The Playboy cover model and Baywatch star Pamela Anderson was perhaps the most famous blonde in the world in the nineties, until a scandalous tape made with her ex-husband, Tommy Lee, was stolen and marketed without their consent. It heralded the beginning of a decline in both her career and her personal life that dragged on for decades. But now she’s back! Following a dazzling turn as Roxie Hart in Chicago on Broadway last year and the success of her recent Netflix documentary, Pamela: A Love Story, a new Channel 4 series, Pamela Anderson’s Family Home Renovation, sees the actress going back to her Canadian roots to transform her grandparents’ former home.
Leaving her Hollywood lifestyle behind her, the show follows the iconic star, activist and animal lover as she returns to the abandoned legacy property in Ladysmith, British Columbia, which she bought from her grandparents more than 25 years ago. "Ladysmith is where I was born and raised. I always knew I’d come home. After a million offers to develop my property, Arcady Auto Court, I’m glad I stood firm and waited," she told Victoria News.
The estate sits on seven acres of countryside overlooking the picturesque coast of Vancouver Island and comprises not just one, but three properties. This includes The Roadhouse, a former teahouse her grandparents ran back in the fifties, The Cabin, one of the original nine that were used as holiday rentals, and The Boathouse, which requires significantly more work than the other buildings. Pamela plans to The Boathouse her main residence.
Pamela has fond memories of playing on the original gravel forecourt of The Roadhouse when she was a child. “The front of the house is really important. It’s the first thing people see and I wanted to create some privacy too,” says Pamela on the show, which was aired by HGTV in Canada in 2022 entitled Pamela’s Garden of Eden. “I want to make it as pretty as possible so I can sit out here drinking coffee,” she says.
With this in mind, the actress brought in her dream team to help make her vision a reality, headed up by Love it Or List it Vancouver interior designer, Francesca Albertazzi, and including a highly-skilled band of construction workers, one of which, Dan Hayhurst, on Pamela's right in the photo, would end up becoming her fourth husband. The pair tied the knot on the property in December 2020 but sadly split up within the year. But more on that later…
Starting with the basement, Pamela and the team worked to give the space a whole new purpose. Pamela said: "The basement is supposed to be a laundry room, but it's so scary!" however what's possibly more unnerving is the price of the actual work, coming in at $24,500 (just over £20,000). As seen here, filled with boxes and appliances not yet plugged in, the task of making this dusty basement a place where things would be cleaned was quite the challenge.
Pamela’s parents Barry and Carol, who spent their early married life on the property, could hardly recognise the basement of The Roadhouse by the time Francesca and the team had finished with it. For many years a dumping ground, where Pamela stored everything from designer shoes to journals she had kept since she was a child, Francesca transformed the dark and dingy space into an organised laundry room with attached mudroom, complete with ample storage.
The Hollywood star put her stamp on the new mudroom/laundry room (above) by insisting on polishing the existing concrete floor, while Francesca created a rustic homey space where Pamela can while away the hours doing her washing and ironing. “I’ve never met anyone who loves doing laundry as much as Pamela Anderson does,” said Francesca. Who would have known?
Francesca has enhanced the space with vintage luggage finds along with an old-fashioned record player, which completes the romantic cottagecore look. And luckily Pamela approved. “You totally killed it, I've got chills,” she told Francesca. “I can't believe this is the basement, it was the ugliest part of the house. It's gorgeous, I'm happy."
The front room was given a “funky grandma vamp”, says Francesca, a nod to Pamela’s spirited grandmother, who ran the property as a holiday village back in the fifties, renting out wooden cabins to guests, and residing at The Roadhouse, where they also sold basic supplies and snacks. “I believe they are here with us in spirit,” says Pamela.
In another corner, antique pieces, including this display cabinet filled with vintage crockery and glasses, sit alongside old photographs of her parents and the work of David Lachapelle, famous for his series of Pamela Anderson nudes.“If you love something, it will work,” explains Francesa, who says her brief for the property was “quirky fun”.
Sharing a passion for antiques, animals and roses, Pamela and Francesca agreed on most things, including the “rustic-modern” vibe of the kitchen in The Roadhouse. Following the success of her Netflix documentary and her memoir Love, Pamela, the star has been offered her own cooking show, Pamela’s Cooking With Love, by Food Network Canada, say reports.
The world’s most famous sex symbol in her day, the Barb Wire star has proved herself something of a domestic goddess during the show, who as well as loving laundry, is known for her homemade pickles and preserves. An outspoken vegan and animal rights activist, it is no surprise that she has developed her own meat-free recipes over the years, many of which she has concocted in this very kitchen.
A focal point of The Roadhouse façade is this open front porch, where Pamela has installed her favourite wicker furniture, and Francesca eventually managed to cajole her into adding a couple of pink floral cushions into the mix. “I love the front porch,” says Pamela's mother Carol. “I could sit out there all day. Grandma would have been very happy with it.”
On the kitchen veranda meanwhile, with its white-washed floorboards and antique mismatched chairs, dinner has been set for four with views into the woods and the shoreline beyond. A passionate environmentalist, Pamela was reluctant to remove any trees on the property, which added to the overall cost of the landscaping. “I remember my grandfather used to say that the trees spoke to him,” recalls Pamela.
Francesca created another al fresco dining area in the middle of the rose garden, where Pamela’s parents have said they would like their ashes to be scattered “when they’re gone.” Having left Canada for the first time in 1989 when she shot her first cover for Playboy and shot to fame, Pamela always knew she would return to Ladysmith. “My parents are getting older so it’s good I am closer to home,” she says.
Central to her vision was to create a garden paradise, set in nature, where she could tend her roses and live a more simple life, far away from Hollywood. Francesca built on what Pamela had started in the rose garden, introducing intimate areas of seating as well as perennials, more roses, and pathways throughout the garden, evolving “this place that brings Pamela so much joy”.
The house and gardens provided a perfect backdrop to Pamela’s marriage to her fourth husband, builder Dan Hayhurst. "He was working here, and I got stuck here during COVID, and we stuck together, and we’re still stuck together,” she told Loose Women in 2021. Here, Pamela wears a blue tulle skirt from Joanna Delaney Bridal, a Valentino veil and vintage satin ribbon corset, styled by Janet Ross, sister of the day’s photographer, Heather Ross.
Pamela got ready for the wedding in The Cabin. Sadly, the marriage lasted less than a year, with Pamela admitting it had been a big mistake. “It was a disaster,” she told The Sunday Times in January 2023. “I was paying for everything, cooking, cleaning for everybody. And so I just got out of it as soon as I could.” Soon after the split in January 2022, she started work on her memoir, Love, Pamela and the Netflix documentary, Pamela, a Love Story.
While Cabin Six, where her parents lived when they were first married, no longer exists, one of the original nine cabins is still standing and formed part of Pamela’s nostalgic journey, culminating in this joyful scheme in the living room where Pamela posed on her wedding day. The actress was first married to Mötley Crüe rocker Tommy Lee on the beach in Mexico in 1995. They had only known one another for 96 hours but went on to have two sons, Brandon and Dylan and remain friends.
The kitchen in The Cabin features French-blue cabinetry and this original marble sink that Pamela instantly fell in love with. Meanwhile, her grown-up sons, including Brandon, who worked on the Channel 4 show, visit often and have offered their own ideas for "their cabins", says Pamela. “I feel like I’m the custodian of this property and I want to see how beautiful I can make it for generations to come.”
Unfortunately, Pamela’s plans to transform The Boathouse into her main residence will have to wait for a future series, due to planning permissions and concern regarding the integrity of the building, which was not originally built to serve as living quarters. “It’s the best place to be on the property,” says Pamela, although the rocky beach is not quite California. “I can’t run across this beach in slow motion,” she quips in her Netflix documentary, referring to her days on Baywatch.
There are also the remains of a pier that Pamela is in the process of renovating, adding a pavilion at the end for idyllic al fresco dining, surrounded by water. "I want a simple dock like it used to be. I’m sure I’ll get a boat one day,” she says. The simple timber structure has a functional use at the moment, housing her paddle boards, although she still manages to add some decorative touches in the lantern and vase of roses.
Having spent much of the nineties, dashing around in her iconic red swimsuit as CJ in Baywatch, Vancouver Island offers a more serene coastal vibe. Pamela adds some woven baskets, straw hats and nautical-inspired cushions to reflect the mood, as well as pair of binoculars for a spot of birdwatching before sunset. Sightings include Golden-crowned Kinglets, Red Crossbills and Canadian Geese, naturally.
New to the property is the greenhouse or potting shed, which Francesca designed based on her own greenhouse, including glamourous touches like a lantern and vintage iron furniture sourced from local antique dealers. Pamela planted the her 5,000-square-foot vegetable garden herself and is not afraid of getting her hands dirty. “It’s basically a garden from the top of the property to the ocean and I have been learning as I go because I was not a gardener before this,” she told the Vancouver Sun.
She may be a novice in the garden but everything seems to be coming up roses for Pamela Anderson. Having kicked off 2023 with a successful memoir and Netflix documentary, the Baywatch star can now look forward to a busy summer working on her own cooking show and series two of her renovation show. We just can’t wait to see what she does with The Boathouse…
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