Ten of my Favorite Houses on Film

I am my mother's daughter.

I realized that this last weekend when she was staying with me for Mother's Day and we were trying to pick out a movie to doze to for the afternoon.

"Let's watch Pride and Prejudice," she suggested.  And throughout the movie, we not only commented on how good it was...but we pretty much drooled over the house that Elizabeth Bennet lived in, the enormous trees that surrounded it, and all of the amazing colors inside - chipped paint and all.

I've known this about myself for some time - that I will happily sit down and watch a not-so-great movie as long as the characters live in a great house.  I squirm through Legends of the Fall and overlook that it is, in fact, the most depressing movie ever made...mainly because the house that they live in up in Montana was so incredible (at the beginning of the movie before all of the death and liquor-running and stuff).  I will watch some movies over and over again, trying to pinpoint exactly what it is that I like about each house and what draws me to it.  A Southern girl at heart, a good porch is a must...but other than that, my tastes vary.

So here is my list.  I didn't go back as far as Gone with the Wind or The Philadelphia Story - so most of these are relatively recent.  They're not in any particular order and I could no more pick my favorite house than I could my favorite child.  But should I win the Powerball, I plan on buying or constructing replicas of all ten.

And Mom...this one's for you.

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Okay, so Bewitched wasn't the best movie ever.  The only things that saved it were Will Ferrell (because he's hilarious in anything), Nicole Kidman's wardrobe, and this house.  I daresay that is it every single woman's dream to live there and not just because of the cute exterior, but for the shabby chic interior as well.  I mean, who would pass up having a glass of wine with their buddies in a room like this? 

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I choose to ignore the fact that Steve Martin kind gets kind of screwed over in It's Complicated (I hate it when that happens to the good guys) because this house and I were meant to be together.  It would almost be worth it to put up with Alec Baldwin for a while if it meant that you got this (or the money to help to buy it) in the divorce settlement.  I'd spend a few years with him just to get that swing hanging from the tree.

Way to go, Meryl. 

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This one is going to seem random for some of you because it comes from one of my favorite (but seldom seen) movies of all-time.  The house in Crimes of the Heart has porches all over the exterior, a fabulous staircase, and a room big enough to hold three girls as they were growing up.  It's old, looks creaky, and I would take it in a heartbeat.

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I was surprised at how much I loved the house in The Holiday - not the cute English cottage, but the more modern place that Cameron Diaz lives in in L.A.  It's probably the kitchen that won me over (that's usually the case), but I'll take the relaxing bedroom with the blackout curtains and the enormous screening room any day.

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I'll admit it.  The June Cleaver in me wants this house.  I don't think I'd feel up to hosting a whole wedding there, but the house in Father of the Bride is the quintessential happy family home.  All I keep wondering is if the two older kids are bitter about the "baby suite" Steve Martin and Diane Keaton add on for that third kid in the second movie.  I know I wouldn't have let my parents forget that I grew up in some regular bedroom.

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Okay, so I'm widowed.  I've had the nervous breakdown.  What I'm missing is the house that Diane Lane renovates in Under the Tuscan Sun.  Don't we all owe it to ourselves, when the going gets tough, to pack up and move to a gorgeous house in Italy where we can learn how to cook for a few quirky repairmen and ultimately find love with a writer who just happens to be passing through?

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This one is an oldie (relatively speaking), but goodie.  Again, the house in Practical Magic got to me because of the kitchen.  But it seems to have so many hidden nooks and crannies that it would be a dream to live in (but not to clean).  Yes, there's all kinds of witchcraft going on in there, but who wouldn't like a potion that you could put in some maple syrup to make people go away???  C'mon, people.  How handy would that be?

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This movie depresses the hell out of me, but I stick with it every time because of the house that Susan Sarandon lives in in Stepmom.  I can handle her treating Julia Roberts badly just as long as she takes care of that house....

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Any time you mention the movie The Proposal, the first thing that almost anyone says (women and

the men who were forced to go see it with them) is, "Can you believe that house??"  Actually, compound seems more appropriate.  It is enormous and in the movie is set on its own island.  Yes, that would make grocery shopping a pain, but who cares?  You'd have an island!

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This is just a great movie in general, but the fact that we have Keanu Reeves and this little vacation home in The Hamptons to drool over doesn't hurt.  Yes, I loved the kitchen again.  And the dining room, bedrooms, all of the living spaces, and every corner of this house.  Now about that Powerball ticket....