George Hamilton has lived in lavish mansions once owned by Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks, but when you’re a Hollywood legend yourself, sometimes the best thing to do is downsize.

“I’ve had huge houses — my first had 39 rooms! I’d lose my wallet and three days later I might find it,” George tells Closer with a laugh. “That was for my mother and brother — they really wanted it, so I was always off somewhere working to pay for it,” he says.

“But as time passed, I decided I wanted an apartment. I wanted no responsibility whatsoever — to be able to just walk in, turn the key and relax.

george hamilton

While George’s two-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath, 2,400-square-foot Westwood, Calif., bachelor pad may be more modest than that 39-room Fairbanks estate (which George says sold for $42 million), it suits the renowned ladies’ man just fine.

He opened up the space between the dining area and kitchen, adding mirrors and blue-gray paint. “Once in a while I’ll have friends over, but I rarely entertain, and if I do, we play cards or something at the dining table,” he shares.

“The whole point of me having an easy life is that I can make a decision to eat at home, or be out within five minutes, and I never make a plan.”

george hamilton

But an always welcome visitor is his youngest child, 14-year-old George Jr. (with ex-wife Kimberly Blackford). “My son will visit while he’s on vacation,” he reveals. “He often asks, ‘Dad, are you happy alone?’ I’ll reply, ‘yes.’ The greatest luxury in the world is not having to deal with someone else’s schedule.”