Living Large In Small Spaces - Rosehill Cottage

Is this cottage familiar to you?

Welcome to the fifty-eighth post in the series

"Living Large in Small Spaces".

If you answered "yes" to the posed question, then you may know that this is Rosehill, Iris' cottage in the 2006 movie The Holiday. Although it's been shared on other blogs, I decided to feature it after Connie of Gosherd Valley Cottage sent me an email with an interior photo of Rosehill and asked if I "knew" it.

Actually, the lead photo isn't the exterior of an actual cottage. It's a shell constructed in Surrey, England for the movie. The interior cottage shots were filmed on a Hollywood sound stage. But this post isn't about the movie, or its production. We're here to see the delightful Rosehill Cottage (real, or not). Can I get an "amen"?

Alrighty then. . .let's have a look. 

Rosehill's entryway is situated between the kitchen and the living room.

Jon Hutman the production designer on this project created the quintessential English country cottage. Cozy and comfy.

I love the vintage drum repurposed into a table between the two chairs. (Old drum + glass cut to fit the top = instant fabulousness.)

This is the photo Connie sent me.

Stone walls, beamed ceilings and exposed timber headers over the windows are classic English cottage architectural elements.

The dreamy eat-in kitchen has painted cabinets and a fireplace (one of three in the cottage).  

I think I once owned a kitchen cart like the one in this scene. To the left of the cart (out of the camera's range) is a door that leads to the library. 




And here it is. The Library.
I don't even know what to say. . .BIG LIKE.





The bedroom is perfection. Well, of course it is, because when one is designing a set one can make it. . .perfect.




Small bathroom? Perhaps, but authentic for a true cottage, and you can't deny its charm. (I know somewhere there's a commode. But then, again, it's a stage set. . .so probably not.) 

The fact that the movie is almost 10 years old yet the decor doesn't appear dated attests to the timelessness of cottage design.

So there you have it. Rosehill Cottage.
A cottage that's not really a cottage. 

But who cares if it's only make believe?

Join me next Saturday for another post in the special series

 Living Large in Small Spaces

See more home tours in the 

Living Large In Small Spaces Series here.

From the comments I've received, many

people have been encouraged by the homes and lives 
shared in this series.

If you live in a small space I'd 

love to feature your story, too.

Send me an email and let's collaborate.

(See the "Contact Me" page for my email address.)

Photo Shoot and Sewing

Holy flying trash cans! An astonishing wind accompanied the rainstorm last night. I was happy to be nestled all snug in our bed and very thankful for a well-built cottage.

"Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night."

Blogging has taken a bit of a back seat (no pun intended) the last two weeks, and I blame this man. . .

Steve Roundy, Photographer

Okay,  "blame" is too strong a word. 

Five weeks ago a writer with Angie's List newsroom contacted me about featuring our cottage in their "new nationally facing interactive publication called Angie’s List Weekly." After a few emails back and forth she interviewed me over the phone and arranged for Steve to come for a photo shoot.

Two Saturdays ago Steve photographed the cottage exterior, and last Saturday he photographed the interior (which I really appreciated, because I needed that extra week to get things ready). 

Incredibly, I still had some flowers in my garden to cut and arrange for the shoot.

While Steve worked, I managed to take a few shots of my own.

I learned a lot about photography just by watching him.

Professional photographers have all sorts of nifty tools and filters to handle touchy lighting situations.

Steve loved our cottage (and Dennis' studio) and we loved sharing it with him.

Everyone had a good time.

Our cottage will be featured in February. In the meantime Steve is going to send us a CD with all the photos he took. I can hardly wait to see them.

Having someone come to photograph your home is great motivation for completing projects like making a cushion and pillow covers for the settee.

I have a stool I wanted to makeover and use in this room, but I didn't have time to work on it before the photo shoot. Earlier this week I sewed a slipcover for it.

Now the stool sits in the sitting room where it can serve as a footrest or a little table. I love it!

Although I still have work to do in this room, I feel I've made pretty good progress thanks to the push from Angie's List and Steve.

Do you ever need a little push to get things done around your home?