictions of Old California by artist Alexander Harmer, who painted around the turn of the 20th century. They’re an apt backdrop for her workspace. Her roots in the state go back five generations, and today she’s president of Booth Ranches, which includes more than 8,000 acres of citrus, a large cow-and-calf operation, and a 300-acre farm near Fresno that breeds and raises reining horses. The businesses and her passions are integral to the Golden State—a heritage she’s serious about imparting to her children and grandchildren.
“I always had horses,” she says. “I grew up in Pasadena, where everyone did hunting and jumping. Later I moved to Covina, where there was Western riding. But once I was introduced to reining horses…that was it.”
She and her mares have brought home countless trophies, and her daughter, Blair Moffett, also excels in the show circuit that extends from California to Arizona, Oklahoma, and Texas. “We compete against each other,” says Loren, “but we cheer each other on, too. We’re each other’s biggest fan.” Now Blair’s 9-year-old daughter, Elouise, is carrying on the tradition, learning the guided movements and exacting turns and quick stops of the sport.
Loren’s interest in agriculture also goes back to her earliest years. She studied animal science at Cal Poly, first in Pomona and then in San Luis Obispo, where she met her husband. When they moved to Bakersfield, she began to raise horses, and some years later, after she graduated from the California Agricultural Leadership program, she cast an eye on the citrus enterprise her dad owned.
“I’m trying to up the fun factor. I want the kids to climb trees, catch frogs, and have an outdoor life.”
Her father was Franklin “Otis” Booth, Jr., a great-grandson of the founder of the Los Angeles Times, where he was an executive. As an early investor in Berkshire Hathaway, Otis built a fortune, raised livestock, and acquired orange groves. He eventually had thousands of acres, “but no employees,” Loren remembers. “Everything was outsourced.” Divorced but still living in Bakersfield, where she was raising Blair and an older son, Jake, she saw opportunities to do things better. “It took me two years to get dad to hire employees; the first one was a pest advisor” who still works at the company. By 2005 Booth Ranches was vertically integrated—handling everything from farming to packing, planning, marketing, and sales. After her father’s death in 2008, Loren bought out the other partners, and today she grows Valencias, navels, “easy peels,” and lemons. She also became the first woman to serve on the Citrus Research Board.
“Giving back is important in the world,” she says. “Booth Ranches gives scholarships to children of employees to want to go to college. It can be anywhere as long as they carry 11 units.” Loren serves as vice chairman of the Reining Horse Foundation, which also awards scholarships and maintains a crisis fund for horse trainers. And she’s also one of three trustees on the Otis Booth Foundation, which has contributed to Thacher and Cate, as well as local universities, the Children’s Institute, and many, many others. In Arizona, Blair works with Children’s Hospital and the Phoenix branch of MD Anderson.
Loren’s businesses and board positions (she sits on seven) keep her more than busy, but she makes plenty of time for family. Blair, who attended Dunn School and Santa Barbara City College—and even had a stint as an intern at Santa Barbara Magazine—has lived in Phoenix since she married Bubba Moffett in 2008. But she and her kids—Elouise, 7-year-old Duke, and 3-year-old Kate—visit Santa Barbara frequently, especially when Arizona temperatures soar. Then the family beach house at Fernald Point is a particularly refreshing destination. It’s also a welcome spot for Jake, who lives in Fresno with his wife, Chiara, and their kids, Sinclaire, Ensign, and Winifred.
“We go to the beach, then jump in the hot tub,” Loren says. “And we eat every meal outside. Blair has a lot of friends here, so we use it—and the ranch house—for entertaining.”
“We go to the beach, then jump in the hot tub. And we eat every meal outside.””
The contemporary residence, with a guest house designed by SB architect Andy Neumann, holds an eclectic mix of old and modern pieces, from an antique portrait that Loren’s grandmother acquired decades ago to a Channel Islands surfboard with the Booth Ranches logo that was a gift.
The traditional-style ranch house in the Carpinteria foothills, with its pastures, barn, and riding ring, is a more recent acquisition, bought in early 2020, so furnishing it, with the help of Long Beach-based interior designer Alisha Mora, is still an ongoing proposition. But Loren’s delight in mixing pop art and serious pieces is evident throughout. There’s a huge painting touting “Women Outlaws” in the family room, along with an antique armoire. In the dining room a vintage leaf-shaped Murano glass chandelier hangs under a ceiling with hand-painted wallpaper depicting flying cranes. “I’ve tried to make it homey,” Loren says.
“We’d love to use this as a family compound, have family parties here,” she adds, operating on the principle that if you build it they will come. “I’m trying to up the fun factor. I want the kids to climb trees, catch frogs, and have an outdoor life.”
