Hollywood at Home

Jaclyn Smith

“I think you should be able to walk into a house and understand a person. I think people get who I am in here. Don’t you?”

Jaclyn Smith likes to keep her Los Angeles home in a constant state of flux. “I’ve always been into older homes, even if I have to refurbish or remodel or raise roof lines or knock out walls,” says the former Charlie’s Angels star as she curls up with her late mother’s dog Honey Bun in a loft area above her expansive master bedroom. “This room used to have fabric on the walls. My husband was very grateful when I took that down. He felt like he was living in a hat box.”

Smith, 68, fell in love with her Georgian colonial in 1991 and was struck by the amenities it offered: a tennis court for her son Gaston, now 32; a pool for her daughter Spencer Margaret, now 28, to enjoy with friends; office space for both her and heart surgeon Dr. Brad Allen, who would become her husband in 1997. But there was some work to be done. “The kitchen was the only room that really needed to be renovated,” says Allen, 59. “But she redid every room in the house.”

The changes in Smith’s life over the past 22 years weren’t limited to home decor. In addition to getting married for the fourth time, she’s seen her children (with ex-husband Anthony B. Richmond) leave the roost, she successfully battled breast cancer, and she’s still coping with the loss of both her parents. “I had to get a grief counselor, and I still cry every single day,” she says of losing her mother in 2009. Smith’s most cherished treasures in her home are the scrapbooks filled with family memorabilia.

Although she considers herself a homebody, Smith’s hectic professional life – she has a home and apparel collection for Kmart, she designs fabrics and wigs and also has her own skin-care line – has her constantly traveling. Still, there’s always time for a pet project at home: “I have a new plan for wallpaper in the dining room,” she says.

Updated by Gabrielle Olya