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HOT PROPERTY LOS ANGELES TIMES SATURDAY, MARCH 7, 2020 WSCEMY FAVORITE ROOM
Actor, producer, director and
mentor John Marshall Jones
displays versatility not just in his
career but in his home as well.
What his average visitor might
view as one family room, Jones sees
as many spaces.
“Each area has something that
the other doesn’t. So in that way,
one area can be its own room,” said
the star of the upcoming “Paradise
Lost,” a modern Southern Gothic
saga on the Paramount Network.
Seating is key to differentiating
the varied enclaves in the room.
Traditional leather lounge
chairs face the TV, providing a
comfy area to watch football.
Across the room, a royal blue Mid-
century sofa serves as the perfect
place to lounge while dusk arrives
beyond wide windows facing the
porch.
Under the light of a brass-
stemmed floor lamp, a cognac
leather armchair and white faux-
fur ottoman anchor the designated
reading spot.
The room also features abun-
dant natural materials — warm,
cherry-toned wood floors, an
arched iron screen that sits in front
of the gray stone fireplace and a
mahogany credenza, where acting
awards sit alongside a glass bowl
filled with pine cones.
Though the room exhibits a va-
riety of colors — from the daffodil
yellow of the walls to the muted
blues of the floral-printed rug to
the lavender tint of the garden win-
dows — nothing overwhelms the
eyes thanks to the soft and sooth-
ing tones.
Art featuring prominent Afri-
can American figures such as Jimi
Hendrix, Malcolm X and Barack
Obama hangs on the walls, in-
tended as a reminder of the pos-
itive effect someone can make on
the world. Jones aspires to contin-
ue the legacy of his heroes as a role
model on screen and in real life.The onetime star of “Smart
Guy” — the beloved 1997-99 WB
network sitcom, in which Jones
played stalwart single dad to a
fourth-grade genius — is a spokes-
man for the Kappa League, an or-
ganization dedicated to the ad-
vancement of young men of color.
“The world often portrays these
kids as thugs,” said Jones, 57, “but
we want to show them they can be-
come college-educated, upwardly
mobile African American men.”Why is this your favorite room?
I spend a lot of time in this
room for different reasons. It’s
versatile — I can sit on that couch
facing the window, which has this
beautiful view of the ridge, and
enjoy a glass of wine. Or I can sit
near the light and read. Or I’ve got
big chairs in front of the television
so I can screen films or watch the
game. So in that way, I can set up
the room to be three different
rooms.When you watch games, who’s
your team?
Detroit Lions! What other team
would you be with?How has being from Detroit
influenced your style?
When you’re from Detroit,
what’s real is very important. It’s a
grounded sensibility. So I love real
fabrics, leathers, textiles, things
you can touch and feel.What else do you look for in a
room?
Comfort. I want everything to
look good, but I also want to be
able to melt into a chair. I want the
colors to be soothing. I want to
have artwork on the wall that
encourages me to continue on mypath.Favorite item?
There’s a trophy for the Au-
delco Awards, which is like the
black Tonys. Morgan Freeman has
an Audelco. Denzel Washington
has an Audelco. And I have an
Audelco. So I can always look at
that and know I can do my job well.Any favorite memories?
Yeah, but most of those I can’t
talk about [laughs].Is there any chance of a “Smart
Guy” reboot?
There is very much a chance of
a “Smart Guy” reboot. We’ve op-
tioned a script and we’re in the
process of putting together the
elements.Why do you think the show was so
successful?
It took the image of African
American genius, of a stable Afri-
can American family with a loving
African American father, and
broadcast that all over the world
to all of the African diaspora and
showed them a positive image of
themselves with no top on it — you
can be young and smart and black
and you can go as far as you want.One
layout,
many
uses
TV dad loves his versatile
family room, where each
seating setup defines an
area with its own purpose.
By Spencer Elliott
“I LOVEreal fabrics, leathers, textiles, things you can touch and feel,” says John Marshall Jones, onetime star of “Smart Guy.”Photoraphs byJesse GoddardFor The TimesARTfeaturing African American figures hangs on the walls.