Episode #60: Our Favorite Movie Houses

Elsie: You’re listening to the A Beautiful Mess podcast this week, we’re breaking down our favorite houses for movies we love because there’s so much inspiration to be found in them. This week’s episode is sponsored by Hunter Fan Company, We’ll talk more about them later in this episode. I’m so excited about this episode because we have been on a movie binge together and it’s like our special thing, like we just watched Jurassic Park and we watched The Holiday, and we’re just going to like probably watch some movies this week Emma’s visiting me at my home. I really to have a Harry Potter marathon.

Emma: Oh, we definitely can. That’s one of my guilty pleasures. Yeah. And Elsie and I’ve noticed that one thing we do and I have a feeling a lot of our listeners do this too, because of your interest, is we tend to really focus in on movie houses like the interior decor of the houses or the exterior. Like sometimes I’ll watch a movie and it’s really kind of more about the house that’s in the movie than it is the movie. Like there’s some movies I don’t even love that much, but the house…

Elsie: 100 percent. I have that OK, with 70s horror movies, everyone’s like, why do you like horror movies? And it’s like, well, it’s because I’m married to Jeremy, but also because I love to look at the interiors. And so if it’s not a 70s horror movie, I won’t watch it, because if it’s like a 90s interior or 2000s God forbid,

Emma: Not as exciting.

Elsie: Yeah, I don’t care. So…

Emma: Yeah. So we’re just going to go through some of our favorite movies for the houses, some of these movies we love anyway. Some of them, you know, it’s kind of about the house, whatever. And I tried to make mine a little bit random because I feel like it could be basically every Wes Anderson movie because that has such fun interiors.

Elsie: I also didn’t put any Wes Anderson. But yeah. It goes without saying, like, his movie sets are like top, top, top of the top.

Emma: Love it. There’s a million movie sets that are amazing. But we’re just going to go through some of our favorites. So what’s your first movie?

Elsie: Ok, so mine are all kind of like in the feel-good category where it like stabs at my heart with a little arrow that never goes away. So, yeah, this one, the first one is The Holiday. So we just mentioned, like, I have just been like fully obsessed with this movie this year and like I don’t know what my problem is, but I’m obsessed with it. And oh, I think it was started when it was in, you know, the ending of Schitt’s Creek. Yeah, it was OK. That might be why, it’s David Rose influencing me. Of course.

Emma: Of course.

Elsie: And so anyway, the cottage from The Holiday I think it’s called Rose Hill Cottage.

Emma: Yeah because there’s two houses.

Elsie: Yeah. I’m not talking about the mansion don’t care about that. I mean, like blinds that you control with a button are obviously very cool, but that’s like the only thing about the whole house. It’s exciting. It’s just a mansion.

Emma: It had a nice pool. But yeah. The other house, the little cottage. The little quaint cottage. That’s the one.

Elsie: Yes, the little cottage stone cottage. It’s so cute. Everyone loves it. I feel like it’s like the ultimate pinnacle of Nancy Meyers aesthetic. And anyway, so I’ve had this fantasy about re-working like I’m thinking about maybe getting that or buying that house in Springfield, our little holiday house, what we call it in Springfield, Missouri. Actually, Emma’s living there right now and we love it. It’s a special little house I was thinking about, like sort of like turning it into a Nancy Meyers replica shrine inspired by the holiday.

Emma: I love it. Couldn’t love it more.

Elsie: Yeah. So she has a couple of my favorite things from the home are like, you guys know, I don’t do blue, but the blue kitchen, the blue cabinets with wood knobs, I just love it. There’s a fireplace in the kitchen with like a single little garland stone fireplace and everything is just so, like vintage-looking and cozy. It’s just like quilts on quilts on quilts.

Emma: Yeah. It’s one of those that it feels like all the space is very taken up, but it’s all really cozy and sweet and special. And just like you want to be there and read a book and have a cup of hot cocoa.

Elsie: I love her tiny metal bathtub. I feel like metal bathetubs are having a big come back now.

Emma: They are, yeah.

Elsie: So I think it’s just darling and I saw someone on Pinterest made a gingerbread house replica of it and I was very inspired by that. That’s cute. I want to make some kind of little like craft inspired by the Rose Hill cottage because I feel like it is so… It’s just such a feel good.

Emma: Well, you just said you’re going to do the whole holiday house as a tribute.

Elsie: I hope so. I don’t know. It’s just a fantasy right now.

Emma: Yeah.

Elsie: OK, what’s your first movie?

Emma: OK, mine is a very different type of movie. Knives Out, which if you haven’t seen this movie, by the way, it is a great movie and it’s very fun, very vibey. It’s kind of a murder mystery. It’s fairly new. I think it came out the last two years.

Elsie: I will say it was my favorite we watched in 2020 because obviously I never made it around to a movie theater this year and there really wasn’t a lot of movies coming out because a lot of people, you know, like put their movies on hold and things like that and things like stopped filming. A lot of our favorite shows aren’t coming back for fall blah, blah, blah. This movie is so good. If you haven’t watched it, you have a treat waiting for you and I’m so jealous.

Emma: Yes. And from my description of the movie, you can probably kind of guess that there is a house in the movie where most of the action takes place. There’s a couple of houses, but the one that I really love is where most of the action takes place. There’s a murder that takes place there that happens really early on. So that’s not a spoiler, but it’s just very like spooky Wes Anderson. It’s very like traditional lots of like pictures on the walls, lots of like kind of very traditional rugs, just a very, like, spooky and vibey, but still cozy. And I think it has this like hidden window or hidden door. And I love that. It’s just very like if the Clue house came to life, but it was perfectly designed like for that genre. And I just love it. I don’t know if I would ever want to make my house like this style, because it is very like very…

Elsie: I get that.

Emma: …a lot, you know, maximalist, I guess. But I would love to visit a house like this. And I’d maybe do like elements of it, I guess, but I just love it so much. So if you don’t even want to watch a murder mystery, I still recommend this just for the house. So, Knives Out!

Elsie: Absolutely. So when we watched it, I got a wave of inspiration because I love a historic home. I would totally live in a house like that and like I love like the sweaters. And just like everything about the movie is super vibey. But anyway, I got the idea to do our hidden door, so we got a murphy door and it’s like in my office it looks like a bookshelf and then it’s a door and it goes to a secret room. And it’s totally inspired by Knives Out.

Emma: This was another thing that I wanted to do that then Elsie did in her house like the wine cellar. I just want to put that out there. Another stolen…

Elsie: Emma says that ennegram 7s are dream stealers.

Emma: Mostly you!

Elsie: And now, I’m going to relabel a seven as a dream stealer because I do. I just love to steal. I hand-pick, cherry-pick the best dream from each person and steal it.

Emma: Yeah, she does. So tell her your dream and she will make it come true for herself.

Elsie: It’s very evil sounding.

Emma: OK, what’s your next one.

Elsie: Alright. My next one is a classic. So two times in my life I have watched a movie where I cried so much that it was like loud. And…

Emma: Hmm, okay!

Elsie: The Notebook! Everyone, everyone who watched it was the first time especially. It’s like you just cry so much…

Emma: Ugly cry. Yep.

Elsie: Yeah. The true ugly cry. The other one is Dancer in the Dark, by the way, because I know you’re going to be like “what was the other one?”

Emma: Oh yes.

Elsie: Oh my God. Like the crying. OK, so The Notebook obviously I like I Googled the house and I looked at it, it was like, you know what, honestly, there are better southern mansions. It’s not it’s the way they do it in the movie. And I think a big part of it is that it’s basically renovation porn like you see him, like painting and sawing and going up and ladder. And it just looks so idyllic. It’s just like beautiful.

Emma: You feel like you’re seeing a little bit of a before and after with one of those kind of classic you know, southern type…

Elsie: My notes as DIY boner.

Emma: Yeah, yeah. (laughs)

Elsie: Like and then the obviously the freaking painter’s porch is the moment in the whole movie for me when he reveals to her he’s made her this little like painting spot on a porch and then he comes out in the morning and she’s painting out there with a blanket around her. It’s the most romantic thing I’ve ever seen in my life.

Emma: It’s very sweet.

Elsie: And I also have to tie it in in like The Office. When Jim reveals, like the painting in the garage, I cried a lot for that too obviously, like, yeah, like inspired by The Notebook and yeah, tears everywhere. I cry so much during The Office.

Emma: I mean, those are really sweet moments when you see someone supporting someone else’s dream or is really seeing them. I mean, that’s just, that’s just a sweet moment. You have to cry.

Elsie: It’s yeah. I think it’s like the most romantic thing in my imagination of what romance is, is like a little painting spot. It’s just so sweet.

Emma: Yeah.

Elsie: So yeah, I love that movie and I love, I love a white house. I love a historic home and yeah. The South, the trees like the weeping willow, you know the mossy trees.

Emma: Yes. I think they go on a little canoe rowboat.

Elsie: Oh you’re right. I haven’t seen the notebook in years. Maybe we should watch it.

Emma: It makes me think of The Little Mermaid when they’re on the boat and it’s like the Kiss the Girl song. (singing) Sha la la la la la. Don’t be shy! (laughs) Yeah, that’s it in The Notebook too.

Elsie: Wowww.

Emma: What?! These are good movie moments.

Elsie: That is a good movie moment. Ok, let’s take a quick break for our sponsor and then we will continue our journey.

Emma: Today’s podcast is sponsored by the Hunter Fan Company. As we’re getting into winter, we are craving all the cozy vibes. Normally this time of year, we’re all staying home more. But that’s kind of been an all year thing this year, hasn’t it? To add some cheer, we’re teaming up with Hunter to make one of your homes a little extra special this year. Hunter is going to give one winner a five hundred dollar gift card to pick out products for their home. To enter, visit our show notes and fill out the widget at the bottom. You can even earn an extra entry by signing up for the Hunter and A Beautiful Mess newsletter. Their light fixtures have the same qualities that we love about the Hunter fans. They’re gorgeous pictures that are also super functional. There are five collections and twenty five finished combinations, so you can be sure to find something that will work in your space. Hunter ceiling fans and lights are available on Hunter fan dotcom, as well as in homes centers and online retailers nationwide. For a limited time, you can use the code ABM20 for 20 percent off of your fan or lighting purchase on Hunterfan.com. Just visit hunterfan.com/abeautifulmess To see some of our favorite picks. That’s Hunterfan.com/abeautifulmess. And that code is ABM20.

Emma: All right, Emma, what is your second movie?

Emma: OK, this is a random movie, also a Nicholas Sparks movie. Oh, you’re going to hear Elsie kids in the background now and again in our episode.

Elsie: Please don’t leave us a one-star review for that. Like, that’s just not nice. It’s 2020.

Emma: Guys it’s 2020.

Elsie: And we’re doing our best.

Emma: We’re doing our best. OK, they need to play. All right. So this one, like I said, Nicholas Sparks, kind of a random one. It’s Nights in Rodanthe. So this came out a long time ago.

Elsie: I have no idea what you’re even talking about right now. So go on.

Emma: I tried to I was like, oh, you got to Google this house. So it’s a beach house but not like California Beach. It’s like East Coast.

Emma: I’ll describe how I saw it.

Elsie: Ok.

Emma: It looked like it was kind of on the side, like a ledge of a beach like kind of on a hill. And it looked like a historic flatty, like very flat sides, very tall. And it kind of looks like it was going to, like, blow over to me. Like, I did not feel good when I saw this house.

Emma: It’s a little little bit spooky looking in a way. It also really reminds me of one of the Harry Potter houses. It’s like a safe house. I think it’s like the Weasley aunt. It’s in a later Harry Potter movie, but it’s on the beach and it’s like this has like tall parts of the house. And it’s just kind of oddly shaped, but it seems very old. So and this one’s also like very dark. I don’t think it’s painted black, but it’s dark. And then it has these bright blue shutters. And at one point the movie, there’s a big storm, a hurricane, and they shut all the blue shutters and something about these bright blue shutters against this dark backdrop. And the stormy ocean just was, I don’t know, really cool, very dramatic and very unexpected in a way. So I like that. And then the house itself is very I would describe it as like beautiful but rickety, looking like it seems that like traditional wallpaper, like there’s a room that’s like the blue room where, you know, there’s a lot of scenes in that room and it has blue wallpaper and like a blue like traditional bed, like canopy type bed and like everything’s blue, like it’s that type of thing. Almost feels like a white house, but a rickety old beach house. Anyway, I something about this house, because I’ve watched I watched this movie recently, but I also watched it years and years ago. And I still remember this house. Something about it just appeals to my sensibilities where I’m like, this is kind of beautiful and spooky. It’s kind of how I would describe the ocean. I love the ocean. I love listening to waves. I’m not I’m from the middle of the country, but I love visiting. And something about the ocean to me is like beautiful, but kind of haunting.

Elsie: Yeah definitely.

Emma: And something about that mix is, I don’t know, interests me I guess. I don’t know. There you have it.

Elsie: Yeah. I think a beach house is like a very big sensory experience. Yeah. Like the saltiness. Yeah.

Emma: And the smell, the sounds, sand. So like the feel of that. Yeah. There’s really a lot to it in which when you’re watching a movie you don’t necessarily get all of that. But if you’ve ever been to the ocean then you get it. So yeah. Ok, what’s your next house?

Elsie: OK, my next one. I had a really hard time choosing, I was choosing between two.

Emma: Mmhmm.

Elsie: Home Alone or Hocus Pocus and I ended up picking Home Alone.

Emma: Which one? I’m guessing the first…

Elsie: Home Alone one. Yes, definitely. Definitely. Definitely not the New York one. OK, no, but that is also a great movie and it holds up. But it’s not about the interiors of a home.

Emma: Right.

Elsie: Home Alone one is, it’s so magical. It’s one. I mean, I think it’s one of the best movies of my lifetime. I have like a very special memory with it that Jeremy and I, when we were dating, we were watching it at three in the morning in the waiting room at the hospital when our niece, Penelope was born.

Emma: Aww!

Elsie: So it’s, it’s just really magical.

Emma: Yeah.

Elsie: Yeah. We watched the whole movie in the waiting room.

Emma: Yeah. Because her birthday’s November. Yeah.

Elsie: Yes. So anyway, the house itself is, it’s beautiful in a very traditional way. I can see how you would be like, wow, that’s a lot of red and green together in a house.

Emma: Right!

Elsie: And it is, it has a strong 80s vibe with like traditional mixed with 80s, which isn’t always the best combination. But this house has like the full sensory hygge experience. It’s just so wonderful. Like they even have a tiled countertop. It’s like a mansion with the worst possible kind of countertop. Actually, someone’s going to send me hate mail because I just said that. I’m sorry.

Emma: Probably because their house kind of looks like it and you’re like, hey!

Elsie: A tiled countertop….

Emma: Is very affordable,

Elsie: Is very affordable!

Emma: There’s a positive thing!

Elsie: And I think it used to be more of a thing than it is now, I guess like if you see one in a house, you assume it’s been there a while, I guess, is what I would say.

Emma: Yeah, I do.

Elsie: So anyway, I’m getting off track. It’s just it’s magical. Like, I love the scene where he, like, sets up all the blow ups and the the little train track and stuff. And then it’s like showing from the outside the silhouettes dancing.

Emma: Yes.

Elsie: That’s one of the best parts. And it’s just a magical home that feels like childhood magic. And when we occasionally visit our friends live in the suburbs of Chicago and we occasionally visit their house, we drive around and like point out all the Home Alone houses. It’s just like really cute. I love that type of neighborhood.

Emma: That’s what I was going to say, is the exterior the way it’s kind of like a big box and it has these certain types of shutters. And it just like when I see a house like that, I’m always like Home Alone house! You know? It’s just very iconic suburbs. Rich people house, like rich family, like family, home, middle class type thing. And yeah, there’s something about it is very nostalgic and very familiar.

Elsie: Yeah.

Emma: You know, even though we didn’t grow up in a house like that.

Elsie: And I will say second, the second thing that I love so much in Home Alone just for like a little sensory like explosion in my brain is the the little grocery store or I don’t know if it would be considered a grocery store or the little like, what would you call it? Like, shop where he shops for his toothbrush and stuff.

Emma: Yeah. It’s like almost like a Walgreens, or a CVS. It’s not really a bodega but it’s…

Elsie: A cute local Walgreens, whatever that whatever the word for that is…adorable. So adorable. So anyway, Home Alone. Amazing. Also I have to say Hocus Pocus but I do have a lot of honorable mentions. We’ll save those for the end. And what’s your last one, Em?

Emma: Okay my last one. I wanted to pick something different because I feel like my other two are kind of similar in a way which I do love both those. And I could go on and on about basically spooky Wes Andersons.

Elsie: Traditional.

Emma: Yeah, I do really dig that, but I dig a lot of, a lot of other styles too. So this is a house that I’m pretty obsessed with and I talk about it quite a bit.

Elsie: Yeah, that’s true.

Emma: Okay, so it is John Wick’s house and I’m talking about from the first John Wick. So if you’ve never seen the John Wick series one, I love them. It’s about like hit men and women and they get crazier and crazier. Kind of like the Fast and Furious franchise and its starring Keanu Reeves and I love Keanu Reeves. So if you like action movies, I love John Wick. If you’re like, no, don’t care at all. Cool, cool. But I do love John Wick’s home, which spoiler in the first movie. He’s been out a long time. So this is your own fault. If you haven’t seen it, it blows up pretty quick in the first movie.

Elsie: Uh oh.

Emma: So yeah. So it’s a bummer, but it’s a very like California modern, semi-minimal. I wouldn’t really call it minimalist style, but it’s it’s very streamlined. It’s very opposite of a traditional, like wallpaper and traditional rugs. It’s very opposite that. It’s much more streamlined, modern, minimal. Very California. Classic type.

Elsie: OK, I want to see this home.

Emma: Yeah. And I really do. I know I love traditional. I’ve been going on, on about that, but I also do love spaces that feel extremely calm and I feel like the first part of the movie before all the action starts. That’s what John Wick’s home feels like to me. It feels very calm and like you can find everything and you can really relax in this home. And I do like that feeling a lot because I like a space that feels like it’s going to be easy to keep it clean and you can just relax when you’re in that space. So I really dig it also has really great light. Like I said, I said pretty sure it’s set in California. So it’s, you know, very like beachy happy type vibe.

Elsie: So it’s a it’s a new build beach mansion. Yeah. Without a lot of white and.

Emma: Yeah.

Elsie: Traditional but minimal.

Emma: Mmhmm, yeah. It’s, it’s pretty, it’s pretty basic bitch in a lot of ways. But I love it because I am basic like that! (laughs)

Elsie: We’re all a little bit basic. We have our things.

Emma: So anyway that’s my last one.

Elsie: Nice. OK, well…

Emma: Honorable mentions!

Elsie: For the honorable mentions I already mentioned Hocus Pocus.

Emma: So do you mean the Sandersons house or do you mean the kind of lighthouse. I guess not a lighthouse there.

Elsie: There are several. Yeah. There’s several good interiors which by the way I heard they’re making a sequel! But no, I’m talking about the one where the family lives.

Emma: OK.

Elsie: With the little like. Yeah it has a little…

Emma: Kind of a steeple.

Elsie: Like basically a steeple coming out of the top. It’s a very beautiful home. And yeah, I got like, super jealous this month because KJP went to the house and was like taking cute fall pictures there.

Emma: He’s the coolest. So you can’t compare yourself to him.

Elsie: He’s quite enviable.

Emma: Yes.

Elsie: My next one is Father of the Bride, another Nancy Meyers banger!

Emma: I have actually never seen that.

Elsie: (Gasps) Emma! Oh, I know, should we watch it?

Emma: I don’t know why not, but yeah.

Elsie: Should we do the Harry Potter marathon or the Steve Martin marathon?

Emma: Oh no, I don’t know. I don’t know either. That’s a tough call.

Elsie: Either one, we’re going to have a great journey this week.

Emma: Steve Martin’s kind of one of my celebrity crushes.

Elsie: Me, too.

Emma: He’s just adorable. He’s funny…

Elsie: He’s adorable.

Emma: …and very handsome. He’s much older than me, obviously, but he’s handsome. What else? Oh, yes, Clueless.

Elsie: Clueless has a great home. And it’s just. Yeah, it’s iconic. It’s like the only time I ever love a Jeep. Is she driving a Jeep?

Emma: Yes. With platforms. And she’s like, you try driving in platforms! Yes. Yeah. And I also wanted to add, I recently watched this movie. I had never seen it before. It’s called I Don’t Know How She Does It. It has Sarah Jessica Parker and really an all star cast. And I love the cast. Can’t say I loved the movie, but I thought it was very worth watching for, I think it’s set in Boston, and the kitchen in their home, it could be set in New York. I’m pretty sure it’s Boston, but it’s one of those houses that it is a family home, but it’s like right up against other ones, if that makes any sense. Anyway, their kitchen is like it has blue. It’s kind of like the holiday house kitchen that you mentioned earlier, but on steroids for more of a city rather than a cottage.

Elsie: So, yeah, she had me Google this interior and it looks like a historic uh, what are they called the New York what are the…brownstone!

Emma: Brownstone!

Elsie: Historic brownstone.

Emma: You can tell we’re not from New York.

Elsie: Not at all. Yeah, that’s been renovated over and over through the years. It has like areas of unpainted brick. It has areas of painted brick, it has some blue, it has some modern parts. It has some parts that look like it could be like flea market finds and stuff. So, yeah, I does feel very ecclectic.

Emma: It does feel a little industrial too. Yeah. Yeah. It’s very eclectic and I think that’s what I like about it is it feels very cozy but very eclectic. And I kind of like spaces that aren’t just one thing because I feel like you can do a lot.

Elsie: I definitely think we’re vibing eclectic right now. We’ve been talking about that going through books and yeah it does. It feels like I think that just after so many years of trends becoming more white, more bright, more minimal, more streamlined, more matching, then all of a sudden where our brains are just like exploding with like a moody color and like a flea market find.

Emma: We kind of start loving parts of all of it. And so that’s how you end up with the eclectic because it’s like, well, I like this from traditional, but I like this for minimal and I like this, you know, whatever. And so just kind of has to all become a part of it in a way.

Elsie: Ok, I want to say one more honorable mention before we go: the apartment in Rosemary’s Baby. I watch it once a year. I love it because so it’s a movie made I think it was made in like sixty-nine or something like that. And what I love about the apartment is that it shows you a perfect template of how to mix historic, a historic property with like an ornate fireplace and like trimmed out bookshelves with a lot of mid-century because that’s when it was made and like the furniture is very mid-century and it is the perfect mix of both. And she does like an all white makeover, which I love.

Emma: So I have not seen it because I am under the impression might be too spooky for me, but…

Elsie: Oh my gosh, let’s watch it!

Emma: I do love the name Rosemary and this sounds like a great house to see, but I’m a little scared of the devil and I hear he’s in it, so…(laughs)

Elsie: It’s not that scary.

Emma: Thanks so much for listening. We would love to hear in the comments on the show notes at abeautifulmess.com what house’s from movies you like because there’s no way we got to all of them in this one way. This is just a little smattering.

Elsie: Yeah. Spare us no details. Why you love it, what you love about it. What’s your favorite room? What’s your favorite detail. All of it.

Emma: Yeah. Thanks so much for listening. Love you guys.

Elsie: Bye have a good week.