Raymond Denton's Profile

I’m Raymond and my first exposure to Laguna Woods Village was in 1969, when I was 10 years old. It wasn’t called Laguna Woods Village at the time - it was known as Leisure World, located in the city of Laguna Hills. My family lived in Norwalk and were looking to move to Orange County and Mission Viejo, Irvine and Laguna Niguel were newer developing cities at that time. We ended up moving to Laguna Niguel in June of ’71 and spent lots of time driving between our new home and visiting relatives near our old home. Each trip took us past the hugh globe of the earth located off El Toro Road and the 5 Freeway … it was 32 feet tall and 32 feet wide and was the entry way to Leisure World – it was our Landmark. There was a fountain at the top that shot water into the air with colored rotating lights that lit up the water at night as it poured down the sides of the globe.

Today it’s no longer referred to as Leisure World and the globe is gone – it’s been the city of Laguna Woods since 1999 and the globe was removed in 2007. And Laguna Woods Village resides within the city … it’s the largest 55-plus community on the West Coast with 12,736 dwellings.