Laguna Beach home once the site of Big Splash fundraisers seeks $4 million
A hillside Laguna Beach home whose backyard pool once drew thousands for campy “Big Splash” HIV/AIDS fundraisers is on the market.
The asking price is $3.995 million.
Perched on a triple lot, the three-story contemporary house boasts 4,215 square feet of living space with five bedrooms, four bathrooms, and wraparound floor-to-ceiling windows with sweeping ocean and coastline views.
It was built in 1975 by Ken Jillson and Al Roberts, who died Feb. 6 at age 88. They helped found the AIDS Services Foundation (ASF) Orange County in 1985.
The upstairs interior balcony overlooks the living room, with its soaring vaulted ceiling and fireplace.
A gourmet kitchen, dining room (once furnished with Rock Hudson’s dining room table and chandelier, a gift from Hudson’s estate after his death) and a three-car garage, plus additional driveway parking, add to the amenities.
Michael Johnson of Compass has the listing.
Jillson, 73, and Roberts staged their first Big Splash around their pool during the height of the AIDS epidemic to kick-off the ASF. The event later moved to the grounds of the Festival of Arts.
A 24-year tradition, the annual lip-synched musical and auction raised almost $10 million for the nonprofit’s work to provide food, transportation and financial assistance for those affected by AIDS and HIV, as well as prevention education. It featured synchronized swimmers, a tap-dancing Santa Claus and celebrity voice-overs by Kirk Douglas, Cher, Jack Lemmon, Bea Arthur, Walter Matthau, Phyllis Diller and many others.
One year Elizabeth Taylor donated the dress she wore to President Ronald Reagan’s inauguration to the Big Splash auction.
The couple resigned from the non-profit organization in January 2018 after ASF was rebranded Radiant Health Centers.
This post first appeared on ocregister.com
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