Residents still trying to create paradise

The three women recalled the days when their homes stood upon the grounds of an alluring health spa -- a place where the pampered came to luxuriate, where showgirls renewed their radiance, where local musicians came to jam.

And a place where the three women and their husbands came to retire and rediscover their youth and health.

"We had dry saunas, massages, an Olympic-size pool, dressing rooms, two Jacuzzis, an exercise pool, a tennis court," said Rosie, a widow with a gentle Yiddish accent.

Mary, also a widow, remembered the man-made lake, complete with fountains, goldfish, ducks, blue heron, and surrounded by toad-studded grass and tropical trees.

"Oh, my gosh, it was beautiful," she said, with a denser accent than her friend's.

Paradise Spa was rambling and uncircumferenced by thick stucco walls. There were no iron gates, but a security guard roamed the premises all day.

Sitting in the living room of Mary's home, the three talked of the friends with whom they whiled away their days.

"The same people were at the pool every day. Remember Abe and Bertha?" Rosie asked her friends.

"And remember the one who looked like Colonel Sanders?" Marcie asked.

Mary nodded, with melancholy. "The wife swam every single day. Then he was in a wheelchair. She pushed him in that wheelchair. ...I can still see them here."

At the south end of the Strip along the "old Los Angeles highway," Paradise Spa was once a showcase townhome community -- a retreat from the decadence of the Strip and Glitter Gulch, with an unobstructed view of the mountains.

The 384-unit, 40-acre complex was completed in 1965, though it had originally been planned as a four-phase project of 1,600 units on 160 acres by the Heers Brothers, the developers of Vacation Village. The final three phases never got off the ground, and the remaining land was subsequently sold.

The complex was built near a natural hot-water well that filled a man-made lake and pools, supplied bubbles for whirlpool baths and funneled water to thirsty lawns and trees.

At the center of the complex were shuffleboard courts, a putting green, croquet lawns, mineral-spring baths, saunas, indoor health club facilities, gym equipment and a party-recreation center.

One-, two- and three-bedroom homes were priced around $12,000.

"Paradise Spa offers everything you've wanted in a home, including a fine investment with excellent growth potential," a sales brochure trumpeted.

That was all then.

The Olympic-size pool has vanished. The lake is dry, and much of the surrounding grass is straw-yellow. The inside spa was gutted and is now retrofitted and leased to a commercial bakery. The large recreation room has become a smoky video-poker bar.

Near the commercial buildings, Dumpsters overflow and trees are dead. An area that served as a tennis court is now a parking lot.

Shortly after Paradise Spa was built, Seaco Corp. took over the property and rented out the remaining residential units.

Through the '70s and early '80s, the community facilities and grounds were run by other owners and managers, none of whom were able to maintain the property, said Larry Kain, president of the Paradise Spa Owners Association.

The property eventually reverted back to Seaco, and the land was divided. Seaco retained ownership of the central grounds and structure, and the common area became the property of the home owners.

During this same period, "All the amenities disappeared, with the exception of the lake, two pools and two Jacuzzis," Kain said.

In 1988, the commercial buildings and grounds and about 240 home units were purchased by K.N.K. Five Ltd. Partnership, which, with a majority of interest, took control of the owners association.

Following that, the large pool and the Jacuzzis disappeared, and the grounds further deteriorated. Kain blames it on financial mismanagement and the company's failure to reinvest in the amenities.

"Subsequent to that, the home owners' funds were used to construct a mini-size pool and another Jacuzzi."

Edward Kay, one of the owners of K.N.K., denied mismanagement of the home owners' funds and said the deterioration of the outside grounds and 30,000 square feet of commercial space came before his company purchased the spa area.

"We put $300,000 into what housed the saunas, Jacuzzis and showers to fix it back up. Now it's a bakery," he said.

K.N.K. leased the former recreation room's space to the bar, whose customers, Kay said, contribute to the building's unkempt appearance.

The lake, he said, was drained because home owners complained about the mess from the ducks.

But he insisted that the property's appearance has improved in the last three months, though there's much left to do.

"We plan to paint and refurbish the front and the back (of the commercial buildings) within the next month," he said.

The residents now own most of the units and have the majority of votes in the owners association. They're rebuilding cash reserves and hoping to obtain ownership of the pool and the Jacuzzi, Kain said.

Still, he points out that the spot holds many advantages. It's on a rambling 40 acres. The units are single-story, and trees near them are mature and provide ample shade.

Homeowners' dues, from $99 to $134 a month depending upon the size of the unit, cover gas, hot water, security, insurance, landscaping, outside maintenance, use of the pool and a children's pool located away from the central grounds.

Of the original 240 units acquired by K.N.K., 50 refurbished one- and two-bedroom, 600- and 800-square-foot units are left. They sell from $45,000 to $54,500.

"They're not brand-new, not large," said Joel Silverman of Magic Realty, the listing sales agent for the homes. "There are no wet bars and fireplaces, no bells and whistles.

"But it's a nice area for not a lot of money. We market to seniors or people looking forward to becoming seniors looking for quiet, simplicity and safety.

"We still get a lot of people who buy here as a second home, people who want to spend their winter months here."

It's also an attractive buy for young people starting out. With low monthly payments, it beats renting, he said.

While the resales have been modernized with new plumbing, bath fixtures, kitchen appliances and tile entries, members of the owners association are refurbishing the outside of their homes.

"We're sprucing up the exterior with new roofs, new siding, new paint," said Marcie's husband, Bob Hoshaw.

"The ones we have done look pretty darn nice."

And despite the property's rocky last 30 years, it continues to be home for Mary, Rosie and Marcie.

They sit in Mary's living room commiserating over the loss of many of their old friends. But they remind themselves that some are still around, and the newcomers are good neighbors.

"I'm so used to it," Mary said. "I love it here."

Her roomy home is the product of splicing two units together -- a two-bedroom and one-bedroom acquired after her mother moved in many years ago.

A small doorway links the two units, one living room mirroring the other. One kitchen serves just as that, while the other is "my warehouse" -- a storage room -- Mary said.

Since her mother died, she keeps the extra bedroom and bathroom as guest quarters.

Her living room, replete with baroque clocks and silk flowers, reflect her love of what is old and cherished.

Outside on her awninged, AstroTurfed patio, where she breakfasts each day, are dozens of rows of cacti in little pots.

The women value the remoteness they still feel. Casino mania has yet to encroach.

"The Strip is there, and we're out here -- in a different world," Marcie said.

Perhaps it's not paradise lost.

In the homeowners office hangs a rendering of the original Paradise Spa depicting the Moorish-inspired facade stretching across the flat desert. Large Arabesque letters spell "Spa" against a twinkling dusk.

The image lingers for the three women.

"Ah, it was such a paradise," Mary said.

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