From the outside, the one-story home at 1130 Grapevine Road in Santa Maria appears to be just that: a nice house neighboring others in a suburban neighborhood.
Past the front door, there are six bedrooms, a spacious kitchen, and a living room stocked with board games, puzzles, magazines, and coloring books within the city’s newest licensed elder care home.
Orcutt resident Audi Duarte, founder of The Grapevine Residential Care Facility for the Elderly, celebrated the property’s grand opening with an official ribbon cutting ceremony on Aug. 14.
“I always wanted it to be a house; something that feels like home,” Duarte told the Sun.
She and her husband bought the house on Grapevine Road last year with the intention of developing it as a residential care home.
“It was a long journey. … It felt endless,” Duarte said with a laugh. “It took six months for the licensing and everything in place.”
‘I always wanted it to be a house, something that feels like home.’
—Audi Duarte, founder of The Grapevine
Duarte’s goal behind The Grapevine was to create a warm, homelike environment where “every resident is treated like family,” she said, with shared social spaces such as the facility’s living room complete with a cozy fireplace and a comfy outdoor garden area with plenty of patio furniture.
There’s also caregiving staff on-site at the home around the clock, of course, she added.
“We have two caregivers in the morning, two in the afternoon, and one at night, awake [throughout the night],” Duarte said. “And me on call, always around. … They will always have somebody to ask for something.
“They’re always going to be supervised,” she continued, “[To] make sure that they feel at home and their family has peace of mind that they’re going to be well taken care of.”
Duarte, a registered nurse, had ambitions since childhood of a nursing career. She previously worked as a private home caregiver for patients across the Central Coast, including the Santa Barbara area and Montecito.
Some of those experiences helped inform her decision to create a place like The Grapevine. Especially, she said, based on her experiences of caring for individuals who lived on their own, without a spouse or any other housemates around.
“I noticed the need for a home like this,” Duarte explained. “There are some patients who don’t have family. They don’t have kids. They don’t have family who can take care of them, and they are home by themselves.
“I just thought: How can I bring them all together in one place? A nice place that they can enjoy, like home,” she continued. “That’s how I started envisioning a home like this, where [residents] can feel special, feel heard, … dignity, compassion, care, comfort, safety, and that they have everything that they need.”
For anyone interested in learning more about The Grapevine, Duarte said she’s always open to offering tours of the property, which includes six private bedrooms—two of which are designated to specifically accommodate residents in need of hospice care.
“They can always call and schedule a tour, and I’m happy to walk with them and answer all of their questions,” said Duarte, who also lists and regularly updates the facility’s various amenities and availability details online at grapevinercfe.com.
While caregivers on-site provide residents with daily meals and assist with showers, baths, laundry, and other needs, they’ll also regularly host group activities for residents to take part in if they wish, Duarte said.
“Baking is one of the things that I’m looking forward to,” said Duarte, who added that she’ll be adjusting what activities are offered depending on feedback from residents.
If nobody signs up for bingo, for example, she’ll take it off the list, despite how much she personally enjoys it.
“I’ll have to see who’s interested in it,” Duarte said with a laugh.
Highlight
• Established in 2023, the 37th District Buyers Coalition announced that it was able to allot 4,000 pounds of beef—from its steer purchases at this year’s Santa Barbara County Fair earlier this summer—to 13 local nonprofits. This donation is valued at $30,000 worth of beef, according to the coalition. The beneficiaries include Meals That Connect, the Good Samaritan Shelter, local senior centers, and other organizations. In total, the coalition supported 127 youth exhibitors at this year’s fair, cumulatively purchasing 26,000 pounds of protein. For more info on the coalition, visit 37thbuyerscoalition.com.
Reach Senior Staff Writer Caleb Wiseblood at cwiseblood@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in August 27 – September 3, 2026.
