Often, charity began here
This house, built in the hills of Calabasas in 1971 for an heiress turned philanthropist, has been the frequent site of fundraisers.
Roberta Pawlak was an advocate of cancer research and worked ardently to support the cause before she died of the disease herself in March.
She sat on numerous charity boards and was a board member of her family’s Stranahan Foundation, created in 1944 by the founders of the Champion Spark Plug Corp. The foundation grants $3.5 million each year to give people the tools to become educated and self-reliant.
Pawlak, a founding member of the Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation at UCLA, gave up much of her time to help others through fundraising parties and black-tie dinners at her home.
She always found the opportunity to have a good time, whether it was taking private dancing lessons in her own dance studio or going on trips with her son, James, or daughter, Marcia.
The philanthropist also had a flair for interior decoration and insisted on quality materials. Her home was a mirror of how she lived, striving to have nothing out of place. But she relished whimsy, using hand-painted tiles on a wall of her garden room to depict jungle animals.
Pawlak gave her nod to a scene being filmed in the house from “Fun With Dick and Jane” (1977), starring George Segal and Jane Fonda.
About this house: Pawlak meticulously maintained her home and its lush grounds. Her house was the first one on the block and the site of many home tours. It overlooks the private Calabasas Country Club, built in 1968 on the site of the old Warner Ranch, where movies were filmed.
Asking price: $2,875,000
Size: There are five bedrooms and eight bathrooms in 7,981 square feet. The lot is 26,463 square feet.
Features: The home has mountain views and direct access to the country club. There is a circular drive leading to the house and its bar, cabana, dance studio, den, patio, five wood-burning fireplaces, loft library, pool and hot tub. A sunroom looks out at the pool. There is also a gazebo in the garden.
Where: Calabasas neighborhood of Calabasas Park
Listing agents: Enzo Ricciardelli, (310) 260-8275, and Carolyn Ann Jones, (818) 312-1075. They are both with Sotheby’s International Realty. He is in the Santa Monica office; she is in Westlake.
To submit a candidate for Home of the Week, please send color interior and exterior photos with caption information on a CD and a description of the house, including what makes the property unusual, to Ruth Ryon, Real Estate Section, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012; or e-mail homeoftheweek@latimes.com.
