Handsome and Hands-On
In the spotlight: The waterside, Cape Cod-style home of Newport Beach trial lawyer Richard Bridgford, his wife, Susan, and their children Allan, 9, Jacqueline, 8, Alexander, 6, and Brittany, 4.
A hands-on attitude prevails at the 6,000-square-foot Mission Viejo residence elegantly furnished with reproductions of Early American antiques. A highly polished mahogany dining room table, for example, remains unprotected--even during large parties for friends.
“I want people to enjoy our home, feel comfortable,” said Richard, 40, whose family owns the Anaheim-based Bridgford Foods Corp., for which he is legal counsel. “I don’t want our house to feel like a museum.”
The home they wanted: Married for 12 years, the couple lived in Newport Beach before buying the $1.1-million, five-bedroom, five-bath lakefront house. “We wanted to live on the water, and five years ago that was the right price range for us,” Richard said.
Just as important as the waterside location are the activities that the area affords for children. “Mission Viejo has great programs for kids--it’s our philosophy to get them involved,” said Susan, 38, a community activist whose commitments in Orange County include volunteer work with the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation and the Second Harvest Food Bank.
On the waterfront: Geared to fun-loving indoor and outdoor activities, the Bridgford residence features a water slide situated atop a T-shaped boat dock, a 20-foot Duffy cruiser, a fort--dubbed “Castle Bridgford”--where, from a patio, the children can climb a rope ladder to get a bird’s-eye view of the lake, and a huge family room “furnished with durability in mind,” Richard deadpanned. “Our hobby is our family.”
Curb appeal: Decorated with an East Coast sensibility--”I worked for Reagan at the White House in ’84 and fell in love with the traditional, Early American look,” he explained--the house features a crisp, white wood exterior accented with black shutters and double entrance doors set with shiny brass fixtures.
The hardwood-floored living room is furnished with a cushy, pillow-strewn sofa that faces a marble fireplace. Twin burgundy damask club chairs face the lake. It is here, on one of the chairs, that Richard spends most of his at-home time.
“I love watching the lake and being in the middle of things so the children can spend time with me,” he said. “We have a library-in-progress upstairs. But I find that reading in there cuts me off from the kids.”
Heart of the home: Nowhere is the active life of the Bridgford family more evident than in the kitchen. There, beside a commercial-size gas stove, sits a maple chopping block that Susan compares in size to a “twin bed.”
“When our friends visit, that’s where we go to serve drinks before settling back for conversation in the living room and then going into the dining room for dinner,” she said.
And when her children invite pals over for special occasions, the chopping block may be covered with a slew of pizzas. “We’ve had up to 24 pizzas on it at one time,” Susan said.
A wall in the corner of the kitchen is hung with a bulletin board spread with family photographs, newspaper articles--”I clip out accounts of Richard’s court cases,” Susan said--and reminders of charitable activities. “It’s all right there,” Susan said. “Everything we care about.”
Ann Conway can be reached at (714) 966-5952 or by e-mail at ann.conway@latimes.com.