Friday, September 9, 2011
Friday, September 2, 2011
For Sale: The Old Stone Farmhouse from “Marley & Me”
by HOOKEDONHOUSES on APRIL 18, 2011
Who could forget John and Jenny Grogan’s beautiful stone house in the 2008 family drama Marley & Me? It was one of the highlights of the Jennifer Aniston-Owen Wilson tearjerker for me, and a couple of years ago I featured behind-the-scenes photos of the house that were taken during filming.
Now it’s on the market in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, for $1.45 million, so I was excited to get another look at it.
The house has 5 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, and sits on almost 16 acres. The interiors as well as exteriors were used in the movie. Here’s a shot of Owen Wilson walking in the front door of the farmhouse in the movie:
And here’s how it looks in the listing:
Here’s Jennifer Aniston at the bottom of the stairs in a scene from the movie:
And the staircase as it looks in the listing:
I love the kitchen! Here’s how it looked in the movie:
As the kitchen appeared in Philadelphia Magazine in 2009 (a wonderful article with gorgeous photos that are sadly no longer available on their website as far as I can tell):
And in the real estate listing:
I think this little sitting area is connected to the kitchen, if I recall correctly:
A photo of that daybed as it appeared in the magazine:
See this photo of Jennifer Aniston sitting in the bedroom window?
It looks like the window treatments are the same as the ones in the listing:
Here’s that window seat, in the sitting area of the bedroom–but without the window treatments:
The dining room as it appeared in Philadelphia Mag:
And in the listing:
I love-love-love screened porch:
Remember the scene where Owen Wilson plays in the snow outside the house with the kids?
Someone from behind the scenes on the film sent me photos that show how they made it look like winter. For example, here’s the fake snowman (you can see the rest here):
The same side of the house in the listing:
The agent’s description:
The producers of Marley and Me sought “a greeting-card perfect stone house” and found it here! Constructed in the 1830′s of native stone, this home has been lovingly maintained and splendidly updated with a fantastic new Kitchen as well as a Carrara tile Master Bath with claw foot soaking tub. Your horses will enjoy the 6 stall barn and ample fenced pastures.
I think my horses would enjoy that, wouldn’t yours?
To See More:
- My Original Marley & Me Post That Includes Behind-the-Scenes Photos
- The Grogans’ Charming Starter Home in Florida (love the painted cabinets!)
- The Real Estate Listing for the Farmhouse by Holly Gross Group
- Full List of All the Movie Houses I’ve Featured So Far…
Thursday, September 1, 2011
The “Home Alone” House for Sale in Winnetka, Illinois
by HOOKEDONHOUSES on MAY 8, 2011
The 1990 John Hughes movie Home Alone made both Macaulay Culkin and the red-brick colonial Georgian house his character Kevin lived in famous. It remains one of the most popular and beloved movie houses ever, and–luckily for fans like us–it just went on the market in Winnetka, Illinois, for $2.4 million.
I was excited to see how the house looks now compared to when it appeared in the movie over 20 years ago. Here’s how the foyer looked in the movie as Kevin prepared to sled down the stairs:
And here’s how it looks today:
A couple of years ago I posted photos of the house that were taken in 2004, when the runner on these stairs was still red like it was in the movie. (You can see those photos here: Inside the Real Home Alone House.)
Despite the close resemblance between the actual rooms and the ones in the films, only a few of the interior scenes were shot inside the real house. Director Christopher Columbus talks in the DVD commentary about carefully recreating the interiors on a sound stage in a high school gymnasium, which made it easier for them to perform all those crazy stunts without, you know, burning the house down or anything. (More info here.)
These French doors in the movie led to the home office:
There’s still a piano outside the home office today:
It’s amazing how different it looks without the red and green and the patterned wallpapers it used to have. The gray makes it look understated and elegant, and the great bones of the house are what stand out now. It no longer looks like a warm and cozy “Christmas house.”
The kitchen may be the the room that looks the most different. Here’s how it looked in Home Alone, with green tile countertops, dark wood cabinets, and wallpaper on the walls:
Even though the decorating in the movie looks dated after all these years, there’s something warm and appealing about it anyway. I still think, “What a great house!” every time I watch it.
The kitchen is almost unrecognizable as the same one after being updated and modernized, and it has a totally different vibe than the movie version did:
The kitchen eating area in the movie was one of my favorite rooms of the house, chiefly because of that wonderful back staircase:
But according to the floor plan provided in the listing, it looks like there’s only a staircase behind a door off the kitchen going down to the basement. Bummer.
Here’s how the eating area looks, with doors that lead to a screened porch:
The house has 3 stories and 5 bedrooms. Kevin’s parents had a big master bedroom in the movie with a four-poster bed and a fireplace:
The master bedroom today has a four-poster bed and red accents, too, but there’s no sign of the fireplace (but it may just be out of view):
Looking from the foyer into the dining room in the movie, you can see all the different wallpaper patterns that were used for the sets:
The dining room is much lighter and brighter now, but still very traditional, with walls hand-painted by artist Sydney Barton:
The listing agent, Marissa Hopkins of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, says, “The $2.4 million isn’t just because of its cinematic history. It really is a residential masterpiece.”
The homeowners are reportedly ready to downsize now that their daughter–who became friends with Macaulay Culkin during the film shoot–is grown. If I had $2.4 million, I’d be happy to help them with that. Wouldn’t you?
For more information:
- Coldwell Banker Listing
- Inside the Real Home Alone House (more photos)
- Home Alone House for Sale (Zillow)