She’s at 113 roommates and counting ...

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Almost 20 years ago -- Jan. 3, 1991 -- the Los Angeles Times published R. Daniel Foster’s first article about Freda Amsel, who at that point had welcomed 44 renters into her house. Foster returned two decades later and found Amsel still renting out three of her rooms, the collective count of boarders now up to 113. Writes Foster:

‘Surveying her Northridge home last month, I found it still strewn with her lighthouse collection — photos, paintings, mugs, models and other depictions — a beacon of hope, she says, for those floundering on life’s rocky shoals. Now 78, she recently self-published a book that chronicles her 34-year journey harboring a wealth of personalities.... The slobs, the neat freaks, the neat freaks who became slobs, fierce fights, enduring friendships, $500 bail posted for one boarder, rent paid in turquoise jewelry by another, a Buddhist monk who ‘vegetated instead of meditated,’ an atheist who became a Sikh, the 20 boarders who bilked her out of $4,700, and the 29 romances and three marriages between housemates — among other tales.’

Read the rest of Freda Amsel’s story online or look for it in the print edition of the Los Angeles Times on Saturday.