ART IMITATES LIFE...'THE HOLIDAY'

One of our favorite movies that showcase a variety of interiors is ‘The Holiday’ a story about two women swapping houses for a much needed vacation from their respective lives.

From England, Iris’s home is a charming country cottage in a small village.  As it turns out, the cottage wasn’t real – its fake exterior was built in 2 weeks in the middle of a field.  The crew created everything in the movie, including the landscaping and stone wall.  As the film takes place around Christmas time, fake snow was added to the scene.

Iris swaps her house with Amanda in California – getting what seems like the better deal between the two!  It’s an extraordinary contemporary home that, in this case, is real, and is located in Pasadena and built by architect Wallace Neff.

The interiors were actually very expensive sets built on a sound stage.  When the film opened in 2006 it forecasted many trends that are still in vogue today – gray and taupe color scheme, natural rugs, crisp white upholstery, and oversized lantern styled light fixtures.

Finally, Amanda meets Iris’s brother, Graham and pays a visit to his home called Mill House, the most memorable room being his daughter’s charming bedroom.