August 7, 1986

Two years ago, when the Amannas moved into the spacious, hilltop house they had designed themselves, with a formal parlor, an airy kitchen and land for the family's four horses, they thought they had come to this quiet corner of Orange County to stay. Since then, the country road they built the house on has begun to look increasingly like a suburban thoroughfare, and the Amannas, seeking a more rural way of life, have decided to sell their home and move north. Longing to Make a Left Turn ''People ask me why we're selling our house, and I say, 'Because I can't make a left turn in town anymore,' '' Joan Amanna said. ''Of course, that's greatly oversimplified, but basically that's what it comes down to. I'm looking for what it was like here two years ago.''

The BCI Holdings Corporation has sold the Beatrice Companies' personal products division - which includes Playtex products, Jhirmack hair care and Almay cosmetics - for more than $1 billion, industry sources said yesterday. The buyers were said to be a group of investors that included Joel E. Smilow, chairman and president of International Playtex Inc., a division of Beatrice, which was purchased by BCI in April. Sources within the industry said that Mr. Smilow would in turn sell some of his new holdings - Max Factor, Almay and Halston cosmetics -to the Revlon Group for a reported $375 million. A spokesman for Revlon declined to comment. A spokesman for Beatrice said he could neither confirm nor deny the reports and a spokesman for Playtex did not return phone calls.

Companies Goldman, Sachs is negotiating to sell a stake to Sumitomo Bank of Japan. Goldman is one of the last of the large Wall Street houses wholly owned by its partners. Goldman said that Sumitomo, the third-largest bank in the world, would pay $500 million to become a limited partner eventually entitled to up to 12.5 percent of Goldman's income. However, Sumitomo would have no voting rights or role in the management of the 117-year-old investment bank, a Goldman official said. [ Page A1. ] Sumitomo has a reputation as an innovative and highly profitable institution. [ D1. ] The Japanese presence in America's financial system is expanding rapidly. [ D4. ] Beatrice's personal products unit reportedly has been sold for $1 billion to a group of investors led by the chairman of its Playtex division. Industry sources also said that the new owners intended to sell cosmetics lines to Revlon for $375 million. [ D1. ]

George Foster's career with the Mets came to a controversial close today after the 37-year-old power hitter got into a dispute with Manager Dave Johnson over Foster's remarks on racial influences in baseball. The Mets issued a statement tonight saying Foster would be released because he had been ''ineffective as a part-time player'' since he was benched 16 days ago as the team's left fielder. They added that Lee Mazzilli, the onetime star center fielder for the Mets who was signed to a minor league contract last week, would be called up from their Tidewater farm club Thursday to replace him. But both Johnson and Foster acknowledged that the controversy over Foster's remarks had hastened his release. And both invoked the same phrase to make the point: ''The comments probably were the straw that broke the camel's back.''

The House of Representatives voted today to uphold President Reagan's veto of a bill that would have placed strict limits on imports of textiles from 12 countries, most of them in Asia. The vote was 276 to 149, or eight votes short of the two-thirds margin needed to override a veto. The final tally followed geographical lines more than partisan lines, as 205 Democrats and 71 Republicans opposed the President. Forty-three Democrats and 106 Republicans backed Mr. Reagan's position.