Adele Quinn, 89; Designer Who Led O.C. Crisis Shelters

Adele Faulkner Quinn, a well-known interior designer who spent the last 20 years as an active and inspirational board member for Orange County’s Interval House Crisis Shelters, died Sunday of heart failure.

Quinn, who lived in a former fishing shack remodeled by her parents in Sunset Beach, was 89.

“She was singly the most important leader of Interval House,” said Carol Williams, executive director of the private nonprofit agency that operates five shelters for battered women and children--including one named after Quinn--in Orange County and Long Beach. “She worked on our program every day of the week. I don’t know how you put into words someone whose [influence] was so huge.”

Quinn, who grew up in the house that once served as headquarters for the Pacific Electric Railroad Co.’s employee fishing club, spent 50 years as owner and operator of an interior design studio whose scrapbooks, she once remarked, contained the history of design in Los Angeles.

The first woman to be named a fellow by the American Society of Interior Designers, Quinn had a diverse portfolio that included the city’s first penthouse condominium, built in 1958. She also designed homes for the Mattel family of toy fame, actor Harold Lloyd and singer Carmen Miranda. Frequently the subject of items in newspaper society and gossip columns, she also taught interior design at UCLA for 17 years.

More recently, Quinn personally designed all five of Interval House’s shelters both inside and out. She also helped create programs for battered women, raised funds and acted as a public relations spokeswoman for the agency.

“She seemed to be younger than all of us,” Williams said. “It was impossible for the average person to keep up with her.”

Funeral arrangements were still pending Monday for Quinn, who is survived by a daughter-in-law, Susanne Faulkner of Encino; and two grandchildren in Washington state.