Last Thursday I enjoyed a fascinating interview with Jaclin Smith. No, not the one from Charlie's Angels. That one is spelled with a ‘y' in the name. This one is a prolific builder and entrepreneur, parent, world traveler, and philanthropist.
I met Ms. Smith while volunteering to help with a Christmas dinner for deserving women hosted at her fantastic residence, Chateau Jaclin, put on by Ms. Smith and counselor Cyndee Darby of Sandpoint.
Over half a century ago, she arrived with her family in Sandpoint, and this year her family celebrated her father's 59th year of his practice as a doctor servicing our beautiful neck of the North Idaho woods.
As a young girl, Jaclin had one thought as she crossed the Longbridge: she loved the snow. Describing how life was fifty years ago, Jaclin said, "We had no paved roads back then, so you either had snow on the roads, mud, or dust. It was funny to see tires buried halfway in the snow or mud."
She went off to college, but after only a couple of years she went to work in a summer job for a builder of healthcare and retirement facilities: Willis Campbell. According to Ms. Smith, he was one of the best in his industry, but after only a couple of years with the firm, he turned over the reins to a very young Ms. Smith. She never returned to college, transferring, as she described it, "to the school of hard knocks." That was over 40 years ago. As she put it, "I was so young, I couldn't even sign the mortgages for the first few facilities we built." Over the years, they constructed up to a dozen a year, totaling over seventy all told. Many of these facilities are incredible, offering full-assisted living, apartments, condos, and are top-of-the-line in the industry.
She and her firm must be pretty good at what they do. In surfing the web for more information about her, I found only glowing remarks, something one rarely finds nowadays.
She describes her success as part of her talent in dealing with people. She is a self-described "People person." She also states that getting the facilities built and running has much to do with coordinating and navigating the various entities and government agencies to completion. "These different agencies all interpret the same laws differently. It can be quite a challenge," she explained.
The home she built, Chateau Jaclin, on Lake Pend Oreille, is fantastic, and was featured in Sandpoint Magazine with photos by Do Verdier. (See the pictures below of the Christmas dinner hosted at Chateau Jaclin.)
She is also very giving, and is a philanthropist with her own foundation, as well as supporting schools which she attended. One of those schools is Upper Columbia Academy. Sixteen years ago, while brainstorming with the principle, they started a tutoring program backed by Ms. Smith. This is not an elaborate program: a total of eight tutors. However, it is a very successful one. It had the effect of raising the overall GPA of the entire school a full point! While Ms. Smith is very humble about it, and claims the cost is barely over minimum wage (substantially higher in Washington state than in Idaho), she is still the one who picks up the tab.
Life has not all been a bed of roses though, and last summer lost her son, Edgar, to a boating accident on Lake Pend Oreille.
She has traveled all over the world, and built impressive structures in many places, concentrating her work mainly in the West.
I find her to be a gracious and fascinating person, and just wanted to share what I have learned with you.
View of Lake Pend Oreille from Chateau Jaclin
View of Odin Bay on Lake Pend Oreille from Chateau Jaclin
Ducks floating on Lake Pend Oreille
Looking out at Lake Pend Oreille from Chateau Jaclin
Chateau Jaclin on Lake Pend Oreille
Chateau Jaclin
Christmas at Chateau Jaclin - Jaclin Smith on the left
Jaclin Smith describing the library at Chateau Jaclin
The library at Chateau Jaclin
Grand stairway at Chateau Jaclin
Christmas dinner for deserving ladies at Chateau Jaclin
Gary Lirette, featured in Where To Retire magazine and host of the Tuesday noon local radio shows: North Idaho Business as well as North Idaho Arts.
E-mail Gary or call 208-610-1384
Read Gary's Blogs
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