Showing Off Sherwood : Real Estate: In a rare marketing effort, developer David Murdock opens his million-dollar houses to the public.

They arrived in Mercedes-Benzes and Jaguars, Toyotas and Buicks. They wore T-shirts, shorts, sun hats and Hawaiian-print shirts. They carried baby strollers and cameras and waited anxiously for air-conditioned coaches to whisk them off to the sights on the tour.

Universal Studios? Disneyland?

Nope. It was Sherwood, the exclusive residential enclave conceived of and owned by billionaire developer David Murdock.

Last weekend, Sherwood’s gates were opened to the public for the first time in an unusual marketing effort, and more than 2,300 turned out during two days for the chance to see million-dollar houses, the prestigious Sherwood Country Club and views of Lake Sherwood and the hills surrounding the Thousand Oaks community. Onlookers toured the 1,900-acre development, and they remarked with wonder at houses with mahogany floors, marble countertops and two dishwashers per kitchen.

“Wow! This is huge,” exclaimed a woman peering inside an empty refrigerator.

But unfortunately for Murdock, 69, the houses are on the market at a time when housing, particularly the higher-priced segment, is suffering through a protracted slump. Sherwood officials deny the opening of the $700-million community to the public is in any way a desperate move to drum up sales. “We wanted to expose people to the beauty of the project,” said Sherwood senior vice president Scott Peters. But he admits the economy has made it more difficult to sell the houses.

“Sherwood has definitely been impacted by the slow market,” said Barbara Wolff, vice president of sales and marketing at Castle & Cooke Development Corp., a subsidiary of Dole Food Co., of which Murdock is chairman. (Although Sherwood is a private development, separate from Dole, Wolff said she was there as a Sherwood consultant.)

Despite the sluggish housing market, Murdock hasn’t lowered asking prices, Wolff said. “What he would have done is raise them,” she said. Instead, “he’ll just maintain them.”

A total of 416 houses are planned for Sherwood. So far, 17 have been sold. Another 17 were recently completed and are being offered at prices ranging from $1.1 million to $2 million. The houses are on one-third- to one-acre lots and vary in size from 2,600 square feet, with three bedrooms and two baths, to more than 6,000 square feet, with three to five bedrooms. A few more luxurious 6,000-square-foot houses have prices ranging from $3 million to $4.5 million.

Residents of Sherwood also pay homeowners fees that vary depending on the size of the house. Golf club memberships cost $150,000 for homeowners; tennis memberships are $40,000. Both memberships also include the use of Sherwood’s two pools, croquet lawns and dining facilities.

It’s clear that part of what residents pay for to live in Sherwood is the chance to rub elbows with the rich and powerful. Buyers of houses in the development would be neighbors with actor Tom Selleck and New York Mets pitcher Bret Saberhagen. Murdock is also close friends with President Bush and former President Reagan; both of whom have lockers in Sherwood’s 60,000-square-foot clubhouse--which looks like an English estate.

Sherwood’s 18-hole golf course was designed by Jack Nicklaus, and tennis pro Roscoe Tanner is director of the tennis club, which boasts grass, clay and hard courts. Sunday’s visitors got a glimpse of Tanner practicing.

Some who came to look last weekend also got a chance to meet Murdock, whose 1,200-acre ranch lies across the road from Sherwood’s main entrance. Murdock--whose wealth is estimated to be at least $1.35 billion, according to Forbes magazine--drove around the development in his golf cart, popping in to chat with visitors as they toured the houses.

The developer purchased the Sherwood property nine years ago and has spent millions on projects ranging from refilling Lake Sherwood to relocating more than 1,600 old oak trees. Sherwood officials said the billionaire has overseen virtually every aspect of the development’s design.

The public opening was preceded by an invitation-only crowd of about 800 the previous weekend. Instead of buses, those guests were chauffeured around in a fleet of 15 white limousines. They sipped champagne, munched on hot and cold appetizers and listened to a five-piece band at one of the houses on display.

Wolff said that no sales have resulted from that marketing effort as yet, but about 20 of those attending have appointments to return for a closer look.

Last weekend’s visitors were responding to newspaper ads and other publicity heralding the project’s “grand opening.” The five-piece combo was again on hand, but instead of champagne guests got soda, chips and cheese. By 3 p.m Sunday, the crowds were so great that the gates were temporarily closed, leaving dozens of cars lined up on the road outside. The gates were reopened about 20 minutes later.

On Sunday it was also apparent that many visitors had come only to gawk at the way the other half lives.

“We wouldn’t have a chance to buy here,” said Andy Lyskin of Ventura, cradling his 6-month-old son.

“Unless we won the lottery,” added Lyskin’s wife, Lana.

“If you made everyone show their income tax statements they’d only fill up one van,” said Karl Kozak of Thousand Oaks.

So why open Sherwood to the public? Wolff said she’d expected lots of visitors who were only interested in looking, not buying. But Wolff said that the effort did attract some visitors with incomes hefty enough to afford Sherwood, and by Monday about 15 to 20 prospects had been identified.

But potential buyers of million-dollar houses can also afford to be choosy. One visitor, David Seymour, said he recently made an offer on a $1.1-million house in Sherman Oaks, but wanted to see Sherwood because he figured that a buyer could get more for his money further away from Los Angeles.

After seeing two Sherwood houses, one marketed at $1.3 million and the other at $1.7 million, Seymour said he was disappointed. The first, a 3-bedroom house, was too small, he said, and the second missed on certain details--by mixing cherrywood with oak, for instance.

“For $1.7 million, it should be perfect,” Seymour said.

Sherwood officials nevertheless termed the weekend a success, but they also said it wouldn’t be repeated.

“This was a one-weekend- only event,” said Peters. “We’re going back to appointment-only.”