Joan Rivers Lightens Up: A Dark Hallway Gets a Makeover

by HOOKEDONHOUSES on JULY 25, 2009


Joan Rivers has put her Connecticut house on the market for $6.5 million. Architectural Digest profiled it, showing the remodel that Rivers spearheaded with a series of pretty impressive before and after photos. I was really struck by the difference in the dark and narrow hallway that leads to the library. Here it is before:



And after the remodel:



Not only were windows added, but on the other wall they painted a series of trompe l�oeil windows depicting the residences of family and friends. Between each painted window is a long antique mirror to bring even more light into the space. And the door at the end of the hall was removed and replaced by an open arched doorway.

To see the rest of the before and after photos, check out the article in Architectural Digest. For more information, the real estate listing is here.

The Beach House in �Something�s Gotta Give�

by HOOKEDONHOUSES on MAY 4, 2009

Afriend took me to see Something�s Gotta Give when it first hit theaters. I knew it was a Diane Keaton-Jack Nicholson romantic comedy. What I didn�t expect was to fall in love with the Hamptons beach house Keaton�s character lives in. I went back to see it again a week later, just to get a better look at that house.

It wasn�t until I started blogging that I realized I wasn�t alone in my obsession with theSomething�s Gotta Give house. For all of my readers who asked me to post photos of it�this one�s for you.

The exterior is a real house somewhere in the Hamptons (Long Island), but the interiors were all created on a soundstage.

The Living Room:

Here�s the living room, looking toward the entry, as shown in the film (above), and a shot of the set for Architectural Digest (below):

The movie was written by Nancy Meyers, who has had her hand in other great �house movies� I�ve featured, like It�s Complicated, The Holiday, The Parent Trap, Father of the Bride, and Baby Boom (click here to see photos from those movies, too).

This shot of the living room was featured in Architectural Digest:

The Production Design was done by Jon Hutman (who also worked on The Holiday), and the Set Decoration was by Beth Rubino (It�s Complicated).

Erica and Harry (Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson) in the living room at night�meeting up for a �pajama party:�

Don�t even ask what paint colors were used (I have already been flooded with e-mails on the topic). Set Decorator Beth Rubino says they were custom-mixed colors that were designed to look good on screen. The lighting is different on a set than it is in a house, so even we used the same paint, she says, it wouldn�t look the same.

You can listen to an interesting interview with her on the topic at The Skirted Roundtable.

The living room during a storm:

The Dining Room:

The Kitchen:

We were building our house when this movie came out. Thanks to Something�s Gotta Give, I�ve got a kitchen with white cabinets, black countertops, and dark floors. I copied as much of it as I could! I later found out I wasn�t the only one inspired by it. Every home show I went to the following year seemed to have its own version of this look:

Harry�s Guest Room in Erica�s House:

While We�re at It�a Peek at Harry�s Townhouse in New York:

Erica�s Bedroom and Study:

As a writer who works from home myself, I swooned over Erica Barry�s home office. Those windows! Those built-in-bookshelves! This is one of my favorite spots in her house:

Diane Keaton was nominated for Best Actress for this role at the 2004 Oscars and won a Golden Globe.

After Harry leaves her, Erica can�t stop crying�but she does get a lot of writing done!

Exterior Views:

The pool as photographed for Architectural Digest (above), and a production shot that shows how the pool and fake exterior really looks on set (below):

Erica waves goodbye to Harry as he drives away:

Jon Hutman received an Oscar nomination for Production Design because of this now-iconic movie house.

Is this one of your favorite movie houses, too?

More photos and information at Architectural Digest, Cote de Texas, and Silver Screen Surroundings. You might also enjoy the tour of Diane Keaton�s home.

Madonna�s Manhattan Apartment

Maddona�s Manhattan apartment was featured inArchitectural Digest back in the early 1990s, but I just came across it on their website recently. I was surprised by the style, which 1) wasn�t really what I imagined hers to be and 2) didn�t really look as dated as you�d expect after nearly 20 years.

The design was done by her younger brother Christopher Ciccone, who has since written a tell-all book about her called Life With My Sister Madonna (2009).

Madonna told Architectural Digest she loved her officebecause she could admire the Picasso over her desk while faxing things. Can you imagine? Your own personal Picasso to make faxing more interesting?

The kitchen looks surprisingly spartan and workmanlike. I wonder if she ever uses it? Does Madonna cook?

Forbes magazine recently named her #1 out of all the top female earners in the music business. She reportedly earned $72 million between 2006-2007 with money pouring in from both live shows and various merchandise.

Will & Jada Pinkett Smith�s Mega Malibu Mansion

When I got an email from my friends over atArchitectural Digest saying they had snagged Will and Jada Pinkett Smith�s mega Malibu mansion for the September cover, I couldn�t wait to see the photos. It�ll be out on magazine racks near you August 9th, but here�s a sneak peek at the house tour.

The 25,000-square-foot adobe-style house was designed by architect Stephen Samuelson, with interiors by Judith Lance.

Jada told AD: �For Will and me this home was always a spiritual endeavor. We�re very earthy, organic people. We wanted to create a family retreat, something made by hand and as natural as possible, something that ties back to the land.�

This is labeled as the living room, but it looks like an outdoor kind of living space, doesn�t it? I thought it was a long covered porch at first.

Will says he was inspired to build a house like this after seeing Gene Hackman�s adobe-style home in Santa Fe. (Hackman was his costar in the late 1990s thriller Enemy of the State.)

This is the �bedroom terrace:�

The �Today� show ran a segment about the AD articleon Tuesday and showed more of the house. These are just some small screenshots I took while watching it, but they give you an idea of how some of the other rooms in the house look (you can see editor Margaret Russell�s interview here):

It�s interesting to read the comments on various message boards about the property now that the photos are coming out. The recurring theme seems to be �Way too big!� One person questions why any family�even a famous one�would need a place �so obnoxiously huge.�

Obviously, the Smith family has privacy issues and entertaining needs that most of us don�t, but it�s hard for us regular folk to imagine feeling at home in this much space. I might need a map to get back to my bedroom at night (maybe some of those helpful �You Are Here� floorplans they have posted in malls).

Here�s the bird�s eye view of the estate that gives you a better idea of just how massive this place is, sitting on 150 acres:

I think the rooms look pretty comfortable and �human sized,� though, despite the overall size of the estate. What do you think?

For more information, visit Architectural Digest or grab the new issue when it hits stands next week. (Photos by Roger Davies and Art Streiber.)

Click here to see more Celebrity Houses!

P.S. Whenever I see a photo of Will and Jada�s daughter Willow, her catchy �Whip My Hair� song starts running through my head. Now I�ll be humming it all day�