The Big Picture: 5 Oscar-Worthy Homes with Movie Ties

Whether the moviegoer was a Barbie girl all pretty in pink, or a pipe-smoking, wide-brimmed Oppenheimer fanboy, or best of all, a popcorn-horking film fan who queued up for that one-day “Barbenheimer” doubleheader … at last, it’s Oscar time!  

The countdown is on for Hollywood’s biggest night: the 96th Academy Awards on Sunday, March 10. 

The star-studded spectacle’s biggest prize is the award for Best Picture, and best pictures almost invariably are filmed in cinematically beautiful locales (consider the painted desert landscapes of Oppenheimer or the windswept prairies of another Best Picture contender, Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon). In some films, tales unfold in enclosed environs (the magnificent Ely Cathedral in Maestro and the New England boarding school in The Holdovers), but oftentimes, at the heart of the action, there’s usually a house … a home for the characters and plot to take root. 

For your consideration, then, … a Luxury Defined production of … superstar homes with connections to the movies.  

Ready for your closeup? 

1. One Fifth Avenue in New York, New York 

One Fifth Avenue is one of the most famous and coveted co-ops in New York City, steps from Washington Square Park in the heart of Greenwich Village, and walking distance from SoHo, Chelsea, the East Village, and Union Square.  

The 27-story Art-Deco building, featured in magazines, books, and films, was a location in Brian De Palma’s 1980 psychological thriller, Dressed to Kill. 

Residence 16 is a one-bedroom, one-bathroom unit with ceiling-high windows, parquetry floors and two separate terraces providing alfresco seating and views of the cityscape. The foyer, with its elegant, mirrored built-in bar, introduces the vast, open-concept living room. The far end of the room provides a formal dining space (large enough for an office or second bedroom), and each end of the room opens to a terrace.  

The expansive bedroom features two large windows, an updated en suite marble bath, as well as abundant storage space with several closets. 

The building provides full-time doormen, porters, and building staff; a live-in superintendent; and a central laundry. 

2. Quinta Villa Beatriz in Braga, Póvoa de Lanhoso, Portugal 

Quinta Villa Beatriz was the stunning backdrop to Espelho Mágico (Magic Mirror), a 2005 film by the late Portuguese director Manoel de Oliveira. 

This historic vineyard estate in Portugal’s Vinho Verde wine region is surrounded by nearly 100 acres of landscaped gardens, ancient woodland, farmland, and vineyards in the Vinho Verde, Portugal’s largest wine-growing region.   

At the heart of the estate is a circa-1906 neo-Gothic palace classified as a Monument of Public Interest by the Instituto de Gestão do Património Arquitectónico e Arqueológico (IGESPAR).   

The beautiful blue-tile structure features four towers (one at each corner) rising three stories high. The main façade is recessed to integrate the great hall and its balcony. The interiors have retained all their original splendor: exotic wood floors, vaulted and coffered ceilings, frescoed walls, and hand-carved wood and marble finishes. 

The centerpiece of the great hall is an imperial staircase ascending three stories. The first flight leads to a landing supported by a handcrafted wood balustrade topped with classical stone columns. From there, a double staircase rises to another columned landing crowned with a magnificent ceiling dome and oculus. This design evokes the staircase in one of the world’s most beautiful—and famous—bookstores: Livraria Lello in Porto.  

Just beyond the villa are formal gardens leading down to a private, sandy beach on the River Ave. 

3. 95 Sydney Place in Bath, Somerset, England 

This grand townhouse is in one of Bath’s most sought-after locations: Sydney Place, designed by John Pinch the Elder and built in 1804-1808, it is described as “the most beautiful of Bath’s C19 buildings” in the Pevsner Architectural Guides. 

Notable inhabitants of what was formerly known as New Sydney Place include Queen Charlotte, King William IV, and the Duke of Clarence. The original screen adaptation of Jane Austen’s Persuasion was filmed in the house in 1995, and the dining room still bears trompe l’oeil wall hangings stenciled by the BBC. 

The five-story home has six large bedrooms and four full bathrooms. Its architectural flourishes include limestone flagstone floors, a cantilevered stone staircase with wrought-iron balustrades and inlaid mahogany handrails, fine Regency plasterwork and architraves, and carved marble fireplaces.   

The elegant piano nobile, with its spectacular, full-height windows, occasionally serves as a ballroom and offers views across Sydney Gardens and to the Holburne Museum. The lower ground floor retains the original kitchen with its warming plates, bread oven, and range. 

The enclosed, south-facing garden’s stone patio, bordered by shrubs and small specimen trees, leads through to the garden area and to the mews coach house, currently used as a vacation rental with a guest apartment, private garden, double garage, and three off-street parking spaces. 

Related: Discover Luxury Townhomes 

4. Beaux Arts Mansion in Antwerp, Belgium 

This fine Beaux Arts mansion in the Belgian port city of Antwerp was one of the film locations for the Sound of Metal (2019)—winner of two Oscars for Best Sound and Best Film Editing at the 93rd Academy Awards. 

It was built in 1914 for the Le Grelles, a prominent Antwerp banking family, and restored a century later by the current owners. The updates include plumbing and infrastructure, a new roof, solar panels, and acoustically insulated windows. 

Many of the original details have been retained, including the parquet floors, Carrara marble fireplace mantels, oak paneled walls, oak-framed windows, and decorative moldings.   

The residence offers 11,345 square feet of luxurious living space with 10 bedrooms, four bathrooms, multiple studios, a cinema lounge, a La Cornue-kitted kitchen, a full basement with a temperature-controlled wine cellar, four terraces, and a leafy, southwest-facing garden. 

The property is offered fully furnished, including artwork by contemporary Spanish artist Isabel Miquel Arqués. 

5. Clare Island Lighthouse on Clew Bay, Co, Mayo, Ireland 

Clare Island Lighthouse has been a landmark on Ireland’s rugged west coast for more than two centuries. 

The original lighthouse, built in 1806 by the Marquis of Sligo, guided seafarers to Clew Bay until it was decommissioned in 1965. Its dramatic coastal views are among the best in Ireland, taking in the Atlantic Ocean and Keem Bay on Achill Island, one of the film locations of the nine-time Oscar-nominated The Banshees of Inisherin. 

Today, Clare Island Lighthouse offers both residential and guesthouse opportunities in this unique locale. The main lighthouse keeper’s residence and five outbuildings were sensitively restored to preserve their original character while providing every modern convenience. The 2.25-acre property also has its own helipad. Ferry time between the island and Roonagh Pier on the mainland is about 20 minutes. 

For your consideration: Discover more homes with movie connections, here.