My husband says there is a house on Olive St. in Burbank or Glendale that was used as a facade for Tara. I would have thought they'd build an exterior of Tara on a lot, since it was used quite a lot in the film.
Anyone know? And what are good books about the making of GWTW?
The facade for Tara was a set on the MGM lot. It stood until it was nearly crumbling, and then had a colourful history. You can read about it here:
http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2014/09/gone-with-the-wind-tara-peter-bonner
The only movie link I can see in which a house on Olive Street (to be exact, 201 E. Eighth & Olive Street) was used as a facade was Sandra Bullock's house in "Hope Floats". The house is here, and apart from being a columned neoclassical home, it looks nothing like Tara:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/almostlindy/2238811056
No, that's a Glendale myth.
The Hollywood set off the back lot in Culver City is being painstakingly reassembled in Georgia. Here's all about the movie set of Tara.
http://savingtara.com/
"Our Art Is a Reflection of Our Reality"
Wow - thanks so much. I just told him "Glendale myth" and he said, "well, someone told me and I just kept repeating it".
Thanks for the link - I can't wait to get to it. I'm surprised in a way that it has taken them so long. That would actually be so fine to be able to stand in front of Tara in Georgia!
It's been conjectured that Tara was inspired by Mitchell's grandparents' house, which she called "Rural Home". It's long gone.
http://steelesofgeorgia.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/this-is-gone-with-wind-country.html?m=1
It's closer to the "white elephant" to which rooms were added as necessary than the movie's gorgeous little Manor House.
Yes, Margaret Mitchell herself referred to Tara as a "nice big ugly house" or words to that effect. Rural Home (actually a rather quaint Queen Anne Victorian with gingerbread trim) was a partial inspiration, probably more the feeling of being there than the house itself. A partial inspiration for the structure was also Liberty Hall plantation in Northern Georgia. Tara in the book is a rugged, function-over-fashion building; not without a certain charm, in a rustic down-home kind of way, but nothing you'd see in architectural digest.
This picture of the rear of Liberty Hall shows something of what Mitchell may have had in mind when she described a rambling, unplanned house which expanded over the course of years from a small country cabin, to a sturdy, graceless house with its asymmetrical wings and labyrinth of rooms and hallways inside.
http://www.confederatedigest.com/2010/10/liberty-hall-prototype-for-tara.html
The movie sort of tries, with the comparatively modest square pillars (rather than ionic, doric or corinthian), whitewashed brick as described in the novel, the smaller original house off to the left (we don't really see it much in the movie), the kitchen walkway jutting off the back, and the overgrown garden lending it an air of crude prosperity. But obviously they were trying to cater to the audience's preconceived ideal of what a plantation house should be.
In a way, I'm glad they changed it, because it does have a sort of sturdy yet elegant look that is great in the sunset long shots, and has given the movie staying power with that iconic image of "Tara."
But it's also nice to revisit the book, and go home to that more down to earth Tara.
Deen, thank you! We live nearby the site of the old Fitzgerald farm and the photos/renderings are of their house! It's lovely to see it again.
shareI was told the "Kenneth Road" house myth a couple of years ago, so I knew about this. It may well be that the house at 727 West Kenneth Road was the sort of house that inspired the film's Tara.
It looks more like what was eventually 12 Oaks--with the rounded pillars. But there was never a real façade built for 12 Oaks. It was a matte painting and some construction built to enter a soundstage.
I think, since the BBQ was shot at Busch Gardens, a lot of people have confused the facts.
"Our Art Is a Reflection of Our Reality"
A lot of houses in the LA area were also modeled on Tara (though some may predate the film, not really sure). If you drive through Brentwood, or some of the wealthier parts of the Valley you can see a lot of them. I seem to recall I even saw a gate-gaurded McMansion in Encino or Sherman Oaks that was named "Tara."
shareThere is at least one a few blocks from where I live in West Hollywood that's on a street called Oakhurst in Beverly Hills that was a knock-off (except the pillars were wooden.) I think the HOA made them paint the shutters black from green, though, and the resemblance is not quite as strong anymore.
"Our Art Is a Reflection of Our Reality"
Yeah, I thought of West Hollywood too.
That's a shame...green would be fore festive.
Thanks for sharing your impressive knowledge about the settings and facades used in GWTW.
Even though part of my brain knows that movies are not real, it is a weird feeling that there was never even a "real facade" built for 12 Oaks! 12 Oaks was a painting - that is some existential whiplash.
Dr. Dean Edell, who was on the radio for many years explained that there is a part of your brain that believes what it sees no matter what your rational mind knows.
It is why ducks land on fields covered in plastic - for hundreds of thousands of years, if you're a duck and you see a large body of glassy, shiny stuff below - it was a lake. Not that we are ducks, but not too far from it.
Thanks again for sharing - I think. No just kidding. Thanks.
It was all CGI
shareThe closest you'll get to Tara in LA is Culver Studios which was the old Selznick Studios building. They shot the scene where Mammy, Prissy and Pork arrive at the Butler Mansion... they were standing in the front walkway and the mansion was painted over glass, much like the twelve oaks scene.... and of course the opening scene sign.
Great video on it here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPhgIpkEgsA
If you are looking for the actual facade there is a wealth of information on the internet about Peter Bonners mission, Saving Tara... Very interesting stuff.
Thanks so much - I'll check it out!
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