Think of grand Beverly Hills homes tucked away inside gated communities and you may conjure up a show home in which it's impossible to feel comfortable. Not so in Nancy Davis's stunning five-bedroom, six-bathroom home in Mulholland Estates.
Despite its high ceilings, elegant sitting room and large dining room resplendent with flowers and vintage dish settings, this is a home where teenage girls sprawl on large sofas and play arcade games, while dogs scurry around looking for cuddles.
Christina Aguilera, Paris Hilton and Robbie Williams have all lived in the Estates, where 66-year-old Nancy, the oil heiress and daughter of Marvin and Barbara Davis – the inspiration for the Carrington family in 1980s drama Dynasty – lives with husband Ken Rickel and their 19-year-old twin daughters Isabella and Mariella.
For Nancy and Ken, 71, the Estates offered their girls a "normal existence that doesn't always exist in Los Angeles," not to mention stunning views of the San Fernando Valley from their lush garden.
The Davis clan, once among the richest families in America, are known for their philanthropy: Barbara, 93, has hosted the Carousel of Hope Ball for juvenile diabetes since 1978 and Nancy launched the Race to Erase MS Gala two years after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in 1991. Her desire to give back has been passed on to her children, too, including her son Brandon, 43, whose wife is Pretty Little Liars star Ashley Benson, 34.
Now, Nancy has welcomed HELLO! into her home – where she organizes her hugely successful gala each year, as well as overseeing her jewelery line Peace & Love by Nancy Davis – to talk about her friendships with Kathy Hilton and Sir Elton John, and how becoming a grandmother has given her a new lease of life.
Nancy, tell us why you fell in love with this house...
"I love this neighborhood; it feels safe, and when you have little kids, it's so nice. There's a playground, tennis courts, places for kids to congregate and have a normal existence that doesn't always exist in Los Angeles. And the views – we have the most breathtaking sunsets."
What influences your design style?
"I've always loved older, elegant pieces; I love French upholstery. There's an Aubusson rug in the sitting room that looks like a beautiful tapestry, and I decorated the room around the rug. It feels very regal and French but it's also comfortable.
"[Interior designer] Lynn Palmer helped me decorate, as I don't want a stuffy house. I want everybody to be able to use every room as much as they possibly can, and I entertain a lot.
"I'm always going the whole nine yards for dinner parties; I get a kick out of setting the table, making it beautiful. I'm obsessed with beautiful dishes and I love flowers – I always use Mark's Garden, and always have them throughout my home."
Have your dishes been handed down through the generations?
"My mom gave me a set after I got married, and when she moved into a smaller place, she gave me hers. Now I can share them with my daughters, too."
Do you have a favorite memory of a dinner party?
"I have lots of friends who are singers, who always sing. [Musician] David Foster has always been a good friend and always sings. [Nat King Cole's daughter] Natalie Cole was one of my best friends, and she'd always get up and sing."
How did you become friends with stars such as Sir Mick Jagger and Sir Elton John?
"[Fashion designer] Tommy Hilfiger is a good friend and one year he brought Mick along to Race to Erase MS, and we got to know each other. I've known Elton John for years.
"I helped Jack Osbourne when he was diagnosed with MS, so the year we honoured Sharon Osbourne and Jack, she asked Elton to perform, and it was probably the most memorable evening I've ever had at Race to Erase MS.
"He was on fire – I've never seen anything like it. He sang 12 songs, and to this day, when I run into him or David Furnish, they always say: 'Oh my God, he was on fire that night!'
"That night, we also auctioned off a Lamborghini car, and Elton and Rod Stewart were bidding against each other to buy it. In the end, another man won it, but we were pulling for one of them to get it."
It's been 33 years since you were diagnosed with MS. What would you say to the younger Nancy now?
"I would tell Nancy that she was right and she should never listen to all those doctors who were negative and told her she would never walk again.
"You're very afraid in those moments when they put a label on your life; I was told the most I could look forward to was operating the remote control for my TV. The idea of sitting in bed all day, not being able to be a mother to my sons, was depressing."
You raised more than $1.5m this year with the Race to Erase MS Gala. How does the organisation use the money?
"I got second opinions from doctors after my diagnosis but realized that they were all doing identical research. Race to Erase MS funds the doctors, but they have to communicate via database, come together three times a year and report everything, including negative results, which are just as important as positive results."
How has the support of friends such as TV personality Kathy Hilton changed you and helped the organisation?
"I've known Kathy for a long time; her mother-in-law Marilyn had MS and I was helping Kathy with her events before I was diagnosed. Kathy has been a supporter ever since because she really gets it.
"There's a huge community of people in Hollywood who come every single year, supporting us in one way or another, so we're very lucky. The night that Jack Osbourne was diagnosed, Sharon called me and said: 'You’ve got to get on Good Morning Britain.' She wanted me to talk about it.
"Selma Blair was diagnosed and mutual friends reached out to introduce us, which was great. I haven’t met [actress] Christina Applegate [who was diagnosed in 2021], but she is in my thoughts."
What did your parents teach you that you're now teaching your children?
"The importance of giving back. I was taught it from an early age and thought everyone did it, and that is a good thing as I've passed that eagerness on to my children.
"I have another charity called Cure Addiction Now (CAN), which I started with my son [the late actor] Jason. He came to me and said: 'I am failing repeatedly on the 12-Step Program; it's not working for me.' It only works for seven per cent of people in America, so we need to find ways to make it equitable for everybody to be able to afford to get sober.
"Unfortunately, Jason passed away at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, but I hear him in my ear every day, speaking to me. We're really trying to take the stigma away from addiction, deal with the reality of it and find simple ways to detox in an affordable way."
How have your teenage girls followed in your footsteps?
"Isabella and Mariella loved Jason, so helping cure addiction is their passion. They launched an offshoot of Cure Addiction Now called You Can Save a Friend, trying to help young people of their age who are in trouble to know how to call out for help, trying to empower every single person."
Your son Brandon and Ashley Benson welcomed a little girl, Aspen, earlier this year. Has becoming a grandmother given you a new lease of life?
"I'm madly in love with that beautiful, cute little girl. She just melts your heart, and I could not be more grateful."
As your family grows, how do you lean on each other?
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"It's so much fun for my mother in particular – we have dinners quite often and the baby comes, my mom's there, Brandon and Ashley are there, my daughters, and it's nice to see so many generations so close. My daughters love my mother. She calls them every single day, and now she has a great-grandchild."