Many hands have left their mark on the home of Will and Jada Pinkett Smith. Hundreds of master woodworkers, plasterers, metal smiths, stonemasons, and upholsterers contributed their expertise to this deeply personal project. “Everything needed to be done by hand,” Will says. “We wanted to feel the love and labor that went into every piece of this place.
The palatial Mediterranean-style home designed by architect Stephen Samuelson will cover the September issue of Architectural Digest. It boasts nine bedrooms, a meditation room, a recording studio (where Willow recorded her hit “Whip my Hair”, a gazebo, basketball and tennis courts, a three-hole golf course, a lake and so much more.
The 25,000-square-foot house, located in Southern California near Calabasas, has a surprising intimacy—a soul animated by the craftsmanship on display and the spirit of the celebrity power couple that live here with their children, Willow, Jaden, and Trey, Will’s son from his first marriage. “For Will and me this home was always a spiritual endeavor,” Jada says. “We’re very earthy, organic people. We wanted to create a family retreat, something made by hand and as natural as possible, something that ties back to the land.”
The Smiths’ domestic odyssey began when Will was working with co-star Gene Hackman filming the 1998 thriller Enemy of the State. “Gene loves Santa Fe,” Will says. “He has a house there, and he always talked about it. And then Wild Wild West came up, and we were shooting outside of Santa Fe. So I thought, Let me go see Gene’s house.” He admired what he saw. “I just loved that adobe flavor and feeling.”
See the complete story in the September issue of Architectural Digest.
