The Father of the Bride House

Today is Steve Martin's birthday. We have been referencing Father of the Bride a lot because for Libby's bachelorette trip we are staying in Tom Jones' old house Villa Fontante in Bel-Air in September. On the itinerary we have a quote from Steve and Dianne Keaton from the movie about meeting the in-laws in Bel-Air: "What kind of people have brunch and live in Bel-Air?"

Dianne says "Rich people." The whole movie is hilarious and classic. And the house is a classic. We are going to look at it in this post.

This is the house basically as it looked in the movie. I don't think the path here is lined with the infamous tulip border George Banks had to pay for so swans could waddle around it for the wedding in Father of the Bride Part 1 or the pansies from Part 2 ("And don't trample the pansies" when he buys his own house back).

The house has changed minorly. Paint colors, balcony addition, and sadly trellis removal. The house is a 1925 Colonial Revival.

Here is a photo from the actual listing showing the staircase that features prominently throughout the film.

And another from a later listing that shows more detail.

A screen shot of Nina Banks (Diane Keaton) in the kitchen shows paneled white cabinets and butcher's block counters and island. We have them in our house currently and they are a great alternative to marble.

The kitchen looks completely different in this listing photo.

In this shot Nina fluffs the living room which has such a pretty mantle and arched built-ins. The room is decorated with California laid-back oversized white couches and the couches and chairs both appear to be slip covered. These movies came out in the 90s when Shabby Chic was everywhere. We definitely had similar slip covered pieces at our house. We used to love going to the original Santa Monica Shabby Chic boutique when visiting our family in Los Angeles.

Above is the other view from the living room and shows the foyer and dining room. We love the prints on the walls and have many similar in our shop all the time. It looks like a pair of botanicals and architectural details.

Above is a bathroom from a listing that looks original or at least close to. Love the color combo and sconces!

Lastly we have to show the nursery from Part 2. Frank outdid himself!