Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Movies Houses

It's finally happened. I've ceased to be amazed by the internet. Instead I've crossed a line and now I'm amazed when I can't find something on the internet.

Do you remember dreading a trip to the library to do hours and hours of research? I do miss the big wooden card catalog files though.

So what's with the title, Movie Houses? No, I'm not referring to movie theaters, but the house that are featured in movies. The houses that the characters live in.

I was one of those kids with a vivid imagination. If I imagined I was riding a Palomino pony then for heavens sake I WAS riding a Palomino!

Very early on I became fascinated with the houses featured in movies. I could picture myself sleeping in Gidget's bedroom or having dinner with Atticus, Scout and Jem in their kitchen.

There were the huge architectural concoctions such as the scary hilltop house in Psycho. I patterned one of my gingerbread houses after that one.

One of my favorite movie houses (and movies for that matter) was the one featured in Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation. That house should have gotten billing as a character because it's quirky personality and plumbing made it an important element in the movie.

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I dreamed about living in a large traditional home like the one featured in Home Alone. That house is in the Chicago area, not far from here. The farmhouse in the movies Signs seems familiar and comforting to me because it's typical midwestern style.

The beautiful and strange house in the movie Lake House was also located nearby. Unbelievably it was built solely for the filming and demolished when shooting was over. What???

The interiors from Something's Got to Give have been plastered everywhere on the internet and has spawned thousands and thousands of kitchen remodels.

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Something's Got to Give - Living Room

It's a beautiful shingled beach house.

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Something's Got to Give - Dining Room

Who wouldn't want to live in such a place?

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Something's Got to Give - Kitchen-that-has-spawned-a-thousand-remodels

Strangely enough, I would not.

I can't picture myself actually living and feeling truly at home in any of those places. The house that grabbed my heart, the house that made me feel I could walk in the front door and truly feel at home was the little house that Julia Roberts rented in the movie Sleeping With the Enemy.

It's what I know and what I dreamed about as a child. A small house in a small town. Cozy and unpretentious. Central hallway, kitchen in the back, apple tree in the yard, cozy bedroom upstairs and a porch. Who could ask for more?

And here's the amazing thing. I can't find one picture of the house on the internet. How can that be possible?

I've added the movie to my Netflix queue so I can visit that house again and see if it's all I remember it to be. And since it's not available to view instantly on my computer, I'll spend the morning watching one movie that is available....

Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation.

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If you're looking to waste an hour or two, here's a site that features lots of movie houses.

HOOKED ON HOUSES

How about you? Is there a movie house that you love?


12 comments:

Julie H said...

I love Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation! "Hey Joe!" haha

My first apartment was in an old victorian house that had been seperated out into 6 apts. I have a small love affair with victorians now :)

Vee said...

I like the "Little Women" house and there's an old movie "Dark Victory" with Bette Davis where the house is very nice or so I recall.

Lisa D. said...

I'm not so much a movie person, but a book person. I think more about the homes described in books. I think one of my favourites was an old book that had been my mothers. I don't remember the title, but it was about a little orpaned girl sent to live with her aunt in upstate New York. It was set in the late 1800's and it was an old farmhouse. I loved the kitchen in the book. Two kitchens actually, the main kitchen, with a large fireplace, and another kitchen area where the work of processing the milk (skimming the cream, making butter and cheese), and at different times of year, sausage making, canning, pies, etc.
I love the look of the Something's Gotta Give house, but I have to say that's not what I actually want to live in. I want a house that's just big enough, but not too big. A house that's practical and very much lived in, not ready for a magazine shoot.

Belle said...

I like the house in, "Talk of the Town," an old movie with Cary Grant. When I was a kid I wanted to live in a tree house like the one in, "Swiss Family Robinson."

Leslie T. said...

I loved that little house in Sleeping With the Enemy! I wanted to live there! I even watched the credits roll at the end of the movie to see if I could find out what town it was shot in.
I've always loved traditional older houses, and little bungalows.
What a great post, Suzanne!

MelissaD said...

I loved the house and garden in Practical Magic - the film took place on the East Coast but it was actually filmed in Washington on one of the islands. I found a web site where the house was discussed and it too was only built for the film and then taken apart - the gardens too!

Karen Deborah said...

In a "Tale of Two Houses", I like Iris's English country place especially the kitchen and sitting room. You can't beat her cozy little home library with an easy chair either. Well written article today!

Tess said...

Such a terrific question! I loved the house in Please Don't Eat the Daisies with Doris Day. They moved from a cramped NY apt. to a fabulous Victorian. I could absolutely live there.

Farmhouse Soaps said...

After reading your post, I just have to share this. If you really love to look at houses that are used in movies (and locations as well), then you will really enjoy the website: WWW.IMDB.COM
Scroll down the left hand side and check out the section on movie filming location. We were just on there the other night looking at the home used in Father of the Bride. Happy cruising!
Marianne

Christina said...

What about the Andy Griffith house...could totally see living there

Christina said...

What about the Andy Griffith house...could totally see living there

Laura said...

i have one house from a movie and two from television...my movie house is the house in Practical Magic.

my two tv houses are polar opposites, just like my personalities :)

they are the house from The Waltons and the house from The Addams Family.

blessings
~*~