Hooked on Houses » Fantasy Open House

A House to Kill For in “Mr. & Mrs. Smith”

hookedonhouses — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 12:57:17 +0000

After posting about the Father of the Bride house recently, several readers asked if it was the same house used in the movie Mr. & Mrs. Smith. It is in Pasadena near the FOTB house and does look a lot like it, but it’s not the same one. Here’s the house used in Mr. & Mrs. Smith:

And the Father of the Bride house (interior photos here):

Hollywood loves these kinds of houses. It seems to be the Classic American House. In Mr. & Mrs. Smith, it worked really well to have John and Jane Smith (Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie) living in such a traditional home. It was an effective cover for who they really are: paid assassins.

When you step inside the traditional home, the interiors are a complete surprise–just like the characters who live in them.

The Two-Story Entry:

The Living Room:

Jane balances on the arms of a chair to adjust the new drapes:

The Dining Room:

A photo of them filming in the dining room (from the Special Features on the DVD):

The Kitchen:

Angelina’s character, Jane Smith, reminds me of Bree Hodge in “Desperate Housewives” (Marcia Cross). She’s a woman who is in complete control of her home, preparing gourmet meals that hit the table precisely at 7:00 each night. Meanwhile, her personal life is in a shambles. For one thing, her husband doesn’t know she’s in the same business he is, and the secrets have driven a wedge between them.

Mrs. Smith has a double oven in the kitchen. The lower one opens to reveal her stash of weaponry. How cool is that? Also cool: the tile on the wall around it.

2/11 UPDATE: I just received an e-mail from artist Shelley Brown who tells me she painted the “Eggs” painting in the kitchen. For more information about her work, you can contact her at srbrown25@gmail.com.

The Master Bedroom:

The sets were designed by Victor Zolfo, who also worked on films like “The Case of Benjamin Button,” another Brad Pitt vehicle. He receives fan mail from all over the world from people who love the rooms he created for this movie. And I can understand why.

It’s hard to imagine this movie with any other combination of actors. Nicole Kidman and Johnny Depp were originally cast as Mr. and Mrs. Smith. When Depp backed out, Pitt was brought on board. When Kidman dropped out, Gwen Stefani and Catherine Zeta-Jones were reportedly considered for the role.

Another bit of trivia: Brad Pitt had to leave the Mr. & Mrs. Smith set for three months to film Oceans 12.

The Master Bath:

Upstairs Landing:

The Back of the House:

Destroying the House (look away now if you’re squeamish!):

I found the destruction scenes hard to watch. At the end of the movie, Angelina’s character tells their marriage counselor, “We redid the house together.”

I found some of these photos on the Internet, but none of the sites mentioned the original source. The exterior shot at the top of the post was taken by a fan who tracked it down in Pasadena and posted it here (I’ve been corrected–he’s the grandson of a neighbor, not a fan). The rest of the photos are ones I snapped while watching the movie. All rights to the images belong to 20th Century Fox, which distributed the film.

As we all know, “Mr. & Smith” led to a divorce (Brad and Jen’s) and the creation of Brangelina (Brad and Angelina). Five years later, the couple has six children, including the twins Knox and Vivienne shown here in a People spread about them.

To read more about the Super Couple, check out the French Chateau they stayed in last summer and their $60 million rental on Long Island.

Visit my TV/Movie Houses page for links to all of the others I’ve featured, from “You’ve Got Mail” to “Something’s Gotta Give.”

Castle Howard: the Star of “Brideshead Revisited”

hookedonhouses — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 12:07:39 +0000

Welcome to another Movie Monday, when I feature the beautiful homes used in television and film. With due respect to the fine actors in the 2008 version of “Brideshead Revisited,” the hauntingly beautiful Castle Howard was the true star of the movie for me. Castle Howard is considered to be one of the grandest private residences in England today. Brideshead novelist Evelyn Waugh visited it and is said to have used it as his inspiration for the ill-fated home in his book. I couldn’t take my eyes off it and was always peering around the actors, trying to get a better look at the walls and statues and staircases behind them.

Emma Thomson as Lady Marchmain

Here are some of the photos I took from the movie of the castle, which is a castle in name only since it was never used for a military function. This great arch is just the beginning of the long drive to the castle:

When they drive over the hill, through the arch, Charles Ryder sees Castle Howard for the first time. “You LIVE here?” he asks his friend Sebastian.

The Great Hall’s painted arches and dome are pretty spectacular for a family home:

Photo by David Foster

Julia (Hayley Atwell) brings Charles (Matthew Goode) to Brideshead, where he’ll spend the summer with the family. Charles comes from a modest background and is quickly seduced by the family’s privileged lifestyle:

The home has its own private chapel. In this scene, Charles Ryder, who is an atheist, watches the devoutly Catholic family reciting their evening prayers:

The movie was so dark it was hard to get a good look at the chapel. I found an amazing photo gallery of the home by a photographer in the U.K. named David Foster, who was allowed access by the Howard family to these rooms. You can see much more detail of the chapel in his photo:

Foster also photographed a bedroom that is much clearer than anything I could get from the movie:

The turquoise drawing room:

The china landing:

The Long Gallery:

The Crimson Dining Room:

The Temple of the Four Winds, one of the two “garden buildings” on the estate, where the characters spent a lot of time hanging out and drinking:

The grounds are extensive. Castle Howard sits on 10,000 acres. When you go for a picnic in the garden, it’s best to bring servants to carry your refreshments for you:

The family gathers in the patriarch’s bedroom as he dies. Despite living “a life of sin” outside the Roman Catholic Church, he accepts a priest’s last rites and makes a sign of the cross. Evelyn Waugh said he witnessed something similar when one of his friends died, and the experience inspired him to write the novel (as a former English major, I feel obligated to share literary trivia like this with you):

The Great Fireplace:

By David Foster

The house looks so dark and cold in the movie that it almost gave me chills to look at (you can see it looks much brighter and warmer in the photos by Foster). Brideshead seemed more like a museum or old church than a home–which is somewhat the point of the film.

When the war starts, the British army takes over Brideshead. I’m always fascinated by how the great homes became military headquarters during war time. The movie shows the soldiers carefully covering all of the priceless paintings and statues as they took it over:

Ironically, Charles is stationed there during the war–the house he had once been willing to do almost anything to have:

The famous Atlas fountain:

The Rose Garden (another lovely photo by David Foster):

I love learning about the history of houses. Castle Howard took about 100 years to build, beginning in 1699, and the Howard family still lives there (much of the home is open to the public for tours, however). This picture of the home was published in 1819:

The 1981 Brideshead television miniseries that Jeremy Irons starred in was filmed at Castle Howard, too. To watch a clip from the miniseries that offers some beautiful views of the stately home and its grounds, click here.

You can visit Castle Howard’s official website for more information or David Foster’s online gallery to see more photos.

(I’m joining Fifi’s Fashionable Fridays blog party today. Check out what everyone else is talking about!)

If you’re hooked on houses from movies and TV shows, click here to see the list of the ones I’ve featured before or to suggest ones you’d like me to feature in the future. The most popular so far? The houses from:

We’re traveling while the kids are on Spring Break this week, but I’ll check in whenever I can get my hands on some Internet access (wish me luck!). While I’m gone, don’t forget to enter the Not So Big House book giveaway at HomeDigz. Every time you leave a comment at HomeDigz between now and April 15, you earn another entry!

The Sets on Gossip Girl: Where the Young & Fabulous Live

hookedonhouses — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 12:08:36 +0000

“Whoever said money doesn’t buy happiness doesn’t know where to shop.” -Blair Waldorf

Gossip Girl is a popular series on The CW that I got hooked on this year. The clothes and sets are fabulous, so today I’m showing you some of them for “Movie (& TV Show) Monday.” The camera could simply follow these characters around from set to set and I’d still be glued to the TV every week.

“Gossip Girl” is the name of an anonymous blogger who dishes dirt about the teens at an elite private school on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Frequent targets of the blog include the kids shown above: Serena (Blake Lively), Chuck (Ed Westwick), Nate (Chace Crawford), Dan (Penn Badgley), Blair (Leighton Meester), and Jenny (Taylor Momsen). It turns out that being young, gorgeous, and filthy rich isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Rufus Humphrey (Matthew Settle) is a single dad raising his son Dan and daughter Jenny in this Brooklyn loft:

I love the loft set with these double doors and all of the exposed brick walls. It’s a stretch to believe that these are the “poor kids from the wrong side of town” who live here. Oh, to be this underprivileged!

Rufus and daughter Jenny in the kitchen:

Behind Jenny, who is sitting at the kitchen counter, you can see the dining room, which is separated by a wall of shelves holding old record albums (Rufus used to be a musician who had a big hit or two):

A juke box in the dining room and more evidence of Rufus’s musical past (he now owns an art gallery):

The dining room:

Serena and Dan in Dan’s room. You can see the exposed-brick wall behind them and the built-in bookshelves:

There’s a garage door that divides Dan’s room from Jenny’s:

Jenny’s room has a kimono hanging over her bed. Jenny wants to be a fashion designer and sews most of her own clothes:

Nate Archibald, played by Chace Crawford, has a much more prestigious address on the Upper East Side:

Check out the staircase in this place:

Looking from the library into the main hall:

Thanksgiving with the family is a little tense because his mom found his dad’s stash of coke, but his dad let her think that it was Nate’s. Oh, and then Nate’s dad was arrested for embezzling money, which made things even more unpleasant in the house. Don’t you hate when that happens?

The Palace Hotel is owned by Bart Bass, tycoon father of the entertainingly wicked Chuck Bass (Ed Westwick, who reminds me of a young J.R. Ewing in this role). The Bass men live here with Bart’s new wife Lily van der Woodsen and her children Serena and Eric (in Season One, that is):

The Bass penthouse in the hotel:

Blair Waldorf (played by Leighton Meester) at home, where she spends more time with her housekeeper Dorota than with her parents:

Overhead view of Blair’s bedroom:

Blair’s mom, fashion designer Eleanor Waldorf (played by Margaret Colin), in the kitchen:

A production shot of filming in progress:

There’s an amazing 360-degree virtual tour of some of the sets on the InStyle website if you want to see more. The interesting thing is how closely each of the houses reflects the personalities of the characters who live in them. Do you have a favorite character–or house?

Gossip Girl gossip:

Leighton Meester, who plays scheming brunette Blair, is actually a blonde whose hair is dyed dark for the show.
Ed Westwick, who play the dastardly Chuck Bass, is British. He’s reportedly dating the actress who plays Vanessa on the show (Jessica Szohr).
Kristen Bell (from “Veronica Mars”) is the voice of Gossip Girl who is never seen.
A spin-off is coming that will cover Lily van der Woodsen’s teenage years in California.
The show is based on the best-selling YA book series by Cecily von Ziegesar.

Check out last week’s post about Brothers & Sisters, or click here to see the full list of Onscreen Houses I’ve featured.

Home-a-Rama House #5: Nantucket-Style Living

hookedonhouses — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 12:00:44 +0000

This is the final day of our week-long series featuring homes from the Indianapolis Home-a-Rama. As you’re reading this, I’m driving to Nashville for the BlissDom blogging conference. I’m looking forward to meeting some of my blog friends in real life! This 6 bedroom, 8,000 square foot home, which has a stained-cedar shake exterior with stone and white trim, was built by Executive Homes of Fishers, Indiana. Builders Pete Gray and Jeff Keck worked with designer Michele Boggs of MB Designs to create “the essence of Nantucket living.”

Take a look and let me know what you think!

This was the most crowded of the homes, as you can see in these pictures. Made it kind of hard to get all the pictures I wanted.

I’m not sure how well it translates into these photos, but this house felt very light, bright, and happy. Designer Michele Boggs says that the home’s Nantucket style and abundance of windows inspired her “to decorate in a simple palette of green, white, and brown, bringing the outside in.”

This house was already sold at the time of the show, and I’m not sure how much it went for. If anyone happens to have that information, let me know!

What did you think? Do you like this better than the other houses I showed you? What would you do with that extra space above the garage?

poll by twiigs.com

If You Missed Any of the Other Home-a-Rama Houses:

Home-a-Rama House #4: Meridian Modern

hookedonhouses — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 12:46:09 +0000

By JULIA @ HOOKEDONHOUSES.NET

Today we’re taking a look at the fourth home on the Indianapolis Home-a-Rama house tour. This one was a little surprising. It had a kind of traditional Tudor look to it on the outside, but then it didn’t feel very Tudor-like when we stepped inside. It was built by Henderson Homes and decorated by Barbara Hage and Greg Garcia of John Kirk Furniture Galleries. The builder says he wanted the home to feature “classic Meridian Street elements and charm” (Meridian Street is famous in Indianapolis for its beautiful old homes–you can see my post with photos of them here). The designers say they wanted the decor “to portray a well-traveled family.”

It’s on the market for about $1.5 million, making it one of the least expensive homes on the tour. It has 5 bedrooms, 7 baths, and sits on a little over an acre. (The MLS listing has more information here.)

Take a look around and see what you think!

See what I mean? I bet you were surprised by some of the decorating, weren’t you? It wasn’t at all what I expected.

When we got there, no one was at the door to greet us, so we let ourselves in. Most of the lights were off, and it was very quiet (you can see in some of the photos it was a little dark). I think whoever volunteered to be at the home that afternoon must’ve been running late (or they were around someplace and we just didn’t run into them). If there hadn’t been a crowd of other people there, we would’ve thought we had wandered into a private home!

What do you think of this Tudor-inspired home? Based on the comments you’ve left for the first three homes on the tour, I have a feeling you’ll have plenty of opinions about this one, too!

poll by twiigs.com

If You’re Hooked on Home-a-Rama:

We will not have a Hooked on Fridays blog party tomorrow because of the Home-a-Rama series this week–and because I’ll be on my way to Nashville for the BlissDom blogging conference. Hooked on Fridays will return next week, however, and so will I!

Home-a-Rama House #3: New England-Style Traditional

hookedonhouses — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 12:59:21 +0000

Welcome to Day #3 of our week-long tour of houses from the Indianapolis Home-a-Rama: Luxury Edition! This traditional New England-style house was built by Phil Myers Custom Homes and is still on the market for about $2.5 million (check out the MLS listing here).

It was decorated by Deanna Whetstone and Theresa Sherley of Whetstone & Associates, who say they wanted to blend “historically accurate appeal with the desired modern conveniences.” The builder was inspired to create “yesteryear charm with details such as a wrap-around front porch, a grand-curved staircase, formal walnut woodwork, a paneled, two-story library, and lighting and molding you may find in an early 1900s estate home.”

The house has 5 bedrooms and 8 baths, and it sits on 1.5 acres. Take a look around and then let me know–is this the kind of house you’d want to live in?

I thought it was interesting the way the four garages were arranged–two on each side of the house–to create a courtyard effect in front of the house.

What do you think? Do you like this house better than the first two I showed you? Come back tomorrow to see a house that was built to look like a classic on the outside but feels a little contemporary on the inside!

poll by twiigs.com

If You Missed the Other Home-a-Rama Houses:

Home-a-Rama House #2: Environmentally Friendly Tudor

hookedonhouses — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 13:03:11 +0000

By JULIA @ HOOKEDONHOUSES.NET

The next home I have to show you from the Indianapolis Home-a-Rama was built by Castalia Home Builders, which took a green approach when building it. Builder Frank Redavide says that his company’s goal is to build high-quality, green luxury homes: “The design of this home reflects an English Tudor style with a warm ambiance and rustic approach. It uses recycled materials that are free of formaldehyde and VOCs and are safe for families and children.”

The house was decorated by Sharon Parker and Kristine Bastian of Inspired Design IDEAS and was meant to convey “a sophisticated English Manor feel while maintaining an elegant, but comfortable, ambiance.”

Look around and then let me know what you think!

I thought the Shel Silverstein murals in the children’s wing were a clever idea, and they were beautifully done. We felt like we had stepped inside one of his books.

I think this house must’ve sold already because I can’t find it on the MLS listings, and I’m not sure how much it sold for. If anyone out there has that information, let me know!

What do you think? Did you like this house? It’s time to vote!
~

poll by twiigs.com

If You Missed Any of the Other Home-a-Rama House Tours:

Home-a-Rama House #1: Heartwood

hookedonhouses — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 12:39:46 +0000

Home-a-Rama! Those of you who have been reading my blog for awhile know that I’m kind of a Home-a-Rama Home Show fanatic. I have only missed one year’s show, and that was only because I had just had a baby (I should’ve planned that pregnancy better). No matter where I lived, if there was a Home-a-Rama in town, I was there! When I was working as a designer’s assistant in the 1990s, we decorated a house for our local Home-a-Rama, and it was one of the highlights of my life. I was so excited, you can’t even imagine.

Do you have these in your town? If not, let me explain. Each year, a group of custom home builders creates a “Dream Street” of new homes, each one trying to outdo all the others. And then some of the top designers in the city are recruited to decorate them to the hilt. These are “Super Homes.” Homes on Steroids. Everything is usually bigger-than-big, over-the-top, and kinda crazy. It can be a little kitschy that way, and you have to just go with it and enjoy the craziness. (If you find yourself saying, “Having your own ice cream parlor in the house isn’t very practical, is it?” then you’re at the wrong home show.)

After declaring my love for them last year, I was invited to tour the Indianapolis Home-a-Rama: Luxury Edition. How could I possibly say no? The 5 homes featured in the home show were amazing. They weren’t as over-the-top as usual–they actually showed some restraint, almost as if they were reflecting the current economy. I’m sure it’s harder to sell a Mega Home these days (some of those ginormous Cincinnati Home-a-Rama houses from last year are still sitting on the market).

Each day we’ll tour one of the homes, and at the end of the week we’ll vote on our favorite. First up is this home on Willow Bend Court built by Heartwood Homes, which “drew inspiration from the grand shingle style homes of New England.” Take a look!

This was one of my favorites on the home tour. I was disappointed when I first walked in the door and was told that photos weren’t allowed. I sighed and slumped all the way through the house, seeing all the things I wished I could take pictures of.

As we were leaving, a woman asked if we had any questions about the house. I told her it was gorgeous, and I was sorry they wouldn’t let me photograph it for my blog. I told her about you and how much you love seeing houses from these tours, and that the Home-a-Rama series just wouldn’t be as good without the Heartwood Homes house.

She quickly gave me permission to go back through the house and photograph it. Hooray! So if you enjoyed this house, then you have Melissa of Heartwood Custom Homes to thank for making it possible.

I’m not always able to get the best photos on these tours since there are so many people to shoot around. I usually have to stand and wait for my chance and then snap as quickly as possible. To see a professional series of gorgeous photographs of this house–without all the other lookiloos in the way–go to their website and check out the picture gallery.

I also have to mention that the designers were Heartwood Designs & The Inside Job, who say they wanted the home to “harken back to the Gatsby era.” I think they did beautiful work.

This house is still on the market and is listed for a little under $2.2 million. Here’s the MLS listing for more information.

Now it’s time to vote. What did you think of this house? (Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for the 2nd Home-a-Rama house tour!)

poll by twiigs.com

If You Missed the Cincinnati Home-a-Rama:

NOTE: Because of this special series, there will not be a Movie Monday post or Hooked on Fridays blog party this week, but they’ll be back next week, I promise!

Can You Guess Which House This Kitchen Belongs To?

hookedonhouses — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 12:35:59 +0000

By JULIA @ HOOKEDONHOUSES.NET

I hope you enjoyed last week’s Fantasy Open House series as much as I did! So far House #4 is winning in the poll and House #2 is coming in second. Click here to cast your vote for the house you’d most like to live in if you haven’t already.

A few days before the Terrace Park Home Tour, that nasty wind storm swept through the Cincinnati area, courtesy Hurricane Ike. Lots of houses were damaged by falling trees, including one that was supposed to be on the tour. At the last minute they added a new home to the tour that is empty and on the market.

It had been so thoroughly remodeled from top to bottom that it was a little disorienting to walk around in rooms like this kitchen. It didn’t seem to belong to the same house we had seen from the curb. Just for fun, I thought I’d see if you can guess which house it belongs to.

Does this kitchen belong to House #1:

House #2:

House #3:

Or House #4:

This isn’t as bad as the house I showed you in the post When Bad Remodels Happen to Good Houses, but it still just didn’t feel right.

After you think you know which house it is, check the comments. I’ll put the answer there. And let me know if you think I’m being too harsh about this remodel. It just sort of rubbed me the wrong way when we walked in and found no traces of the original house left beyond the front door.

P.S. Over the weekend I went on another house tour–this time in the historic neighborhood of Columbia Tusculum (remember the drive by and the charming yellow house I showed you before?). The area is famous for its rows of beautiful Victorian painted ladies. I had a great time and took lots of photos that I’ll be showing you in the weeks to come!

Fantasy Open House: Old Homes Tour #4

hookedonhouses — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 14:15:47 +0000

We’ve arrived at the final stop on our Fantasy Open House Tour. This traditional home was built in 1910 and is notable for being the home of two former Terrace Park mayors, Charles Bruhl (1916-19) and Ray Allison (1957-59).

The current owners hired an architect to build an attached garage with a master suite above it and a large family room behind it. We had the pleasure of meeting the architect himself, as well as the homeowner on our tour, and enjoyed talking to them about the project.

The amount of work and attention to detail they put into this home was amazing. A team of craftsmen was hired to replicate the trim and crown moldings in the new rooms to match the old, and the results were beautiful.

Come on in and look around. At the end of the post you’ll have a chance to vote for your favorite home that we toured this week!

The staircase is split, leading down on the other side into the new mudroom:

To the left of the entry hall is a paneled living room:

Dining room:

The back of the house used to be right here where there is now an opening to the family room addition:

The back of the family room had built-in bookshelves and a computer desk. Behind the loveseat you can see the stairs leading to the basement:

A screened porch was built off the deck. Notice how the pattern in the home’s windows was repeated here:

This back hallway is new and runs between the house and the new garage edition:

Upstairs, a bedroom with an original Rookwood fireplace (very cool!):

A charming little nursery at the end of the hall:

The master bedroom suite is part of the new addition above the garage:

Notice how the trims, moldings, and windows match those in the older parts of the house.

Another woman on the tour complained loudly that they had painted the molding and trim pale blue in the bedroom, but I thought it was pretty. I wouldn’t want it throughout the house, but I thought it suited the Master Bedroom. What do you think?

I hope you enjoyed this Fantasy Open House week as much as I did! On Monday I’ll have a guessing game for you taken from another house we toured in Terrace Park that left me a little…well…puzzled. We’ll see if the remodel makes more sense to you than it did to me!

It’s time to vote for your favorite house! (Click here if you missed any.) Was it:

#1: (Click on photos to see those posts again)

#2:

#3:

#4:

poll by twiigs.com