Seven houses that play a starring role in films including Parasite and The Power of the Dog
Following our interview with the production designer behind Oscar-nominated drama The Power of the Dog, Dezeen takes a look at seven homes that are at the centre of films and TV series.
The multi-award-winning movie Parasite takes place in the modernist home of a wealthy family in South Korea. Though it evokes a real dwelling, it was actually designed as a series of sets modelled on a sketch by director Bong Joon–Ho.
Brought to life by production director Lee Ha Jun, the residence features minimal furnishings and large expanses of glass, such as in the living room, where the window was specifically designed to the proportions of the ratio for shooting a widescreen picture.
Find out more about the house in Parasite ›
Production designer Fiona Crombie transformed a 17th-century country manor in England to create the set of The Favourite, a film set during the reign of Queen Anne.
While "taking advantage of the bones of the building" such as its natural light and existing maximalist decor, Crombie said, the crew added secret passageways and a giant fake facade to help the house better resemble a royal palace.
Find out more about the house in The Favourite ›
The set design for director Jane Campion's The Power of the Dog earned production designer Grant Major an Oscar nomination. He designed the ranch at the centre of the film to embody the suppressed homosexuality of one of the characters.
Major used dark colours and added taxidermy to the house to create the right ominous feeling, while transforming the surrounding New Zealand landscape into a Montana ranch in the 1920s.
Find out more about the house in The Power of the Dog ›
Minimalist Japanese architecture informed the design of the fictional one-bedroom house in The Girl Before. Production designer Jon Henson's goal was for the house to act as "a fourth character", shifting from a sanctuary to a prison-like space depending on the scene.
While the home's exterior was constructed specially for the BBC television series, the majority of the interior scenes were recorded in a purpose-built set.
Find out more about the house in The Girl Before ›
A fictional tech billionaire's hideaway in Alaska is the main location featured in the science-fiction movie Ex Machina – though it was actually filmed in three different places.
One of the three sets was a wood-clad clifftop house in Norway designed by studio Jensen & Skodvin Architects. Furnished in a Scandinavian-retro style, the house was chosen for the film as it rejected "the literature of films and popular culture, which says that for the future it has to be shiny and bright," according to production designer Mark Digby.
Find out more about the house in Ex Machina ›
A contemporary house in the jungle outside Kuala Lumpur was used as the home of wealthy matriarch Eleanor Young in the blockbuster movie Crazy Rich Asians.
Designed by local architecture firm 29Design, the dwelling comprises three volumes with an open-plan layout and an infinity swimming pool. According to 29Design founder Stephanie Maignan, it was used for the film as it accurately depicts the lifestyle of the movie characters' real-life counterparts who are "very interested in modern architecture".
Find out more about the house in Crazy Rich Asians ›
Elrod House, designed by American architect John Lautner in mid-century modern mecca Palm Springs for American designer Arthur Elrod in 1968, was featured in the 1971 James Bond film Diamonds are Forever.
In the film, actor Sean Connery's Bond is thrown into Elrod House's half-moon-shaped swimming pool by a bikini-clad bodyguard. The indoor-outdoor pool is set in the home's circular living room.
Find out more about the house in Diamonds are Forever ›
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