The Griswold House in “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”

by HOOKEDONHOUSES on DECEMBER 20, 2009

“All my life I’ve wanted to have a big family Christmas.” –Clark Griswold

In National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) gets his wish for a big family Christmas. When his wife Ellen (Beverly D’Angelo) worries that it might not be quite as perfect as he imagines, he says, “Christmas is about resolving differences and seeing through the petty problems of family life.” He spends the rest of the movie trying to do just that!

Christmas Vacation was based on a short story written by John Hughes called “Christmas ’59.” It was the second Vacation story to be published in National Lampoon’s Magazine (the first was “Vacation ’58,” the basis for the first Vacation movie).

The movie premiered in 1989, and it shows in all of the wallpaper and fabric choices in the house.

The movie was called National Lampoon’s Winter Holiday in the U.K.

The Living Room:

When a squirrel gets loose in the house, Clark’s mother faints in the living room and we get a good look at that green carpet:

Dining Room:

The interiors were filmed at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California.

The Kitchen:

When daughter Audrey (Juliette Lewis) complains about having to give up her room to the visiting relatives, Ellen says:

“I don’t know what to say except it’s Christmas and we’re all in misery.”

Makes me laugh every time.

I love this bank of windows in the kitchen. We really loved plaid in the ’80s, didn’t we?

TV Room:

Upstairs Landing:

Bathroom:

Audrey’s Room:

The exteriors were shot on the Warner Bros. back lot in Burbank.

Remember The Amazing Eric, who sent me rare interior photos and floor plans of the real Home Alone house? He helped me with the research for this house, too. He says:

The Griswold house is actually an exterior set on “Blondie Street” on a Warner Brothers back lot in Burbank, CA, as is Todd and Margo’s house (the neighbors next door). The house has been altered a lot to serve other movies, especially the interiors, which are also only a set, not a real house. You can take a virtual tour of Blondie Street here.

In one of the virtual tours on that site, you can see what appears to be the Griswold foyer set as it looks today. I took a snapshot to compare the two. The staircase as seen in the movie:

And the staircase on the virtual tour, without the wallpaper and furnishings:

You can see a photo of the exterior of the house as it looks today here. Eric says you can tell it’s the Christmas Vacation house by the two chimneys and the attached garage. Windows and colors and a few other things have been changed, however.

According to the Warner Bros. website, Blondie Street was built to look like a suburban neighborhood. It has also been home to many movies and TV series, including American Beauty, Pleasantville, Gidget, Bewitched, The Partridge Family, and Eight is Enough. There are 12 residential homes on the street in a variety of styles (some with practical interiors).

In this long shot looking down the street, you can see the house that was used for Sergeant Murtaugh’s (Danny Glover’s) family in the Lethal Weapon movies:

Here’s a close-up of Danny Glover’s house that I took from the first Lethal Weapon movie. To the right of it, you can see a house that looks like Samantha and Darrin’s in Bewitched.

When Clark watches old family movies in the attic, which are supposedly from the 1950s, they used the exterior of the old Bewitched house for his childhood home:

The Bewitched house as it appeared during the 2nd season of the show (you can see my post about it here):

The Griswolds’ house before…

…and after the lights (finally) come on:

Bet you can spot the Griswold house from the sky:

E! Online reports that a sequel may be in the works. It would feature Clark and Ellen’s son Rusty as he takes his own children on a vacation. (Johnny Galecki, who played Rusty in this movie, is now all grown up and stars in the popular sitcom The Big Bang Theory.) No word on whether Chevy Chase or Beverly D’Angelo would make an appearance.

Read my post about another Chevy Chase comedy: Funny Farm.

Visit my TV/Movie Houses page for links to all of the others I’ve featured, from A Christmas Story to Alvin and the Chipmunks.

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“Funny Farm:” Chevy Chase’s Cape Cod in the Country

by HOOKEDONHOUSES on DECEMBER 27, 2009

Even though it’s not thought of as a traditional Christmas movie, I love watching Funny Farm at this time of the year. Chevy Chase plays Andy Farmer, a sportswriter who quits his job and buys a house in the country, where he plans to write a novel. The movie takes us through all four seasons in the small town of Redbud, Vermont, but it ends during the holidays when the Farmers’ charming Cape Cod is decorated with white lights and covered in snow.

Funny Farm was based on a comedic novel by Jay Cronley (now out of print, but I managed to find a used copy online, and it’s hilarious). Andy and his wife Elizabeth think life will be perfect and peaceful in Redbud, but things go wrong from the start. The fact that he has writer’s block is the least of his problems.

Here they are, pulling up to the house on moving day, still optimistic for their future in Vermont:

The house is a simple Cape Cod that sits (in real life) on a pond in Grafton, Vermont. I haven’t been able to find out if the interiors were filmed on location or not, however. If you have any information, let us know!

1/10 UPDATE: A reader wrote me with the answer. Michelle says:

“Wanted you to know I got an e-mail from the Grafton Historical Society regarding the house in the Funny Farm movie. The house is still around and is also a private residence. The owner does not want the house location listed on the Internet and wants people to respect their privacy.

“The exterior and interior house shots in the movie were of the same house. The owners’ furnishings were moved out and stored, and the movie company furnished the house to fit their needs.”

Thanks, Michelle!

For the first week that they’re in the house, the Farmers can’t find the phone. Turns out it was hiding in the bottom cabinet of the built-in bookshelves. When Andy tries to make a call, the operator tells him he must put 25 cents in the slot. He explains that it’s his home phone, not a pay phone, but she doesn’t believe him.

Elizabeth unpacks boxes in the living room as Andy heads out to do some fishing in the pond–where he catches a snake instead:

Things haven’t been going too well for the couple, but they get worse when Elizabeth digs up the body of a former homeowner buried in the garden:

They also have to deal with a crazy mailman who flies past their lane, throwing their mail out into the road every day. Andy tries everything he can think of, but nothing works:

The decor is a little dated–the movie came out in 1988, after all–but I like how simple and unpretentious it is:

Andy and “Yellow Dog” sit by the fire in the living room:

Looking into the living room from the kitchen:

The kitchen as it looks on moving day:

The kitchen after they move in:

They finally get a phone installed in the kitchen–too bad it’s a pay phone:

Looking up the stairs to the second floor:

Andy and Elizabeth’s bedroom:

Andy’s study, where he works on “The Big Heist:”

It turns out Elizabeth is more successful as a fiction writer than Andy. While he’s still stuck on his novel, she sells a children’s book about a squirrel named Andy who moves to the country. She starts using his study and typewriter more than he does:

Elizabeth finds a stuffed squirrel in an antique shop that inspires her children’s books. The shop is actually in Townshend, Vermont, at The Old Brick Tavern B&B:

After a series of mishaps, misunderstandings, and general misery, Elizabeth and Andy decide to sell the house and get a divorce. They know it will be easier to sell the house if the town is on board, so they offer a $50 reward to anyone who does something to help them sell it. At the town meeting, Andy says:

Citizens of Redbud, we came to Redbud filled with hopes and dreams for a better life and a better place. Basically, we’ve seen those hopes and dreams crushed and shattered before our very eyes.

Bud and Betsy Culbertson are the unwitting couple that comes to see the house. The Farmers are prepared to wow them:

As the Culbertsons walk around the side of the house, Andy grabs his walkie-talkie and says, “Cue the deer!” A fawn is let loose to run across the lawn.

Apparently the snow scenes in the movie were real, even though they weren’t planned that way. According to ThisIsVermont.com:

In 1987, the Chevy Chase film, “Funny Farm” was being filmed in the area and a local citizen’s home was used for the movie character’s house. The film crew meticulously decorated the building and lawn for winter, complete with plastic snow and icicles; cotton batting over rooftops and fences and the next day eight inches of heavy wet snow fell.

Andy and Elizabeth take Bud and Betsy into Redbud, which has been staged to impress with lights and carolers for Christmas. These scenes were shot in Townshend, Vermont. The filmmakers built the gazebo you see in the photo below, and the community liked it so much that they kept it. It’s still standing there today.

The residents of Redbud are so intent on earning the $50 that the Farmers have promised them that they crowd into the house to sing carols to the prospective buyers:

It’s all so perfect that even Elizabeth and Andy start falling in love with Redbud.

The next day, when Bud and Betsy make an offer on the house, Andy turns it down. They have decided to stay. They go outside to make the announcement to their neighbors, who aren’t as excited about the news as the Farmers expect them to be… (they’d rather have their $50).

Madolyn Smith (Elizabeth Farmer) kind of disappeared from Hollywood after making this film. I think it’s time for her to stage a comeback! I loved her in this movie.

Have you seen Chevy Chase in the new sitcom Community? He also has several movies coming out in 2010. Last week I featured another Christmas movie that he starred in–National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.

Visit my TV/Movie Houses page for links to all the others I’ve featured, from Baby Boom to Christmas in Connecticut.

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