‘Naked Iguana House’ on sale

If Newport Beach resident Jim Jones can’t sell his lavish Balboa Peninsula beach house with its two stripper poles and indoor Jacuzzi, he says he’s going to have the place bulldozed.

City officials have harassed him for the past five years over code violations, like the tiki bar in his backyard and a stripper pole that rises out of the floor on a hydraulic lift, he said. Jones dubbed the place the “Naked Iguana House” after a bar in Lake Havasu.

“I’m tired of fighting,” Jones said. “I can’t fight City Hall, so screw it, I’m just going to start over.”

He’s asking $1.3 million for the place at 2814 Newport Blvd., after being cited for building code violations at the house. Newport Beach police raided the Naked Iguana House last year and found 24 grams of cocaine and more than 200 Valium pills there, Newport Beach Sgt. Evan Sailor said.

Jones, who says the drugs belonged to a construction worker who was working on the Naked Iguana House, believes the raid was part of an ongoing campaign of harassment against him.

“It was kind of an odd coincidence, within five minutes of the police coming, city code-enforcement officers were there with cameras. I think the whole thing was orchestrated as a cooperative effort,” Jones said.

Newport Beach officials are investigating the home for numerous city code violations, including whether Jones rents the home out for film shoots and bachelor parties.

Jones pleaded guilty to felony drug charges in the incident and is in line for 120 days in jail. Two other people who were arrested with him during the raid also pleaded guilty to drug charges, Sailor said.

The Naked Iguana House is not your average beach home. The website nakediguanahouse.com advertises the three-bedroom, three-bathroom home as a place for bachelor parties and film shoots and features pictures of two blond women reclining on a raffia and bamboo-bedecked bar at the house. The site touts the house as a place where “parties are encouraged,” featuring four plasma televisions, two stripper poles, and an outdoor tiki lounge that seats 10 and a full restaurant-style bar.

Jones, who runs a trucking company, says he’s never rented the place out, and set up the website as a lark. He’s even invited city officials over to his house for a tour, he said.

“I’ve tried to explain that I live here, this is my stuff, these are my groceries.”

Jones’ problems began shortly after he bought the property five years ago for $990,000, he said. The place was being used as an unlicensed dentist’s office and had an illegal studio apartment in the back, Jones said. He estimates he’s spent an additional $250,000 fixing the place up.

“There’s some ongoing investigation with code violations in the house because a lot of work was done without permits there,” said Patrick Alford, planning manager for the city of Newport Beach.

City staff also discovered the Naked Iguana House website, which hinted at other code violations, Alford said. The website advertises the house as a place for “film studios” and “on-set shooting.”

The city is still investigating the house and does not have any proof outside of the website that Jones was running a business out of the Naked Iguana House, Alford said.

“If he’s operating as a bar or a restaurant, or a commercial recreation establishment, he would probably need a use permit,” Alford said.