OJAI : Hagmans Settle Building Dispute

TV actor Larry Hagman and his wife, Maj, have settled a legal dispute with the builders of their Ojai house for an undisclosed amount, according to court records.

The builders, Felix Construction-Development, sued the couple a year ago in Ventura County Superior Court for breach of the building contract on the house called “Heaven: Ojai Project.”

The suit alleged that the Hagmans dismissed the company from the $3-million project Dec. 15, 1989, without sufficient cause after the firm had already subcontracted extensive work to lumber, plumbing and air-conditioning firms. It asked for damages of $1 million.

Maj Hagman countersued for breach of contract, alleging that the company had failed to properly review house plans to eliminate design problems. The Hagmans, Felix and the attorneys in the case could not be reached for comment.

The Hagmans settled the suit Monday, a few days before it was to go to trial--and just a few days before Felix was to be allowed back on the property to photograph the exterior of “Heaven” as evidence for the trial.

The Hagmans had won a court order forbidding Felix to videotape the improvements inside and outside the house after they argued that such a tape showing entrances to the home would pose a security risk.

Larry Hagman, famous for his role as oil tycoon J. R. Ewing in “Dallas,” said in court documents that fans and disturbed people have broken into his Malibu house several times and that the Ojai house on Sulphur Mountain Road has already been vandalized twice.

“In one instance, a religious zealot made her way into my Malibu home and was found sitting on my bed going through my personal phone book,” Hagman wrote in the documents.

“While I was on location in Dallas, a mentally disturbed man gained access to our Dallas residence by climbing up a steep hill and coming through the bushes and threatened me with a machete,” Hagman wrote. “He indicated he had seen on television where J. R. lived and he wanted to talk to me.”