 All right, you're late and I'm going to a cocktail party, so I'll wind this up fast. Ava Gardner was one of the most glamorous actresses of Hollywood. With her allure, talent, and tumultuous personal life, she became an icon. Let's take a peek inside Ava's world from her humble beginnings in rural North Carolina to the lavish homes she inhabited at the height of her fame. Along the way, we're going to relive her life, so let's dive in. On Christmas Eve in 1922, Ava LaVenya Gardner was born in the small farming community of Grabtown, North Carolina. She was the youngest of seven children born to marry Elizabeth Molly and Jonas Gardner. The Gardner family lived modestly. Their farmhouse was surrounded by the tobacco and cotton fields that they cultivated. As Ava would later say, I grew up one step from a dirt farmer. I ironed, I picked cotton, I had one clean dress. Tragedy struck in 1925 when the family barn and cotton gin were destroyed in a fire. With no funds to rebuild, they moved to nearby Brogdon where both parents found work. But the Great Depression eventually forced the closure of the boarding house where Molly worked. In 1934, the family relocated again to Newport News, Virginia. There, Molly ran a boarding house for shipyard laborers. After her father passed away in 1938, Ava and her family returned to North Carolina. They settled in Rock Ridge where Molly managed yet another teacher boarding house. Despite their perpetual poverty, Molly was determined that Ava would get an education. After graduating high school in 1939, Ava enrolled in Secretarial School at Atlantic Christian College. But before starting classes, a fateful summer trip to New York City would change the course of Ava's life forever. In 1939, Ava went to visit her older sister Beatrice Bappie Gardner in Manhattan. Bappie's husband, Larry Tarr was a photographer and he took a stunning portrait of the 19-year-old Ava. Impressed with the photos, Larry displayed Ava's portrait in the window of his Fifth Avenue studio. The beautiful, unknown girl in the photo soon attracted attention. Before you knew it, MGM invited Ava for a screen test. A silent test reel proved that the camera loved her and MGM offered her an actress contract. At just still a teenager, Ava left her small town for the bright lights of Hollywood. After arriving in Hollywood in 1941 with her sister Bappie, MGM put Ava through a lot of training to mold her into a movie star. She took lessons to overcome her thick Southern accent, which made dialogue difficult to understand. A shy young girl also used alcohol to get over her nerves on camera. Stuck in bit parts during her first years at MGM, Ava honed her craft and waited patiently for her breakthrough role. It finally came in 1946 when she played femme fatale Kitty Collins in The Killers. This film was a hit and catapulted Ava to start him at age 24. From there, the hit movies just kept on coming. But even as her acting developed, Ava's legendary beauty was always front and center. MGM marketed her as the world's most beautiful animal. Like her on-screen persona, Ava's off-screen love life was turbulent and dramatic. She went through three marriages by age 30. Ava's first husband was Mickey Rooney, Hollywood's biggest star at the time. Their whirlwind romance led to marriage in 1942 when Ava was 19. But Mickey's serial infidelity doomed their union and they divorced just after one year. Puzzle number two was popular band leader Artie Shaw. Their 1945 wedding ended in divorce after barely one year as well. Unable to overcome issues like Shaw's attempts to improve the less educated Ava. But Ava's most legendary romance was with Frank Sinatra. Their passionate, fiery relationship made them Hollywood's most scandalous couple. After divorcing his wife, Frank married Ava in 1951. But professional jealousy and infidelity on both sides led to their split in 1957. The two would reconcile periodically, but a lasting reunion was never in the carts. Well, in 1948, Ava bought her first home. A cozy cottage tucked away in the Hollywood Hills. The modest, stucco house sat on a steep, rocky slope in Nichols Canyon and met all of Ava's requirements. It was private, affordable, and reminded her of her North Carolina roots. Ava decorated the interiors herself in an unfussy style. She painted the small living room of vivid yellow in order to give the illusion that the house was filled with sun and added tasteful art on the walls. The art prints and the silver suggested a reach upward from her simple and often unhappy origins. Books crowded the shelves reflecting her love of reading. She installed a cool gray carpet for contrast and proudly displayed a silver tea service she'd bought on impulse at an auction. Outside, Ava insisted on planting to her own garden of roses, honey, suckle, and ice plants. As she told reporters, having come from a farm, she's had gardens all her life and knows how to weed and feed. For a brief moment between relationships, the Nichols Canyon Cottage gave Ava a welcome taste of independence. As she relished, there's nothing like a home of one's own, is there? Is that you? Later in her career, Ava owned a sleek mid-century home in the Hollywood Hills that perfectly reflected her glamorous movie star status. This house measured approximately 2,600 square feet of space. The 1959 hillside house was designed by acclaimed architect Edward Fickett. It featured post and beam construction with floor-to-ceiling windows in the living and dining areas, providing broad views across the hills and the ground floor master bedroom was complete with a fireplace. It also had sliding glass doors that led out to a tree-shaded terrace. Set on a double-wide lot, the property included plenty of outdoor space for relaxing and entertaining. During her marriage to Frank Sinatra, he was a frequent guest at the dazzling parties hosted by Ava at this modern residence. The stylish interiors were a hotspot for rubbing elbows with Hollywood elites like Howard Hughes and Tennessee Williams. Stone accent walls provided the entryway and living room with authentic retro style. Natural life led the expansive living to dining area. The living area's sliding glass doors lead outside. The kitchen is equipped with a double oven and sleek white cabinets. A built-in banquette is a perfect spot for casual breakfast in the kitchen. The master bedroom featured an ensuite bath and a floor-to-ceiling open shelving. It also featured sleek wooden shelves, tile floors, patio access and a sleek brick fireplace. The master bath was a unique standout of this home. Custom wood cabinets, cool blue tiles and a unique concrete soaking tub and sink combined to create an elegant mixture of class and creativity. Two more spacious bedrooms, one with an ensuite bath, completed this home. Outside Ava's former home, there was a deck that offered stunning tree-line views of the canyon below and perfect for entertaining. There is plenty of mixed-use outdoor spaces for guests to enjoy. Private and secluded, the large deck was ideal for having friends and family over. The deck area makes one imagine all the parties and late nights Ava may have hosted for her lovers and famous friends. There's even a tree house with a rope swing and steps down to a grassy area with a shaded patio. Some retro details Ava added really captured her cheeky personality. The house seamlessly blended an elegant, breezy aesthetic with her bold, funky taste. Beginning in the 1950s, Ava fell hard for Spain and bought a luxurious duplex apartment across the pond in Madrid. This spot spanned nearly 2,000 square feet plus a huge private rooftop terrace. The culture, flamenco dancing and rugged bullfighters, all of this captivated her. There, Ava was known to entertain friends for hours as well. In the breakfast room, the marble-topped vintage table was Italian, the banquette was an atadar fabric and the antique chairs were French. The pendant here's vintage and the wallpaper is by Cole and Sun. Up on the private rooftop terrace, teak sofas face an antique French wicker shades. The copper lantern and table lamps were also designer. There was a perfectly landscaped garden designed by Fernando Martos. One could easily imagine Ava there drinking sangria with Luis Miguel Domigán, the dashing bullfighter who was her paramour as well as entertaining friends with music until summer. In one corner of the drawing room, there was a sofa with mid-century lines under marine, huge abstract painting. The other corner featured a French vintage table with huge glass vases in bright, different colors. When Ava would later sell the property, it ended up to the family of Spanish designer Isabel Lopez Casada. She renovated the space in a way that she felt honored, Ava's glamorous legacy. She installed a gorgeous curved oak staircase and imagined what elegant parties Ava would throw. The interiors mixed styles effortlessly, combining velvet sofas, rustic tables, and abstract art. That's gonna wrap up our peek into the fabulous life and lovely homes of the Hollywood legend Ava Gardner. But before we go, answer this question for me. If you were a star during the birth of Hollywood, what do you think would be the hardest thing to navigate and adjust to? And why would it be the relationships and the spotlight, drinking, partying? Let me know in the comments down below. And don't forget to hit subscribe and turn on your notifications so you never miss a video. I'm Cara the Vampire Slayer. Follow me on Instagram to chat and I'll see you all in another one. Bye!