LAGUNA BEACH : House Tour Features Villa Rockledge

Villa Rockledge, a Mediterranean-style estate built by hand on a sheer Laguna Beach bluff top 73 years ago, will be featured in the 19th annual Charm House Tour on Sunday. The 1.3-acre estate, which includes eight separate apartments and a sprawling hillside garden, was built in 1918 by Frank Miller, who developed the Mission Inn in Riverside. Villa Rockledge, originally named “Mariona” after Miller’s second wife, Marion, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

Roger Jones, who bought the property in 1973 for $420,000, spent 17 years researching and restoring the historic villa. His book, “The History of Villa Rockledge--A National Treasure in Laguna Beach,” was published last month.

According to the book, a number of celebrities were drawn to Rockledge beach and Bette Davis met one of her future husbands at the estate.

The Charm House Tour offers a rare glimpse into the Villa Rockledge grounds, said JohannaFelder, president of Village Laguna, which conducts the tour each year.

The tour includes four other Laguna Beach homes--a modern, 5,000 square-foot-house on 3 acres owned and designed by local architect Mark Singer, a country French-style home and two beach bungalows.

Felder said at least 500 people are expected to take part in the tour, which is the main fund-raiser for Village Laguna, a nonprofit political and civic organization created to preserve the city’s village ambience.

City trams will depart regularly from the Festival of the Arts grounds on Laguna Canyon Road from noon to 3:30 p.m. The last house will close at 5:30 p.m. Advance tickets are $20. On the day of the tour, tickets will be $25.

For more information, call (714) 455-3611.