They Blend Hospitality With Mystique

Sometimes it isn’t easy, living in a landmark by the bay.

The tour boats cruise by, says Beverly Cohen, and the guides announce: “This was John Wayne’s house.

Now it’s Bob and Beverly Cohen’s house and they’re in Europe for three years.”

“It’s as if people need to feel his home is untouched ,” Beverly says, whispering. “That it’s still his. We have to be very careful. . . .”

So the party-loving Cohens, who bought the Newport Beach bay home last year for a breathtaking $6.5 million, are making changes slowly. They’ve raised the roof in the sprawling, buff-tone living room. Installed a magnificent archway entrance to the dining room. Created a plant-filled breakfast room on the patio. And there are plans for a second-story master suite and guest quarters for each of their three grown children.

But the marble bathroom sinks that were built tall for the tall actor remain. And, for now, so do the bayside bedrooms the Duke shared with his wife, Pilar, and their three children.

Those details still thrill visitors to the Cohen house. And nobody knows it better than Beverly, who divides her time between Newport Beach and Beverly Hills (where she holds court with Bob in a 4,000-square-foot penthouse in the Four Seasons Hotel, which they own). “You get the feeling that people don’t want any part of the house destroyed,” she says.

The Wayne mystique and the Cohen hospitality make for grand party-giving. Last year, Beverly staged celebrity-studded soirees almost every night of the Newport Beach boat parade (Author Joseph Wambaugh was a guest; so were composer--the “Rocky” theme--Carol Connors, hair mogul Vidal Sassoon, songbird Marilyn McCoo and fashion arbiter Mr. Blackwell.)

This year will be no exception, with two of Beverly’s pet-charity bashes having premier price tags. On Dec. 19, supporters of Heritage Pointe--a Jewish home for the aged--will donate $10,000 per couple to dine and watch the boat parade. And on Dec. 17, couples will pay $1,000 to attend a fund-raiser for Parent Help USA, an organization dedicated to the prevention of child abuse.

“They just recently called me,” Beverly says of Parent Help, her newest cause (annually, Beverly helps raise more than $600,000 for the Sephardic Hebrew Academy in Los Angeles.) “And when I met them, I could see they’re giving their time freely to help children. That is what impresses me about an organization--that they feel so strongly about a cause they spend every minute of every day helping others.

“My children are my life. I can’t imagine anybody having children and then abusing them.”

Her dream for a drop-dead party guest on the 17th? None other than Sly Stallone. “I go to his acupuncturist,” Beverly says with a wide smile. “I’m working on it.”

Having a party is like putting on a play, Beverly says. “People love to come to a fantasy, mingle with stars. You’ve got to think big.”

Ted Turner with his head-turner: Local members of Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) bestowed their first Eisenhower Award upon media mogul Ted Turner at UC Irvine’s University Club last week. The award will be given annually to a citizen who has made outstanding contributions to the cause for world peace.

“Ted Turner’s network has carried innumerable programs regarding the nuclear threat, arms control and citizen-to-citizen diplomacy,” said PSR activist Dr. Robert Wesley of Irvine. Wesley and his wife, Shirin, dined alongside Turner and his fiancee, Jane Fonda (Turner bought the princess of fitness an opal and diamond engagement ring last week). Afterward, Wesley presented the chairman of Turner Broadcasting System with a handsome plaque embellished with an Eisenhower silver dollar.

The couple, who did plenty of kissing and hand-holding during dinner, dug into their broiled salmon dinner with gusto but declined dessert--ice cream and fudge cake. “They told me they never eat dessert,” said Wesley, a cardiologist. Fonda dressed sedately for the affair in basic black with pearls.

Among guests were Dr. Lawrence Probes, a member of PSR’s board of directors; William Morning, executive director of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War; and Dr. Martin Coleman, a member of the PSR’s steering committee. Proceeds from the banquet will be used to support a yearly educational conference for Orange County high school students.

Crazy about Costner: Emerald Bay’s Deeann and Al Baldwin were among the more than 1,000 guests living it up with actor Kevin Costner at the Los Angeles party following the premiere last week of his new movie, “Dances With Wolves.”

After a screening at the Cineplex Odeon Century Plaza Theaters, the Baldwins joined party-goers in a cavernous tent that showcased scenes from the film on its walls. “It was amazing,” Deeann said. “When we walked in, the walls were covered with herds of buffalo. Then, a few minutes later, they were covered were scenes from inside a tepee. Wonderful.”

Deeann, special events coordinator for the Angels of the Arts--the elite, all-women support group of the Orange County Performing Arts Center--said the party wasn’t unlike Orange County bashes. “It was bigger, of course. But, just like here, everybody ate, then got up and left.”

But not before they schmoozed with Costner. “Gorgeous,” Deeann said. “I didn’t want the movie to end.”