could get a single page of precious words on film. Deep down, Chaffin confesses she is really just a word nerd in all its forms. Chaffin returned to Harvard and added filmmaking to her English literature curriculum and decided to head to Hollywood as soon as she graduated.

Once in Hollywood, Chaffin produced a string of successful films, including I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997), starring Sara Michelle Gellar, Jennifer Love Hewitt, and Ryan Phillippe,and its sequel I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998), comedy Held Up (1999) starring Jamie Foxx, the little-loved psychological thriller Soul Survivors (2000) starring Wes Bentley and Eliza Dushku, the widely-loved romantic comedy Sweet Home Alabama (2002) with Reese Witherspoon, and blockbuster horror movie Freddy vs. Jason (2003), followed by thriller Out of Time (2003) starring Denzel Washington and Eva Mendes. Chaffin’s creative prowess reached its peak with the film-turned-household-name Snakes on a Plane (2006) starring Samuel L Jackson and Julianna Margulies for which audiences camped out overnight to buy the first tickets.

Although she was on quite a roll, Chaffin stepped away from the movie business later that same year when her daughter Royce was born. She missed the film business but has never regretted the time she got to spend with her daughter Royce, followed five years later by a son Johnny. Of her diverse accomplishments, like all parents, Chaffin is most proud of her children.

Chaffin learned to love movies because they were her first glimpses of life beyond Alabama as a child, but she gained her love of aviation from her father, an expert recreational pilot. In 2000, she earned her own private pilot’s license at Justice Aviation at Santa Monica Airport.
In addition to her cinematic and aviation accomplishments, Chaffin has a deep appreciation for architecture. In 1999, she acquired Richard Neutra’s iconic Lew House, a masterwork of modernist architecture. Over the span of 17 years, she dedicated herself to lovingly renovating and enhancing the residence, adding a third floor and a pool and deck area under the guidance of architects Leo Marmol of Marmol Radziner and Bobby Rees of Rees Studio. Chaffin’s meticulous attention to detail and her commitment to preserving architectural heritage shine through in the transformed Lew House. Sharing Neutra’s revolutionary design with visitors she considers her personal guests is one of the highlights of her life.

In 2010, Chaffin taught herself to trade the financial markets and has spent over 15,000 hours since then studying and trading the markets, beating the S&P every year (Well, almost every year.)

In 2016, Chaffin, her defense attorney husband, and their two children relocated to Hancock Park in central LA, and Chaffin put the Southern hospitality gene inherited from her mother to good use by turning the Lew House into a five-star short term rental.

Unfortunately in 2019 Chaffin had a freak accident neck injury that led to a moderately severe stroke. Amazingly, her good marbles have remained intact, but she had to learn to walk again and is still learning to use her left hand and arm again after her left side was completely paralyzed. Luckily, after five years and 4000 hours of intense physical therapy, she is 90% recovered and has resumed managing the house full time after turning it over to other managers for about a year.

Thanks for visiting our site and reading about the Lew House’s owner. You are personally invited to skip the middlemen and book your stay directly with us. We just can’t wait to have you!