Silver-Screen Houses That Promise to Induce Tears All Over Again

It's the run-down mansion that heartthrob Ryan Gosling fixed up to impress his lifelong love, played by Rachel McAdams, in 2004's The Notebook. Located on the Martin's Point Plantation, some 30 miles south of Charleston, S.C., the house (above) is privately owned, though it is still being shopped around as a film location.


? The Notebook wasn't the first romantic flick to use the stunning visuals of the Carolinas, and it sure wouldn't be the last. The 2008 picture Nights in Rodanthe used this beach house as the inn where Richard Gere and Diane Lane strike up an unlikely romance. Set designers made some significant changes to the facade—adding balconies, stairs, paint, and shutters—but that's nothing compared to what happened after they picked up and left. Since the seaside manor was built in 1988, the ocean had eroded nearly 400 feet of beach and threatened to wash this set out to sea. Luckily, a pair of generous buyers scooped up the property and transported the entire house to a more protected lot nearby.

? Few sappy romances have achieved the popularity of the Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan vehicle Sleepless in Seattle. Perhaps the ultimate in random love connections, it was only appropriate that Hanks lived aboard a house boat. But, as far as houseboats go, this is one of the most roomy—and homey—that we've ever come across. The floating Seattle manse is unique not because it floats, but because you can actually buy it, provided you're ready to throw $2.5M into the drink. Someone needs to tell the listing agent to mention Sleepless in the listing!


? Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks teamed up again for 1998's You've Got Mail! In this classic tale twisted with new technology, Ryan plays an independent bookshop owner being squeezed out by the mega-chain run by her eventual main squeeze, played by Hanks. Still, despite her struggling biz, she manages to maintain a shabby chic pre-war spread in an Upper West Side brownstone. I'm Not A Stalker managed to track down the exact address, 328 West 89th Street, using a clue from a garbage can lid caught in one shot. While that isn't what we'd call not stalking, count us impressed.

? And now, the grand poobah of fawned-over movie sets: the Hamptons house from Something's Gotta Give. While Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson engaged in some elderly flirtations, many viewers were mesmerized by the stylish interiors. Sad to say, they were faked, built on a sound stage by Oscar-nominated production designer Jon Hutmann and set decorator Beth Rubino, who mixed custom paint colors that would look best on screen. The exteriors, however, are from this very real Southampton estate, situated on tony Meadow Lane.