Thursday, August 25, 2011

Stokesay Court: the Private English Estate Used in the Keira Knightley Film “Atonement”



by HOOKEDONHOUSES on FEBRUARY 24, 2008

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Ilove the Oscars. All day I tried to think of a way to justify writing about them on a website dedicated to houses. Then it occurred to me–write about my favorite house from a movie in the past year! That’ll work. I have a habit of watching certain movies over and over again just because I like the set design (as I admitted in Houses on the Big Screen), so I couldn’t resist taking this opportunity to post a photo of the movie set I’m rooting for.

It’s the English manor Stokesay Court, which was used in “Atonement,” and it’s my pick for this year’s Academy Award.

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Actors Saoirse Ronan, Keira Knightley, and Patrick Kennedy, in a scene from the movie (above).

Regarding the stunning Stokesay Court, Architectural Digest reports:

Production designer Sarah Greenwood and set decorator Katie Spencer found Stokesay Court, a private home in Shropshire, England, which they felt embodied the English manor depicted in Ian McEwan’s 2002 best-selling novel Atonement.

Director Joe Wright and his cast and crew spent five weeks at Stokesay, filming both interiors and exteriors at the house, which was built in 1889. The production design team spent seven weeks prior to filming creating a 1930s look for the home.

Here’s the drawing room, which is simply lovely:

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The grand hall (emphasis on “grand”):

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An amazing built-in sideboard in the dining room.

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This polystyrene sculpture was created for the movie and has remained in the home in the central hall.

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I wish I could’ve found photos that were larger than this. I’m dying to see the detail in rooms like the one below:

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This just in: I found some more photos! And they’re not as teeny tiny! Take a gawk at these, which includes Keira Knightley in the room shown above:

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Photos via Architectural Digest, the New York Times, and the Stokesay Court website. You can read all about the house in an interesting article and see more of these photos at the NYT. If you want to take a tour in person, go to the official Stokesay Court website to find out how.

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Visit my TV/Movie Houses page for links to all the others I’ve featured, from“You’ve Got Mail” and “Something’s Gotta Give.”

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