Bill Jackson knew someone had entered his home.

It couldn't have been his wife, Becky. It wasn't time for her to be home.

Mr. Jackson cocked the hammer of his .44 Magnum and checked out the disturbance.

''Lordy, Jesus, a gun!'' the female intruder exclaimed. She had assumed the old downtown Aiken building was vacant.

Mr. Jackson didn't get the chance to question the vagrant about her intentions. She turned on a fleet heel and bolted into the night.

The Jacksons find the incident humorous five years later.

In the years since, the neighborhood around the Jackson Gallery at 300 Park Ave. has improved, and so has the building the Jacksons call home. Police officers on bicycles circle the area and ask questions of visitors who peek in the windows after normal business hours.

Bill Jackson, owner of Jackson Gallery, works on a painting called Dante's Inferno in his studio/den. RON COCKERILLE/AUGUSTA BUSINESS CHRONICLE

The gallery houses a mixture of well- and lesser-known artists. It houses the Jacksons, too. Not just their own creations but also their very lives are on display every day.

Most people have no idea the couple's business doubles as a home, the Jacksons say.

Mr. Jackson is an accomplished painter and sculptor. Mrs. Jackson is a budding photographer who credits her husband's influence for her artistic growth.

Because they work as certified registered nurse anesthetists at Aiken Regional Medical Centers - the money ''makes this possible,'' Mr. Jackson said - they are glad for the extra attention from city police when they are away. It also allows them to relax more at home.

Mr. Jackson said that at times when he's painting late at night, he knows people are looking in the enormous, uncurtained windows, even though he can't see out very well.

''It doesn't really bother me,'' Mr. Jackson said, ''but in a way it does.''

He said he might add a curtain that can be drawn across the display windows, which front Park Avenue.

Mrs. Jackson said she feels safe enough, and most people who look in do so out of a curiosity the couple encourage, but the Jacksons have put in safeguards to ensure some aspects of life remain private.

Gallery visitors, for example, normally aren't allowed to venture upstairs, where their bedroom is.

''We do have a loft apartment upstairs,'' Mrs. Jackson said. ''If I want to get away, I do have that option. But having people drop in, to me, has been a very positive thing. We enjoy having a glass of tea with people who drop by.''

Mr. Jackson relaxes in his den, which also serves as his studio. The windows provide a view of Park Avenue. RON COCKERILLE/AUGUSTA BUSINESS CHRONICLE

She said another benefit to constant visitation is it forces daily housekeeping. Guests won't find any stray socks on the floor. The place is generally immaculate, with untidiness only for the sake of art or renovation.

''It encourages you, when you put something down, to not leave things lying around. It helps me keep a cleaner house,'' Mrs. Jackson said.

The Jacksons balance comfort and formality in their home business. In fact, in many instances, chairs and other furniture double as artwork.

Even the pieces hanging in the downstairs gallery bathroom are of display quality.

The gallery space currently features images of hell. Dante's Inferno, in particular. Mr. Jackson is providing paintings for the gallery's fall show to be centered on the classical theme. Mrs. Jackson will add her photographic touch to the exhibition.

When the time comes, they'll prepare hors d'oeuvres in their kitchen, stow away the kitchen table and open up the entire ground floor for invited and walk-in guests.

But the house, like the fall exhibit, is a work in progress. The back patio area and portions of the upstairs remain unfinished.

The gallery-home has 3,500 square feet downstairs, 1,500 square feet upstairs and a courtyard for outdoor sculptures.

The Jacksons paid $90,000 in 1995 for the building, which they moved into the next year. It had been owned by descendants of Dr. Charles C. Johnson Sr.

Dr. Johnson broke barriers as South Carolina's first black doctor and pharmacist. He arrived in Aiken from Columbia at the turn of the 20th century and opened an apothecary residents knew for decades as Johnson's Pharmacy.

Jackson Gallery, at other times in its history, had been a funeral home, a bakery and an inn.

Mr. and Mrs. Jackson estimate they will have made $400,000 in improvements by the time their labors are finished.

Aiken law firm Anderson & Associates has occupied a subdivided space with its own entrance for the past 36 years.

The Jacksons spend more than $4,000 a year in insurance to protect their art, although the coverage also extends to other contents of the home, structure and liability.

Where we work

Of the 76.8 percent of Americans who live in a metropolitan statistical area:

38 percent work in the city center

33.4 percent work outside the city center

5.4 percent worked outside the metro area

How we get there

Of American workers age 16 or older:

73.2 percent drive to work alone

13.4 percent carpool

5.3 percent take public transportation

3.9 percent walk

3 percent work at home

1.2 percent use other means of transporation

How long it takes

Commute times for American workers who do not work at home:

33.1 percent take 10-19 minutes

20.1 percent take 20-29 minutes

18 percent take 30-44 minutes

16.4 percent take less than 10 minutes

12.5 percent take 45 minutes or more

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Reach Eric Williamson at (803) 279-6895.