It's Complicated: A Movie House Tour

Tour the Home in the Movie, It's Complicated

It's been almost two years now, but I still remember how excited I was when I heard another movie written and directed by the talented Nancy Meyers was about to be released.  It's Complicated was released in December 2009 and since I'm a self-confessed movie house junkie, I wondered if another amazing house would be "starring" in this movie, too.  Nancy Meyers has the amazing ability to turn the sets/houses in her movies into full-fledged characters, just as she did with the darling English cottage in The Holiday, the beach house in Something's Gotta Give and the stately Colonial in Father of the Bride.

In an interview with Indiewire, Ms. Meyers described the house in It's Complicated as "an extension of character."  It's so true; often the houses in the movies written and directed by Nancy Meyers deserve top billing along with the stars.  They bring so much to the movie, establishing the mood and atmosphere that permeates the entire movie from start to finish.

Synopsis:
It's Complicated is a movie about a couple who were married 20+ years and have been divorced for 10.  Jane, played by Meryl Streep, owns her own bakery and Jake, played by Alec Baldwin, is a successful attorney.  In the movie, Jake has married a much younger woman, Agness, with whom he had an affair.  Agness is interested in having more children, in addition to the child she already has who was the result of a brief romance she participated in when she and Jake were temporarily split up.  Did ya follow all that? lol  It's a soap opera life.

During the movie, Jane and Jake find themselves back together again at their son, Luke's graduation and before you know it, they are having an affair.  Jane now finds herself in the role of the mistress to her ex-husband.  She is now cheating with her ex-husband on the woman who broke up their marriage.  Yep, it is definitely complicated.

The story is told with  humor and when asked what "genre" the movie falls in, Nancy Meyers called it a "Relationship Comedy."  The three children of Jane and Jake are played by Hunter Parrish as Luke, Zoe Kazan as Gabby and Caitlin Fitzgerald as Lauren.  Lauren's fiancé Harley, is played by John Krasinski who I read had a small role in another Nancy Meyers film, The Holiday.  There's a great article about the movie and how the cast was chosen HERE.

Exterior:
Now, let's get to the good part...the tour!   Seventy percent of the movie takes place in a beautiful Spanish style (Mediterranean) home in Thousand Oaks, California, although, in the movie, the house is supposed to be in Santa Barbara.

As is so often the case with movie houses, only the exterior shown in the movie was that of a real house.  The home is located at 714 West Potrero Road, Thousand Oaks, CA.  All the interior scenes were filmed on set in New York.

Don't be disappointed, though.  You can take heart in knowing that Ms. Meyers did use the interior of this home as inspiration for the layout of the set in It's Complicated.  She wanted the interior scenes to make sense in relation to how the real house appears on the exterior in the movie.  This pic below shows how the exterior of the home looks in the movie.  In this scene, Jane and Jake's youngest daughter, Gabby, is leaving the nest, heading off to college.  A pretty important scene takes place on the tree swing toward the end of the movie.

Another view of the exterior of the home in the movie.  Behind the gated area on the left is an interesting courtyard where another scene takes place.  You'll see that area in just a sec.
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Father of the Bride Movie House Tour

Tour the Home in the Movie, Father of the Bride

Recently, we took a tour of some beautiful neighborhoods and homes in the south. This house, located not far from my home, was included in that tour. Each time I drive by it, I'm always reminded of a famous movie home we all know and love. Do you know the one I'm thinking about?

Yep, it's this one! Recognize it? It's the house from the movie, Father of the Bride. I'm happy to say this much-loved movie house is a real house and not a just a movie set. :) So nice when that happens! I hadn't realized it, but Father of the Bride is actually a remake of a 1950 Spencer Tracey classic by the same name. Did you know that?

What is it about this house that captures our hearts? It just says home, doesn't it? I love the white picket fence, the vines/flowers growing up the front and the cute dormers lined up along the top.

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Many years ago, I read an article in a magazine where they interviewed a young couple who bought this house in real life when it became available a few years after the making of the movie. They had some pretty wild stories to tell about folks walking right up to their door, ringing the bell and asking for a tour. One of the things they said that really stuck with me was that some of what we saw in the movie was constructed just for the movie, like the white picket fence.

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