Our Favorite Spaces From Films That Have Won Our Hearts

A Star is Born

The home that hosts Bradley Cooper’s character, Jackson Maine (whose character-crafting was inspired by Eddie Vedder), a country rock star combating alcohol addiction, was originally built in 1973 by Architect Douglas Rucker, this classic Mid-Century Modern California home was later renovated by Architect Dan Meis, who is known for his work at the Staples Center. Its warm wood finishes make it rustic. Endowed by a generous amount of natural light from its floor to ceiling glass windows, the home is tucked away in a wooded area, illustrating the Jackson Maine’s discreet personality and his reticence from the spotlight.

A Star is Born

A Star is Born

Architecture 101

The home in this 2003 Korean romance is now a café called Café Seoyeon’s House. In the film, the character, Seoyeon, played by Miss A’s Suzy, asks her first love to design her dream home. The dramatic Jeju Island views seen throughout the home invites staring out into the vast beyond to ponder all the “what-have-beens” and “what-could-have-beens” in life, heightening the bittersweet feelings of unrequited love.

Architecture 101

Father of the Bride

Steve Martin’s character, George Banks, could not have built a better representation of home and familial love than The Father of the Bride House in Pasadena, CA. In an HGTV interview, its current owners report that they, too, celebrated their own wedding in the garden, just like the movie. They keep the exterior of the home manicured because they get fans taking photos daily.

Father of the Bride 2

Home Again

In an interview with Architectural Digest, writer-director-producer, Nancy Meyers and daughter, director Hallie Meyers-Shyer, share that they both found a lot of ideas on Pinterest when they conceived of the look for this home. In portraying Alice, Reese Witherspoon’s character, a newly-separated woman with children, set designers Ellen Brill and Nicole Cates created a warm, laid-back, California feel, replete with feminine touches. All these conveyed a home that the main character wanted to return to. When her ex-husband visits, it is also one where he wants to stay. Details from the 1970s complete the look of the home, an homage to the main character’s father.

Home Again

Home Again

Home Again

Home Again

Home Again

It’s Complicated

In this Nancy Meyers written and directed film, Meryl Streep’s character, Jane, is a successful bakery owner and would-be empty nester with renovation needs. She gets into a love triangle with her ex-husband, played by Alec Baldwin and her architect, played by Steve Martin. Often in Nancy Meyers films, the woman protagonist, is portrayed by the heart of the home, and is rooted in a setting that lusciously describes the idea of a perfectly cozy home. The Spanish hacienda in Santa Barbara that acted as the home in this film is outfitted with a terracotta roof, a cobble stone walkway and a verdant garden. Its interiors are wrapped in comfy neutrals, linens, plenty of throw pillows and a kitchen designed for entertaining. What’s not to love?

It's Complicated

Mr and Mrs Smith

The romance-action-thriller that gained more popularity for bringing Brangelina together features a house to kill for. In the film, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s characters are assassins hired to murder each other. Their torrid relationship unfolds in a set designed by Victor Zolfo, who is also famous for his work in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It was heart breaking to see the characters wreak havoc on the home’s perfectly tailored sofas, the walls’ Vetruvian moldings, its swag and jabot window treatments in the living room, its gleaming, polished, not-made-for-cooking kitchen.

Mr and Mrs Smith

The foyer

Mr and Mrs Smith

The dining room

Mr and Mrs Smith

Back to the living room: did anyone else notice the pair of book cases flanking the entryway? A perfect play of opposites! One is a modern, sculptural book case. The other, a traditional one.

Something’s Gotta Give

Diane Keaton plays an accomplished playwright in her 50’s who has been divorced after a 20-year marriage. Her daughter, played by Amanda Peet, carries out an affair with Jack Nicholson, whose chest pains force him to recover in the bedroom of his girlfriend’s mother. This setting becomes the hospice for his heart that’s been through some literal dribbling. In an Architectural Digest interview, writer-director Nancy Meyers says, “[Her Hamptons home] “a gift to herself—no compromises—just her total vision of a peaceful life. Naturally, it’s a different mind-set than that of a woman who has been single or is part of a couple. There was no chance, for instance… that she is going to put a double sink in the bathroom.” It is this level of detail that makes the interiors in Nancy Meyers films such a success. Not only are they covetable, they also look as though they’ve been lived in with every detail faithful to the character. Set designer Beth Rubino had to ship some 3,000 books from the Strand Book Store in New York to the set, which was later arranged by the character’s interest. The dining room displays an immaculate set of all-white plates. A 70-inch round table holds the place of honor, specifically for the intention of a 360-degree shot.

Something’s Gotta Give

The Intern

Robert De Niro’s Ben Whittaker, a widower who realizes that he is not yet ready for retirement, is the perfect foil for Anne Hathaway’s Jules Ostin, owner of a start-up e-commerce fashion site in Brooklyn. Anne Hathaway’s character lives in a Park Sloap, Brooklyn brownstone. The kitchen is industrial chic, complete with open shelves, subway tiles, antique brass bin pulls and a farmhouse sink. Its living room is decidedly eclectic, with the modern furnishings and pops of color found in the accessories, balancing out the traditional bones of the room. The interiors are faithful to an eclectic design, characteristic of the young, millennial Jules Ostin.

The Holiday

Another Nancy Meyers film, the home for Amanda, Cameron Diaz’s character in The Holiday is a 1920s California mansion designed by Architect Wallace Neff for himself. Its interiors were built on a soundstage in another location. Without plumbing, electricity and exterior walls, it cost millions of dollars to build it. Design trends such as seagrass rugs, sofas slip covered in white and lantern decorative lights were picked up from this home, portraying the successful, though cold Amanda, who gets her heart thawed out by a dashing single dad, played by Jude Law, on a holiday.

The Notebook

"The best love is the kind that awakens the soul; that makes us reach for more; that plants a fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds," says Noah in his farewell letter to Allie. It’s enough that the film is chockfull of kitschy, romantic lines and passionate scenes. We’re also fans of the fact that the pivotal part of the storyline centers on the restoration of the home by the male lead character, played by Ryan Gosling. In this film, Noah essentially flipped am 18th century planation home, and worked on it with his own bare hands just to win Allie back. "He got the notion in his head that if he restored the old house where they had come that night, Allie would find a way to come back to him. Some called it a labor of love. Others called it something else. But in fact, Noah had gone a little mad,” Nicholas Sparks writes in the book. We’ll gladly take the home, and the guy, too!

The Notebook

The home, pre-renovation by Noah.

UP

The first ten minutes of this animated Pixar film is endearing as we witness Carl Fredricksen, played by Ed Asner, fall in love with the girl next door, Ellie. They get married an live in a restored home, the abandoned “clubhouse” of Ellie’s childhood. Thus starts this heart-warming film whose main action is the lifting of the whole home via balloons, and finally flying to South America to fulfill a promise he had made to Ellie.

UP

UP

The kitchen