Board and Caring : Linda Humes’ Search for a Residence for Her Mother Led Her to Open Her Own

When Linda Humes’ mother, Ann, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease six years ago, Linda hoped to care for her mother, but because she worked full time, she couldn’t provide the round-the-clock care that Ann needed.

Faced with the realization that she had to find some kind of care facility for her mother, Humes spent the next six months checking out places near her Laguna Beach home. But nothing satisfied her.

“I was horrified by what I saw,” Humes says. “There was nothing good enough for my sweet mother. Some places were clean but impersonal; other places were homey but not kept up, or they served poor-quality food. The larger care facilities seemed institutional.

“I knew exactly what I wanted for my mom--a real ‘home,’ with loving caretakers and residents who are treated like family instead of as patients or clients. A home with cozy, comfortable furniture, a fire in the fireplace and good food cooking in the kitchen.”

But Humes couldn’t find what she had in mind. So she and her friend Dale Johnson created their own vision of a “home for older people”--Seaside Terrace in Laguna Niguel.

“We wanted to provide a place where older people could keep their dignity,” Humes says. “What most people don’t realize is that older people are exactly like us, only older. They don’t feel their age. Everyone is the same age in their eyes.”

Johnson and Humes searched for a house that would meet specific needs--a single-level structure with wide hallways, fire exits and five bedrooms--and would conform to the regulations of the Department of Social Services (the agency responsible for licensing board-and-care facilities).

After looking at nearly 100 houses, they found a custom-built home tucked into an upscale residential neighborhood in Laguna Niguel. The house on Seven Seas Drive was open, airy and spacious enough for six residents, which is the maximum number of people allowed to live in a small board-and-care home in a residential community.

It also had a kitchen built to really cook in, a large living room with a fireplace, a view of the ocean and space in the yard to plant flowers and an herb garden.

“We planted flowers all around the house and hung bird feeders on the patio just outside the kitchen window. We also planted an herb garden so we can use fresh herbs in our cooking,” Johnson says.

“Especially appealing was a paved walkway that surrounded the exterior and the way the house was U-shaped around a central courtyard,” Humes says.

They asked the Department of Social Services and the fire department to inspect the house before they bought it.

“We wanted to avoid any problems. They were really helpful,” Humes says. “They approved of the house and told us exactly what we needed to do to it to get our license.”

The house required a few modifications to meet certain board-and-care licensing requirements, such as having two exits for each bedroom (one leading outside) and hallways wide enough to accommodate wheel chairs.

Johnson and his father, David, a local builder, worked for 3 1/2 months to complete the required remodeling, and they split a large family room into a fifth bedroom and a den that comfortably holds a TV, sofa and two side chairs.

Humes and Johnson decorated the house with warm, comfortable furnishings purchased at local auctions. Johnson, a skilled craftsman, reupholstered much of the furniture. For fabric, they used Ann’s curtains that Humes had been saving.

Seaside Terrace opened in April, 1986, and Humes’ mother was the first resident.

Today five other people share the Seven Seas Drive home with her. And a few blocks away, in a second house purchased three years ago, are six more residents. Johnson supervises the original house and Humes oversees the second one.

“Everyone thinks of Seaside Terrace as one big family,” Johnson says. “And everyone here has a feeling of safety and real security.”

On Sundays at 1 p.m., residents from both houses gather at the Seven Seas house for the main meal of the day. Sean Pendergraph, 22, who has been assisting at Seaside Terrace for the past year, says, “The Sunday meals get pretty lively with some people discussing politics and things like that.”

On the other days, Pendergraph helps serve dinner at the second house on Mediterranean Drive.

“After dinner, I usually play Lawrence Welk and Guy Lombardo albums and (residents) Dorothy Houser and Sidney Shaw dance. I watch sports with (resident) Ernie Petersen--baseball, the Clippers or the Lakers. Basically, I entertain everyone and make sure they are all having a good time,” he says.

“This is kind of like taking care of your grandparents,” Humes says. “We get them to appointments--doctors, physical therapists, hairdressers and so on. The families come to visit. They can drop in any time of the day or night and are always welcome for meals.”

Some of the relatives, like Jim Whitmore Jr., admit to dropping in around meal time because the food is so good.

“I like to go there to eat,” says Whitmore, whose grandmother, Lillian Bronson, acted in more than 200 films, including playing Henry Fonda’s mother in “Spencer’s Mountain” (“I loved that story,” Lillian Bronson says) and Fonzie’s grandmother on “Happy Days.”

At first, there was some opposition to the facility opening in the residential neighborhood. Neighbor Nick Moffitt remembers a few people “expressed displeasure and tried to spread fear.”

“Some people thought there might be ambulances going all night long, or old people running loose in the street. But I knew from experience that the law allows (board-and-care homes in residential communities) and decided to see what it is,” Moffitt says. “It developed into a really nice home. On holidays, all the neighbors go to their house for the parties.”

Jack Hilburn, another Seaside Terrace neighbor, says, “My wife, Connie, and I had no apprehensions when they moved in. They are the best neighbors we’ve ever had in that house, and we’ve lived here for 26 years.”

There are more than 400 licensed board-and-care facilities for the elderly in Orange County. Like Seaside Terrace, these facilities are usually found in residential neighborhoods.

Board-and-care homes, also known as residential homes or community care facilities, are designed for people who need assistance in such daily activities as dressing, getting out of bed, eating and getting to and from the doctor’s office but who do not need constant medical monitoring.

The cost of living at an upscale board-and-care home is comparable to the cost of staying at a skilled nursing facility, but usually less expensive than hiring a full-time skilled nurse to come into a private home. Seaside Terrace charges between $100 and $120 a day. Most board-and-care homes, like most nursing homes and other retirement homes and communities, are businesses that are run for profit.

At Seaside Terrace, each bedroom is as individual as the person who sleeps in it. “We encourage people to bring their own furnishings and anything else that will help make them feel at home,” Humes says.

Ninety-eight-year-old Augusta Bont brought an exquisitely crocheted white-and-yellow bedspread made by her sister in 1921. “It will outlive me,” she says.

“We are very careful to turn it down just so each night, so we don’t stretch it,” adds Humes.

Edith Humann, 97, brought paintings and photographs of her family to spread around her room. A 1915 Berkeley graduate who has lived at Seaside Terrace for three years, Humann says, “There’s not much to worry about in our group here. So I’m going to stay right here.”

Lillian Gourlay was living on her own at Leisure World when she suffered a stroke. Although much improved after recuperating at Saddleback Rehabilitation Center, she was not ready to live by herself. When her daughter, a nurse, called Humes, she asked if there was room for Gourlay and a sweet sheltie named Brook.

“No problem,” Humes said.

Gourlay also had a yellow canary named Happy.

“No problem,” Humes said.

So Brook, Happy and Gourlay moved to Seaside Terrace. Says Gourlay, “We all like it here very much.” Happy enjoys a sunny spot in the front hallway overlooking the central courtyard and Brook has the run of the house and the yard.