If you ever watched the classic Henry Fonda-Katharine Hepburn drama On Golden Pond and wished your family had a lake house like theirs, raise your hand. I know I have!
It was filmed on location in a cabin on Squam Lake in New Hampshire.
Let’s take a look back at the rustic vacation home where Ethel and Norman Thayer spent their summers.
Filming Location for “On Golden Pond”
On Golden Pond was adapted from a popular play and came out in 1981.
Ethel and Norman Thayer, who spend their summers on Golden Pond, are visited by their daughter Chelsea
(Henry Fonda’s real-life daughter Jane), who brings her fiancé and his teenage son along.
According to Jane Fonda’s website:
She purchased the rights to the play specifically for her father, Henry Fonda, to play the role of the cantankerous Norman Thayer. The father-daughter rift depicted on screen closely paralleled the real-life relationship between the Fondas.
According to the Production Notes:
Despite their many common acquaintances and long careers in show business, Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn not only had never worked together, but had never met until working on the film.
“On the first day of shooting, Hepburn presented Henry Fonda with her longtime companion
Spencer Tracy’s lucky hat, which Fonda wore in the film.”
“Screenwriter Ernest Thompson spent his summers along the shores of Great Pond, located in
Belgrade, Maine, but the film was made on Squam Lake in central New Hampshire.”
I wish we could see more of that kitchen…
Dabney Coleman played Jane Fonda’s fiance Bill Ray.
One of my favorite things in the cabin are all those old photos tacked up on the walls. It’s a great detail the set designers came up with that gives you a sense of the family’s history in the house.
From the Production Notes:
The house used in the film was leased from a New Hampshire physician and was modified significantly for the shoot. The production company was contractually obligated to return the house to its original state after the film wrapped.
“An entire second floor was added as a balcony over the main living area.”
“After the shoot, the owner asked them not to dismantle the second story.”
On Golden Pond was the second highest grossing film of that year, behind Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Henry Fonda won an Oscar for this role but was too ill to attend the ceremony.
Jane accepted it for him.
Did you know that the leftover footage of them driving through the New Hampshire countryside at the beginning of “On Golden Pond” was later used for the opening credits on the sitcom Newhart?
The cabin is reportedly a vacation rental on Squam Lake today, but I’ve been unable to find the listing for it.
You can watch this video that a visitor uploaded of the cabin. He says the property was originally a summer camp.
Visit my Houses Onscreen page to see other movies I’ve featured, listed A-Z.
Darren McGavin played the furnace + Bumpus dog fighting dad in A Christmas Story.
Dabney Coleman was the boss in the move 9-5.
Oops, you’re right, Kay! Thanks for catching that. Fixed it. 🙂
LOVED that movie..
One of my favorite movies, and yes, I would take that cabin, as is, in a heartbeat. We love going to New England in the summer to escape the Virginia heat.
I always loved that movie and it was one of my late grandmothers favorites. I could certainly see myself spending a summer in that lovely cabin. My husband would spend all his time cruising the lake in that beautiful antique wooden Chris Craft boat. That area in New Hampshire is so beautiful!
Loooove that movie – brings back good memories revisiting it. And yes, I would take that lakehouse in a heartbeat! Would love to see the inside of it today!
Julia,
You know how much I love seeing posts like this one… there’s the best!
Thank you for collecting all the information and images for us. I know this is not easy to prepare!
Have a very Blessed week, my friend… so much LOVE!
xo
Luciane at HomeBunch.com
Thanks for this special view of the cabin from On Golden Pond. Seems like everything about that movie was bathed in a golden glow. Pretty cabin, my fisherman husband would like to go there for the pond alone…I would enjoy the cabin. 😉
Julia, thank you, thank you, thank you for featuring this cabin. It’s one of my all time favourite movie houses. I loved the film with all the strong characters in it but for me the cabin was always the brightest star with the large windows, French doors, quirky decor and a lived in feeling. Blissful place.
Thanks for sharing the movie and the blog love! That movie was my all time favorite movie for soooo many years until You’ve Got Mail came along. (I guess my love was fickle.) I wanted a cabin on a lake for a very long time after the movie thanks to On Golden Pond. Wouldn’t it be such a gorgeous place to live…not just vacation in?!
I was excited to find your post when I was researching this. It was very helpful — thanks, Kelly! (You should all go over to her blog and see the pics she has of it, too!)
Hi Julia I confess I have not seen this movie so you know what’s next husband must go and find it. I watched a lovely movie on the weekend called About Time it was a nice story and beautiful to look at …..filmed in the UK with mostly British actors. Give it a go if you get a chance I think you might like it (no shooting, no killing, no cruelty and no drunks). Till next time Regards Esther from Sydney. PS did I mention you will love the family home in this movie (look out for the books…lots of books)
I’ve seen the commercials for that movie, Esther, and it looks good. I just added it to my Netflix queue — thanks! 🙂
We just watched About Time last week. It is a good movie!
Okay, Julia. Since you’re adding Netflix movies, how about The Love Letter? I think it’s from 1998, with Kate Capshaw, Ellen DeGeneres, and Tom Selleck. The house is soooo gorgeous!! (The bookstore is too.)
Wonderful cabin full of the stuff of life (at least from a great set designer’s view). Love it.
i have been dying for you to do this cabin! one of my all time favorite movie houses. thank you.
A movie house! Squeal! 🙂
This is one of those movies that came out when I was a kid or teenager with angst, and I’ve never given it its proper view. Seems like I have a date with Netflix soon.
I have long wanted a vacation house near the water, decorated with found items and “junk” and scratchy old blankets. Living in Annapolis, I have the house near the water, but since we live here year round it does not have that “only opened for summer” feel. I need to get crackin’ on that city apartment I guess! 😉
Thanks for featuring this wonderful movie and cabin. I’ve always loved this movie. I had such a crush on the boy who played the stepson when I was a kid! 🙂 This cabin and it’s decor are the epitome of what a cottage should be, in my opinion. It looks so much like the cottages I visited as a child, and my own cottage has a similar feeling as well.
Thanks for sharing, looking at these pictures makes me wan’t to watch that movie again!
Definitely one of my all-time favorite movies. I live in NH not far from Squam. I went once to Holderness and saw the marina where the boat scene was filmed at the gas pumps, went into that store, and ate at Walter’s restaurant, which was named after Walter the fish. What I need to know is how to DRIVE to the cabin. It seems to be Center Harbor’s best kept secret, lol. I asked the realtors who rent it (Luxury real estate, I think), but got no reply when I asked for driving directions. It’s probably quite expensive, but I’d probably find a way to cough up the money to stay there. Question is …… does anyone know how to get there by car? I think I was close, as someone “leaked” out Dog Cove that day. I very much appreciate this post and hope to get a reply. Thank you.