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One of the first movies I featured on my blog, back in 2008, was The Holiday, starring Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, and several really great houses. But that was before I had learned how to lighten photos from movies that were too dark, or get the ones I really wanted by taking screenshots.

So I’m calling a do-over. I’m featuring the movie sets again but with more–and better!–photos for you this time.

Today I’m featuring Iris’s cottage. Next Monday I’ll feature Amanda’s contemporary home in California. Oh, and I already updated my post about Graham’s house, which you can see here (I replaced all the dark and fuzzy photos with clearer, lighter ones–makes it easier to ooh and ahh over the fairytale tent in the girls’ room now!).

This is the ad that Cameron Diaz’s character Amanda sees online for the cottage. It’s part of a “house swapping” program, where you stay free at someone else’s place while they’re at yours.

The Entry:

Living Room:

In this photo, the mantel seems to be decorated for summer:

And here you can see it decorated for Christmas:

The Kitchen:

Lovely stills of the sets courtesy Columbia Pictures. They’re wonderful because they show us details in the rooms that weren’t shown in the movie itself, like the raised beamed ceilings in the bedroom.

Looking from the Kitchen into the Book-Lined Library:

This may be my favorite room in the entire cottage, but we see very little of it in the movie:

Iris’s Bedroom:

From this angle, we can see that the stairs lead straight up to the bedroom and are open to it:

It was written and directed by Nancy Meyers, who always delivers sets that we can drool over. Thanks to her movies, we also have the memorable houses from Baby Boom, It’s Complicated, and Something’s Gotta Give (click those links to see photos of them).

The Bathroom:

It looks charming, but it isn’t very practical–at least not for someone as tall as Cameron Diaz!

Producers chose the picturesque streets of Shere (in Surrey) for the village scenes:

They wanted snow so it would look more like Christmas time, so they added it:

Sadly, Iris’s cottage isn’t real. A fake exterior was built within 2 weeks in the middle of an empty field (photos via the DVD’s Special Features):

They did extensive landscaping around the cottage, even though little of it is shown in the film, and most of what you do see is covered in (fake) snow:

The film crew created everything that you see in the movie, down to the stone wall that seems to have been there forever:

Here’s how it looked in the movie:

Cottages don’t get much cozier than this!

Come back next week to see photos of Amanda’s beautiful contemporary house in L.A. You can see photos of Graham’s Mill House now, though–no waiting!

Visit TV/Movie Houses to see more, like the ones from A Christmas Story and The Family Stone.

One of my favorite romantic comedies last year was the Sandra Bullock-Ryan Reynolds movie The Proposal. Not only was it a lot of fun, but it featured a fabulous cedar shingle and natural stone house in (what was supposed to be) Sitka, Alaska.

Most of the movie was actually filmed on location in Massachusetts. The 9-bedroom, 10-bath house is in Manchester, a 40-minute drive north of Boston.

When the camera first pans up from their boat to the house with the mountains in the background, director Anne Fletcher says (in the DVD commentary), “That’s all fake.”

There were actually “other houses and brown, dead trees” surrounding the house. The mountains, lighthouse, and many of the trees were added to make things look more scenic. Fake branches with leaves were literally twist-tied to the trees around the house.

When they were looking for the right house to use, Production Designer Nelson Coates says they wanted one with a rustic feel: The script said it should feel like something out of Alaskan Architectural Digest. I was laughing when I read that. What is Alaskan Architectural Digest?

The script also called for something on the water, with a dock. The family needed to look like they were isolated from town–like they needed a boat to get there, Coates told the New York Times.

He took photos of the house, then added mountains, leaves, totem poles and stone with Photoshop before sending the photos to the execs at Disney. “Theyre going, Oh, my God, we had no idea they had mountains like that in Massachusetts. It was hilarious. And it sold them on the house.

Most of the movie was shot inside thehouse, although they rebuilt some of of the rooms on a soundstage for the re-shoots later on. More movie magic transformed the interiors. In this photo of Ryan Reynolds on set you can see the stone fireplace behind him:

But the real house is much more traditional in style. They thought it looked “too Colonial.” So Production Designer Nelson Coates built a facade on all of the interior walls of the house to make it looks more Alaskan.

All the beams are fake, as are all the walls. Even the fireplace stones are fake. Here’s how the real fireplace looked before they gave it a rustic makeover (via the NYT):

Unfortunately, this is not a movie that allows the camera to lovingly dwell on the house itself the way, say, a Nancy Meyers film might do. In fact, there are so many people in the living room scenes that we never get as good a look at it as I would have liked. The characters are always center-stage.

From the behind-the-scenes featurette on the DVD we see another side of the room, as well as the movie lights installed overhead:

You can see the dining room behind Reynolds and Bullock in this scene as they make up a story about how he proposed:

When Margaret walks through the dining room one morning we get a better–if a little blurry–look at it without all the people blocking the view:

The Kitchen:

We get a couple of passing looks at the kitchen table and what appears to be a sitting room or living room of some sort behind it. I have to say I was really frustrated that the camera didn’t pan just once across it so we could get a look! *Shaking fist at the screen.*

However, we do get a good look at the $1,980 “Sara Milk Glass Chandelier” (via Tonic Home) in several scenes. You might recall that Sarah Jessica Parker had a similar one in her Hamptons house.

There weren’t any scenes in the kitchen, but there was a deleted one that gives us a look at the fabulous cabinets in there:

We can also see a little of it behind Mary Steenburgen in this scene–but not nearly enough:

This is a TV room-slash-study off the kitchen (that’s Craig T. Nelson playing Andrew’s dad Joe–love him):

The Staircase in the Entry Hall:

Again, we get brief glances at the main hall when people walk through it–great banister and railings:

The Guest Bedroom:

More time is spent in this room of the house than any other in the movie.

Did you know that Julia Roberts was originally supposed to play Margaret? When she bowed out, Sandra Bullock took it on.

The house has 3 stories, but the top 2 were off-limits to the film crew. All of the homeowners’ things were moved upstairs, and they stayed in the guest house during filming.

You can read about the Kanebs–the lucky family that really lives in this house–in this interesting NYT article.

Needless to say, if you haven’t seen the movie and don’t want the ending spoiled for you, you might want to stop reading now.

Guest Bath:

Barn:

The barn really exists on the property behind the house, so they decided to use it, both for a place where they’re confronted by the INS agent (played by Denis O’Hare, who is deliciouslyevil as the Mississippi King of Vampires on “True Blood”) and for Margaret and Andrew’s impromptu wedding.

The script originally called for the wedding to happen outside on the lawn.

They filmed an ending that had Margaret’s plane turning around, followed by a happy ending on the tarmac. It also featured a cameo with Niecy Nash as a wacky flight attendant.

They didn’t think that version worked, though, and filmed a new ending in the Colden Books office where Margaret and Andrew worked.

They used an empty, gutted buildingin Boston for the earlier office scenes, but the entire set, including Margaret’s & Bob’s offices, had to be completely rebuilt and replicated at Disney Studios in Burbank, CA for the rewritten ending.

The family’s puppy Kevin was played by four American Eskimo puppies named Flurry, Sitka, Nanu and Winter.

One thing producers weren’t crazy about: the outdoor pool. They covered it during filming because they didn’t think a house in Alaska was likely to have one. You can see it in this overhead view of the house on Bing Maps (thanks to Kim for finding this!):

You can read how Rockport, MA, was transformed into the town of Sitka in an article on Zimbio.

I love Sandra Bullock and her romantic comedies. Did you see my post about the New Orleans Victorian home she just moved into with her new baby?

Go to TV/Movie Houses to see more, including the houses from other Sandra Bullock movies like The Blind Side and Hope Floats.

Have you been watching the new season of “The Bachelorette” with Ali Fedotowsky? Last year Big-Time Listings reported that the rustic Italian-style mansion in Agoura Hills, California, where the popular “Bachelor” and “Bachelorette” reality shows are filmed, was on the market for $6.75 million.

The listing has since been removed, and I’m not sure if it sold or not. But the house, known as Villa De La Vina, has an official website with photos that show what it looks like when it’s not all dolled up for TV. You can apparently rent it out for your own special event.

They redecorate the mansion for every season, so it always looks a little different. Here’s a photo of the living room from the current season of “The Bachelorette.” The only thing that looks the same in the shot of the room on the Villa De La Vina website is the floor (wood surrounded by tile, and a tile border that runs around the baseboard):

On the other hand, I’d recognize that famous pool anywhere:

Remember Jesse Csincsak, the man Deanna Pappas chose during the 2008 season of “The Bachelorette,”–only to dump him a few months later?

Jesse describes the mansion to RADAR magazine:

The Mansion is more of a compound than a mansion. It only has 4 bedrooms upstairs. Downstairs are the rose ceremony room, her room with all the guys photos in it and the kitchen and the living room. The rest of the house that you never see is filled with production equipment.

“The Compound has 7 ft concrete walls all around it with security guards walking the perimeter so there is no way in or out. The Mansion has microphones throughout so they can always hear whats going on and when something good happens they send one of their 24 hr a day camera crews to investigate…”

In this aerial shot you can see those walls surrounding the perimeter that he mentions:

Jesse adds that there was no way Justin (the “Entertainment Wrestler” who is wooing Ali this season) could have “escaped” the mansion and gotten past the security guards without help from the producers: “Ali’s place is over 5 miles away and all up hill on windy mountain roads.”

Since Justin has a broken foot and is on crutches, Jesse thinks the producers got a few shots of him walking along the road and then drove him the rest of the way. You can read the rest of his thoughts on the current season here.

Who do you think Ali will choose? My early vote goes to Roberto, but you never know how these things will pan out. I never seem to guess them right. To get all the best spoilers on the show, check out Reality Steve.

To see more photos of the house: Villa De La Vina, Big-Time Listings, and Sweeter Homes. (Thanks to Kim for the link!)

To See More Famous Houses from TV and Movies, Click Here.

When The Blind Side came out in late 2009, I didn’t run right out and see it because I assumed it was just a “football movie.” But then the requests for photos of the Tuohy house from the movie started pouring in, Sandra Bullock won an Oscar for her role as Leigh Anne, and my curiosity got the best of me. I had to see what all the fuss was about–and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

The Blind Side was filmed on location in Atlanta, Georgia, which doubled for Memphis, Tennessee. The house used for the Tuohy family was a private residence in the upscale Buckhead neighborhood.

The movie was based on the true story of the Tuohy family, who took in a homeless teenager named Michael Oher when he had nowhere else to go. Thanks to their help and encouragement, he became a successful football player.

According to the production notes, this house was chosen because it reflects Leigh Anne Tuohy’s style and the look of her own home.

Production Designer Michael Corenblith says, “Leigh Anne was phenomenally gracious and opened her home to our set decorator Susan Benjamin. Susan spent two days with the family, which allowed us to emulate Leigh Annes decorating style.”

In the movie, Leigh Anne laments that Michael has ruined this $10,000 couch by sleeping on it night after night (doesn’t it look a little small for someone that big to lie down on?):

Michael and S.J., the youngest Tuohy, meet with one of many recruiters in the living room:

Looking from the living room into the entry hall and up the staircase:

Leigh Anne walks through the upstairs hallway:

When they decide that Michael will live with them permanently, Leigh Anne clears out the guest bedroom for him. He tells her this is the first bed he’s ever had of his own.

The Master Bedroom and Bath:

Their bedroom reminded me a little too much of a standard hotel suite–an upscale hotel, to be sure, but a little impersonal and stiff:

I thought Tim McGraw was perfect in the role of Sean Tuohy.

Looking from the bathroom down the hall to the bedroom:

The Kitchen:

I wish we could’ve seen more of the kitchen, but most scenes filmed in it were close ups that made it hard to get a clear view behind the characters they were focusing on.

The Family Room (where one TV is not enough):

The Dining Room:

In designing the sets, Production Designer Michael Corenblith says he wanted to emphasize the disparity between East Memphis, where wealthy families like the Tuohys live, and the poverty of Hurt Village, where Michael grew up on the other side of town.

The exclusive Atlanta International School and The Westminster Schools, also located in Buckhead, doubled as the private Wingate Christian School in the movie.

Linda of Silver Screen Surroundings was way ahead of me on this one. She wrote a post about the decor in the movie months ago and, as a designer, has some more detailed information and thoughts on the decor itself that you can read here.

Most people seemed to love this house (based on the number of requests I got for it), but it looked a little too much like a model home to me. A little impersonal. I did, however, feel like it fit the characters, and it worked for the story it was telling. What did you think?

The Real Tuohy family, shown at the end of the film:

Can I just add that I love Sandra Bullock? She was so good in this movie. If you missed it, check out the photos of the Gothic Victorian she just moved into with her new baby boy.

Visit my TV/Movie Houses page to see the others I’ve featured, including Sandra Bullock films like Practical Magic and Hope Floats.

Who could forget the fabulous London house featured in the 1998 version of Disneys The Parent Trap? That was where the twins’ mother Elizabeth (Natasha Richardson) lived with Annie (Lindsay Lohan). It was built in the 1840s in the heart of central London. Here’s how it looked in the movie:

Now it’s for sale for 14 million. Here’s how it looks today:

The interior for the movie was created on a soundstage and looked like this:

You can see more photos from the house in the movie in this post.

The real interiors are much more contemporary and more, well, white:

This is your chance to own a piece of movie history! For more information about the house and to see the rest of the photos, check out the listing by Strutt & Parker.

Hooked on Movie Houses? Click here to see the others I’ve featured, including houses from the original Parent Trap and the remake.