A boarding house in Essex is a lifeline to its residents — and a nuisance to some neighbors

Ed Leicht came to William Faber’s Holly Neck Road boarding house for the same reason everyone else did — he was out of options. The 76-year-old retired musician had been living with his wife at her sister’s home nearby. Last year, around Christmas, his wife died, and his sister-in-law immediately sold the house. The Leichts had funneled most of their savings into fixing up that house.