A House of Hope for Mentally Ill

The lemon-yellow duplexes adorned with Doric columns and rose gardens had the look of a freshly built suburban housing tract.

That they are in fact communal housing for the mentally ill says something about who built them: developer and business magnate David H. Murdock.

Murdock used his own money to build the $4.5-million complex of single-story duplexes on a 2.75-acre parcel near Camarillo owned by Ventura County.

On Wednesday, the chief executive of Dole Food Co. and development giant Castle & Cooke turned the completed facility over to the Ventura County Behavioral Health Department.

By Nov. 1, the complex is to house 45 severely mentally ill adults who need help getting their lives on track. With the additional beds, the county will be able to move patients now housed in out-of-county facilities closer to home, officials said.

Murdock donated his money and expertise in seeing the project to completion, he said, out of a belief that people sometimes need a helping hand to get started on a path toward success.

“I don’t believe there will be anyone who comes into this facility who cannot improve themselves,” he told the crowd of 100 who turned out for the dedication. “Success is a habit. It does not come with your birth. You create it.”

County officials said Murdock expressed interest in collaborating on a project last year. He almost dropped out when bureaucratic wrangling over the property’s ownership threatened to hold up construction, officials said.

But that snag was worked out and Murdock’s Castle & Cooke built the complex over the last few months, said Johnny Johnston, the county’s chief administrator.

“Once Mr. Murdock decided he wanted to do it, it was more or less us just getting out of his way,” Johnston said.

Called Casa de Esperanza, which means “house of hope” in Spanish, each of the three duplexes contains two “homes,” one with seven bedrooms and the other with eight. Each living space has its own kitchen, dining room, living room and laundry.

A community building includes a recreation room, conference space, a kitchen, offices and a large reception area filled with artwork created by mental patients.

Although philanthropists often give money to mental health causes, Stephen Mayberg, director of the California Department of Mental Health, said this is the first time a single benefactor has undertaken a project of this scope.

“You have set the model for the state,” Mayberg told Murdock in brief remarks. “It’s the catalyst for other people to do the right thing.”

Murdock hinted that he may not be finished. He told the crowd that he is interested in collaborating on another project with Ventura County -- if only the pesky red tape can be cut through.

“I don’t seek aggrandizement, I don’t need it,” Murdock told the gathering. “I hope to give aggrandizement to people who need help.”