Remember the beautiful Antebellum house where a group of old college friends gathered in the 1983 classic The Big Chill?
The historic home known as Tidalholm is currently on the market in Beaufort, South Carolina, for $4.5 million.
Let’s take a look back at the movie and the house where it was filmed.
The Antebellum House from “The Big Chill” Movie
The movie’s writer and director Lawrence Kasdan saw this house featured in the movie The Great Santini and liked it so much, he decided to shoot The Big Chill in it.
Kevin Kline and Glenn Close play Harold and Sarah who own the house where everyone gathers after a fellow college friend named Alex kills himself.
Kasdan actually wrote the role of Alex for his actor friend Kevin Costner, but all of his scenes were eventually cut.
According to Wikipedia, “The characters were based on people Lawrence Kasdan lived with in the Eugene V. Debs co-op in Ann Arbor, MI, while attending the University of Michigan. Co-ops are co-ed housing in which the residents share household duties like cooking. This explains why the characters are so comfortable sharing the house, cooking and are so attached to the Michigan football game.”
Gotta love those mod pink leather chairs! So very ’80s.
Jeff Goldblum’s character Michael writes for People magazine.
In this scene he talks to his editor upstairs on the landing, postponing his interview with a blind baton twirler so he can stay at Harold and Sarah’s for the weekend:
“I mean, it’s not like she’s going to regain her sight over the weekend.”
He had to sleep in a boat bed that looks a little short for him!
The master bedroom had an upholstered headboard that looks very current:
One of the most memorable rooms in the house had to be the kitchen, where they famously danced while cleaning up after dinner to The Temptations song “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg.”
Remember when kitchen backsplash tiles were typically square and often had little decals on them like these?
Today we’d probably see subway tile here:
The butcher block countertops and white cabinets are still in style, though.
It wouldn’t take much to update this kitchen 30 years later.
Joni at Cote de Texas wrote a great post about this house that includes this photo of the kitchen in “real life” (below) and how it looked in The Great Santini before it underwent the remodel to look like this here.
Tom Berenger played Sam Weber, the star of a Magnum, P.I.-type of TV show called J.T. Lancer.
This window he was standing in front of (with JoBeth Williams) has a great view of the water:
The house sits on about 1.5 acres of land, and there’s a
private dock with access to the Intracoastal Waterway.
The historic home is known as Tidalholm. It has 3 stories with 7 bedrooms, 8 baths, and 7,381 square feet.
It was built in 1853 by Edgar Fripp on the banks of the Beaufort River and served as a Union hospital during the Civil War.
The agent says: “The home features original flooring, millwork and plaster moldings. Grand and welcoming, a wide center hall is flanked by stately dining and living rooms. The sweeping original staircase leads to the upper level offering a sitting area, four bedrooms, and four baths.”
For all the photos and information about Tidalholm at
1 Hancock Street in Beaufort, South Carolina, check the listing and Cote de Texas.
Visit my Houses Onscreen page to see other movies I’ve featured, listed A-Z.
Hola
Very beautiful, albeit too formal for me, but I do love those porches + views. But back to the movie: I had the heebie geebies a little, when Kevin Kline inseminates Mary Kay Place, but was it less scandalous than Tom Berenger + JoBeth Williams’ lust-filled tryst? Ew.
K A Y
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I hear you, ladies. But I think Sarah was carrying a lot of guilt because of her indiscretion with Alex and she felt it might give them (Sarah and Harold) some closure. Also, she knew her friend would be an awesome mom, and that her window of opportunity for conception/pregnancy was closing. I used to feel it was really icky too, but I think I’ve mellowed over time. 😉
Great movie! Great house! Great soundtrack! Interesting that the 80’s version, although somewhat cheesy in decor, feels more comfortable. The set designer did a fantastic job suiting the decor to the couple who were the supposed owners. When the movie came out, I was a bit too young to appreciate it, but now I love it! I too would love to see the kitchen, as it was my favorite room in the movie. You mentioned that Kevin Costner’s scenes were all cut, but I saw him in an interview, in which he said that the opening scene (where the body is being dressed for the funeral) was him. I guess technically he was still in the movie! 🙂 Thanks for the bit of nostalgia.
That’s right–that’s his body you see in the opening sequence. I’d love to see his scenes that were cut but read that Lawrence Kasdan refused to release them for the DVD. Boo.
I wonder why he refused to release them. I love Kevin Costner!
I’m with Kay as far as the Big Chill goes. I thought the whole movie was kind of creepy. But the house! The Carolinas are home to me and that is just what a great house should look like here. What a dream. Gorgeous!
Never saw the movie, but what a fabulous old house! It’s great the way it looks today with period furniture, etc. But the pink sofas back in the 1980’s…… heeeeesh
What a gorgeous house. I love that kitchen! Never saw the movie, though. I always liked Jobeth Williams….. 😉
I remember how much I loved that house in that movie!! And now you’ve convinced me, I’m definitely painting my cabinets white and installing butcher block counters. 30 years later, that kitchen still looks amazing.
Thanks for sharing, loved that movie too!! (and I do remember it, saw it on the big screen…)
Is it the same house that’s used for Forrest Gump, too? Looks very similar. I’d move in any time they’d let me. Of course, I’d have to get used to living in Beaufort, South Carolina.
Never mind. Apparently the Gump house was a fake facade that was torn down after construction. But it looks incredibly similar, both with the porches and the nearby lake.
One of my favorite movies of all time. Thanks for sharing! Makes me wish I could buy it and turn it into a bed-and-breakfast…
I want to dance in that kitchen and drink coffee on the porch.
Julia, you always find the most interesting thing to see! Thanks for posting this – now I want to watch the film again 🙂
Great post, Julia! Thanks for including the YouTube link to the “dancin’ in the kitchen” scene .. that’s got to be one of my all-time favorite movie scenes! Love the impromptu shag and butt-bumps; sooo early ’80s.
How exciting that you got a nod from the SC Film Commission! Maybe the listing agent will see this post and ask the current owners to send some current photos of the kitchen. Fingers crossed. 🙂
Hi again .. just an FYI .. I went to the SC Film Commission’s link and there ARE photos of the bedrooms and bathrooms (pics 37 thru 47) .. don’t know how current they are, though. There are also a couple of add’l photos of the kitchen, too.
Clearly it needs a little updating, but that is a beautiful house! So many stories there…
Its actaully a nice house
my fave is the proch adds carcther and the walkway
Loved the movie, and love the house! It’s so beautiful! I want it all – the staircase, the woodwork, the river, the live oaks, the spanish moss, the heat,.. the humidity, ..the mosquitos…… never mind.
Isn’t that the same house from Rich In Love? It’s a 90’s coming of age film starring Kyle Machlachlan, Albert Finney and Jill Clayburgh. The family lived in a beautiful old double porch house like that with a dock (although the interiors were played down quite a bit because the family was supposed to be middle class).
You’re Welcome!
Thanks a lot Kim! That was really bugging me, good to have it settled.
Thanks, Kelly! I’d love to visit Beaufort someday.
For a movie that was filmed in the 80’s, those sets don’t look outdated. They actually look very nice and would fit in with today’s styles. I also love the actual home. That staircase is lovely, but my favorite thing is that wrap around porch and balcony. It’s my dream someday to own a home that has a porch.
I’ve seen the movie several times since high school (way back – lol). In spite of the all star cast, I thought the house in Beaufort was the star of the show. I love how it was so huge & welcoming for them; a place of refuge & love w/big over sized rooms. So many different things going on all over the house – Loved it. 🙂
Love the house and loved the music from this movie.
Wow. Dream house alert!
I read once that it WAS the same house as the one in “Forest Gump” ! It certainly LOOKS the same, as well as the beautiful setting! I have ALWAYS loved this house and that kitchen clean up scene is still one of my favorites! As everyone has said, one of the best soundtracks, too!
Terrific post dear Julia! Hope you are having a wonderful Spring.
thanks so much for the shout out. the changes in the kitchen between the movies was amazing!!!
Not seen the film …..but I love the house it’s a bit to fromel in side for me but that can be changed ..I also love the views !
nice view of the house on Bing maps …the house is on the river end of Hancock st
I liked the movie better than the house, but It was a clearly thought to be a good setting for a weekend of adult hide and seek!
I did not remember the details of the movie plot at all. But I do remember the house! Hard to believe it was 30 years ago! This is an amazing house and beautiful location. Would be a total dream to live there!