Movie Houses

CHINTZ, NOT CHINTZY: ATONEMENT [2007]

The ornate carvings and lush fabrics of a real English country home, Stokesay Court, form the elegant backdrop for the thwarted love affair in "Atonement" (2007). However, you'll be too distracted by good-looking lovers Keira Knightley and James McAvoy during their pivotal scene of passion to get a proper look at the luxurious library.

YOU'LL BE BOWLED OVER: "THERE WILL BE BLOOD" [2007]

Beverly Hills' Greystone Mansion, built by oil tycoon Edward Doheny in 1928, is the imposingly dark backdrop for Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis in 2007's "There Will Be Blood") in his bitter, deranged later years. The mansion's long marble halls are tailor-made for target practice, but the basement bowling alley is an unlikely setting for the film's striking and, yes, bloody, denouement.

FORGET THE PLOT: THE LAKE HOUSE [2006]
The time shifts might have strained credulity in "The Lake House." But the real mystery is why Keanu Reeves' and Sandra Bullock's characters would move out of a place that gorgeous.

SCENE STEALER: "SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE" [2003]
The Hampton house upstaged Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton -- and it didn't have a nude scene. Small wonder the house warranted a spread in Architectural Digest.

FOREIGN CLIMES: "UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN" [2003]

Sure, the film bears little resemblance to the book. But it has Diane Lane, pretty Italian men and a fabulous house supposedly in need of renovation.

MERCHANT-IVORY AWARD: "GOSFORD PARK" [2001]
Setting any movie in a British manse is like cheating, so take your pick, from "Remains of the Day" to "A Room With a View." One of our favorites in the genre is "Gosford Park"; the dining room setting was so lush that the audience collectively gasped.

BEST PLUMBING: "WHAT LIES BENEATH" [2000]
The thriller starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford, features several critical scenes in which a ghost appears in bath water. But the clawfoot tub and its gleaming brushed-nickel plumbing fixtures were the real scene-stealers, leaving this moviegoer reaching for the bath salts. If only!

WORTH FIGHTING FOR? "WAR OF THE ROSES" [1989]

Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner battle over their opulent house as their marriage unravels. Some designers thought that chandelier deserved its fate. But you've got to love the glassed-in shoe storage, a precursor to today's standard starter-castle amenities.

TOO GHASTLY: "SHE-DEVIL" [1989]

The pink confection in this film was harder on the eyes than Roseanne Barr's character.

TOO GHOSTLY: "GHOSTBUSTERS" [1984]

Sigourney Weaver's character had a great apartment, except for the wildlife. The art deco apartment building really exists at 55 Central Park West in New York, but models were used to make the facade look taller than its 19 floors. ... Don't stay in the Red Room of a certain Dutch Colonial: The quarter-round windows in "Amityville Horror" (1979) glared at you to "Get out!"

GENERATIONAL ICON: "THE BIG CHILL" [1983]

The porch-decked house inspired many baby-boomer reunions, sans funeral scene. (Movie geek trivia: It was the same South Carolina house where "The Great Santini" [1979] was shot.) Or watch the British knockoff, "Peter's Friends" (1992), set in a grand English manor house.

OPEN FOR TOUR: THE FILOLI ESTATE

The plush interiors and lush grounds of the estate in Woodside, Calif., (pictured above) have been the backdrop for several movies, playing the Pendleton mansion in "Heaven Can Wait" (1978) and making appearances in the "Joy Luck Club" (1993) and the opening credits of the TV show "Dynasty." (The Carringtons eventually moved to a movie set.) www.filoli.org ... The Glensheen mansion in Duluth shows up in the thriller "You'll Like My Mother" (1972). www.d.umn.edu/glen

BEST HOUSE THAT NEVER FULLY EXISTED: "NORTH BY NORTHWEST" [1959]
The modernist Vandamm House was partly built as an MGM set, part special effects and all style.

WHEN SETS WERE CO-STARS

The landscaper for "Gone With the Wind" (1939) spent $16,000 on those grounds, and was the creative force for the rice terraces of "The Good Earth (1937). ... Hans Dreier, designer for the stars, created the ready-for-its-close-up decadence of "Sunset Boulevard" (1950) and exquisite art deco sets of "Design for Living" (1933). ... Enjoy architecture for architecture's sake in "The Fountainhead" (1949).

MODERN ART

The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Ennis House shows up in more than a dozen films, from "Blade Runner" (1982) to "Predator 2" (1990). ... We'd give the modern loft living award to "Year of the Dragon" (1985) for its tub to die for, but it has enough death already.

Staff writers Cynthia Dickison and Janet Moore contributed to this story.

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