RICHARD NIXON: 1913-1994 : Friend Recalls Western White House Days : Casa Pacifica: Current occupant Gavin Herbert shared highs and lows in San Clemente.

When newspapers began compiling obituary material on Richard Nixon several days ago, Gavin S. Herbert would have nothing to do with it. He didn’t believe that a stroke would claim the life of a man who had survived so much.

“I thought he would tough it out,” said Herbert, still in disbelief Saturday, as he was preparing to attend his friend’s funeral. “When he gave the high sign (to his doctor) the other day, I thought he was still fighting.”

During an interview, Herbert and his wife, Ninetta, strolled the courtyards and gardens of their ocean-bluff house in San Clemente, the same rambling Spanish-style abode that Nixon named La Casa Pacifica and was also commonly referred to as the Western White House. It was there, Herbert said, that he saw the former President make his last and greatest physical and emotional comeback.

Herbert bought the house from the Nixons in 1980, when they moved East to be closer to their grandchildren.

During Nixon’s presidency, Herbert, founding chairman of Allergan Inc. and Rogers Gardens, served as financial co-chairman for Nixon’s reelection campaign and volunteered to keep the grass green and flowers blooming for the First Family when they visited La Casa Pacifica on retreat.

But Herbert said his sharpest memory was greeting Nixon when he returned to San Clemente from Washington after he resigned under the pressure of the Watergate scandal.

“We found out 24 hours in advance that he was coming home and the volunteer group got the place in order,” he recalled. “I was here and met him at the front door.”

Herbert said Nixon appeared deeply exhausted, something that was more evident in person than on television, where makeup helped him appear still vigorous.

This physical degeneration, Herbert feels, augured Nixon’s nearly fatal bout with phlebitis. But even that didn’t defeat him.

“One day, after he came home from the hospital, I came by to see how the gardens were doing, and one of the Secret Service guys asked if I could come up to the office to see him,” Herbert said.

Herbert said he was startled by what Nixon wanted to ask him. “He said, ‘Gavin, what am I going to do with the rest of my life?’ ”

For a couple of hours, Herbert said, he and Nixon talked about the possibilities. “I said it was time for him to do some things he liked personally,” Herbert said.

At one point, in the conversation, he said, “I asked, ‘What about writing?’ He said, ‘I can’t write.’ ”

But Nixon wrote masterfully, said Herbert, who has read all nine of his books, some volumes of which are autographed and line the shelves of the study where they had their discussion.

Herbert said he believes the beauty and serenity of La Casa Pacifica, where Nixon swam in the pool and often walked alone on beach, helped to gradually revive his spirits.

“He regained his physical and mental strength and respect around the world. It was remarkable to see it happen,” he said.

After Nixon had recuperated in relative isolation for two years, Herbert said, he and other members of the politically conservative Lincoln Club persuaded him to meet with them. Nixon was in good form. “We listened to him,” he said.

“He did a two-hour global political review.”

Herbert said Nixon’s “favorite subject was politics and politics and politics, and he would have an opinion on every race in the country and would tell you the strengths and weaknesses of the candidates.”

Herbert said that Pat Nixon enjoyed tending the garden at La Casa Pacifica. “Pat was an avid gardener,” he said. “She spent every day in the garden.”

Herbert said he and his wife have made changes to La Casa Pacifica since the Nixons owned it. One of the first, he said, was to aggressively prune the shrubbery that the Secret Service preferred to grow thick and tall to increase privacy.

Even after the Nixon family moved to New York, Herbert said, the former President returned several times for visits, and two years ago his daughter Julie came to show the house to her three children.

And every spring, while Pat Nixon was alive, the Herberts would send her pictures of the gardens so she could see what was new.

On Saturday, the rose garden at La Casa Pacific was thick with pink blooms and the cut-flower garden was a colorful riot of tall purple and white delphiniums and gold and orange poppies.

Would Pat Nixon approve of the garden now?

“I hope so,” Herbert said. “Part of the reason I was able to buy (La Casa Pacifica) is they knew I would take care of it.”