‘Cop’ Gets Lock on Paradise

REGINALD (REGGIE) VELJOHNSON, who stars as a Chicago police sergeant and head of the overcrowded but loving Winslow household in the ABC sitcom “Family Matters,” has purchased his first house and is about to move into it after finishing some refurbishing.

VelJohnson has appeared in such films as “Die Hard” (1988), “Die Hard 2” (1990), “Turner and Hooch” (1989), “Crocodile Dundee” (1986) and “Ghost Busters” (1984). Among his many TV credits was the NBC miniseries “Grass Roots,” which aired first in February.

“I finally got myself a little paradise,” he said recently by phone. He bought a secluded home with three master suites and a guest house in the Laurel Canyon area for about $700,000.

“It’s a hacienda, ranch style, with a pool like a big kidney bean, which winds around the back yard,” he said. “There’s a kitchenette by the pool, which will be great for parties. It’s a wonderful house for entertaining. I even have a koi pond.”

The home, which was built in the 1950s, was in “very good condition,” he said, “but it needed a few changes to update it.” He mentioned a huge bathroom that he calls “The Jayne Mansfield.” It has a pink tub with little cherubs and a bidet. “I will have that bath re-done,” said VelJohnson, 40, a bachelor.

He has been living with his pug dog and two cats in a Hollywood condo that he bought soon after moving to California from his native New York. VelJohnson was graduated from New York University as a classical actor, and he performed often on and off Broadway.

“I came to L.A. in 1985 to do ‘Die Hard,’ and I’ve stayed here ever since,” he said, adding that he may lease out his condo when he moves into the house, which he waited to buy until after he purchased one for his parents.

“I had to take care of mom and dad first,” he said. “I had to move them out of New York, because they wanted to be close to my sister in North Carolina. So I bought them a brand new, four-bedroom house there with a huge back yard. They love it, and my brother said I added years to their lives.”

In the purchase of his Laurel Canyon home, VelJohnson was represented by Evelyn Moffett of Realty World Johnson & Johnson in Los Angeles. Rick Weber and Rocky Gleason of Jon Douglas, Studio City, had the listing.

VIC ARMSTRONG, who has just finished directing his first feature film, the Dolph Lundgren/George Segal film “Joshua Tree,” has purchased a home in the Hollywood Hills.

Armstrong--who made his directorial bow on George Lucas’ TV series “The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles,” which first aired in May--is a former jockey and veteran stunt coordinator from England. He also has a home there and in Spain.

He bought a three-level house with city views, just north of Sunset Strip, for nearly $500,000, according to Robin Berger of Prudential California Realty, who represented Armstrong in the sale.

“He was going to build (on a lot he owned in the same area) but bought a house instead,” said Armstrong’s business manager, Ron Hacker.

“Due to his recent hectic schedule, he has not had time to build a home and decided to put it (the lot) on the market,” Hacker said. It’s co-listed at $160,000 with Kathy Balaban at Alvarez, Hyland & Young and Century West Realty.

DIANE SAMANDI, the intimate apparel designer whose Santa Monica-based Jonquil label is featured in more than 400 stores in the United States and overseas, and her husband, Iraj, have put their stucco-and-glass contemporary house, featured in the film “The Player,” on the market at $1,995,000.

“A major party scene was filmed there with cameos of such celebrities as Jack Lemmon, Harry Belafonte, Robert Wagner and Jill St. John,” Samandi said, referring to “The Player.”

A New York businessman saw the house in the film and then leased the property at $12,000 a month, said listing agent Judy Hannes, Jon Douglas Co.

The four-bedroom, 6,000-square-foot home has mountain and ocean views as well as a pool with a waterfall. “It’s too big for the two of us,” Samandi said of the house.

She and her husband own several other homes in the area and are living in their Malibu beach cottage for the summer.