Feelings Mixed in Shadow Hills on Project Sought by Marcos’ Ex-Lover

Property owners in Shadow Hills are keeping a wary eye on development plans filed recently by Dovie Beams DeVillagran, one-time mistress of former Philippines President Ferdinand E. Marcos, for the last large tract of undeveloped land in their horse-keeping community north of Sun Valley.

Some homeowner activists, acknowledging with a touch of pride that they are tough on developers, said they don’t like DeVillagran’s proposal to build 73 houses on 60 acres of hilly land she owns just east of Hansen Dam.

Others, however, said they are waiting to see if their differences can be reconciled before attacking the proposal.

Sensitive to Neighbors

They said the 53-year-old millionaire has impressed them with a combination of pluck and beauty and an apparent desire to do what the neighborhood wants.

“I think they’re going to work with us. I really do,” said Judy Campbell, who lives across the street from DeVillagran’s property.

DeVillagran, a former B-movie actress and lover of Marcos from 1968 to 1970, owns an estimated $7.7 million in Los Angeles County real estate, according to County Assessor Alexander H. Pope.

But she filed a petition with her husband in federal bankruptcy court this week asking for permission to reorganize payment of their debts. The petition listed 110 creditors, and said $3.3 million in unsecured loans is owed to the eight largest creditors, including $1 million to the Bank of America and $900,000 to Imperial Bank. No statement of assets has yet been filed.

DeVillagran was thrust in the spotlight last week when state Sen. Paul Carpenter (D-Orange) charged that her large Pasadena estate may have been purchased with money Marcos illicitly took from the Philippines.

She has said she accumulated the property herself through business dealings.

Shadow Hills homeowners professed to have no interest in DeVillagran’s private life but want a voice in what she builds on her land, which lies between McBroom and Wentworth streets near Wheatland Avenue.

Some Were Charmed

Several members of the Shadow Hills Property Owners Assn. met DeVillagran and her husband, Sergio, almost two years ago to go over her plans for the property. Some remained on their guard with her, but others came away charmed.

Accounts of what was said during the meeting vary. But everyone remembers the diamonds. Those who saw them said they were plentiful and large.

“She was dripping with diamonds,” said Jennie Klein, president of the association. “They were beautiful. She was dressed beautifully, too. She had a lovely outfit on. The lady had class from head to toe.”

DeVillagran showed the homeowners several possible plans for a development she called Rancho Villa Grand Equestrian Estates.

Campbell said one plan showed more than 100 high-priced homes on the steep, ravine-lined property, with a recreation area including pools, tennis courts and bridle paths. That plan, and one providing for about 65 homes, displeased the homeowners, Campbell said.

“No one is happy with high density out here,” she said.

Another homeowner, Anson Burlingame, recalled seeing a third plan for only about 40 homes.

‘Not a Bad Plan’

“That was not a bad plan,” Burlingame said. “I think we could have lived with it.”

Burlingame said he was stunned, however, when he saw the plan finally submitted to the city’s planning department in November by DeVillagran’s civil engineer.

“They want to cut 100 feet off the top of a hill,” Burlingame said. “I was so dumbfounded, I didn’t even count lots.”

An official of the planning department said the city is requiring an environmental impact report for the proposal, which was filed by the Villagran Development Co., and calls for 73 homes and the excavation of 620,000 cubic yards of earth.

Burlingame takes the scope of the project as evidence that DeVillagran has gone back on her promise at the meeting to work with the community leaders.

“They didn’t want to discuss it any further,” he said, referring to DeVillagran and her colleagues. “I called her a couple times and tried to get her to open up. She wasn’t about to.”

But others said DeVillagran, who has declined requests for interviews in the wake of Carpenter’s accusations, has gone out of her way to be helpful.

“My dealings with Dovie have been nothing but positive,” Campbell said. She said DeVillagran has hired crews to remove trash dumped on the property and to clear away brush. She said she has also helped the homeowners association keep loiterers off the property.

When teen-agers started to gather there, DeVillagran wrote a letter to Los Angeles police granting Campbell permission to let police onto the property, Campbell said.

And, when a movie company, without a permit, created a film set on top of one of the hills last summer, DeVillagran drove right over in her limousine, Campbell said.

“She and her driver walked up the hill,” Campbell said. “She personally throws these people off the hill. Now I call that a concerned property owner. I have to hand it to her.”