The Holidayhas become a must-watch during the holiday season, and questions about whether house swapping like Iris (Kate Winslet) and Amanda (Cameron Diaz) do in the movie is possible or not always arise. Written and directed by Nancy Meyers,The Holidaytakes the audience to London to meet Iris, a society columnist obsessed with her ex-boyfriend and boss, who announces his engagement at the company’s Christmas party.The Holidaythen travels to Los Angeles to meet Amanda, who owns a film trailer company and is dating film composer Ethan but breaks up with him as he had been cheating on her.
As both have their hearts broken, Iris and Amanda long for a change, and Amanda comes across Iris’ listing of her cottage in Surrey on a home swap website.Iris agrees to switch houses with her for two weeks, and so Iris travels to Los Angeles while Amanda flies to England. To their surprise, they both end up finding love in their temporary homes and become one big and fun family as Amanda gets together with Iris’ brother. The concept of home-swapping sounds intriguing, but it isn’t something unique to the world ofThe Holiday.
House Swapping Websites Like In The Holiday Are Real
The Holiday Wasn’t Far From Reality
House swapping like inThe Holidayseems like something that could only happen in a rom-com – after all, there are a lot of things to take into account when swapping houses with a complete stranger you meet on the internet. It all happens very easily and smoothly for Iris and Amanda, who make the agreement after a brief conversation and make the switch the very next day. However, as surprising as it might sound, house-swapping websites like the one seen inThe Holidayare very real.
There are different websites that offer the actual house-swapping experience like the one Iris and Amanda go through inThe Holiday.
It could be argued that services like Airbnb fall into the “house-swapping” category, but the point of this is the switch, which isn’t the case for platforms like Airbnb. There are different websites that offer the actual house-swapping experience like the one Iris and Amanda go through inThe Holiday, and there’s obviously a whole process behind them, as those who wish to list their own home on the website have to wait for approval before contacting other users.
Of course,The Holidaysparked a lot more interest on these websites andmany of them were created after the movie came out, fully seizing its popularity. For those interested in house-swapping like Iris and Amanda inThe Holiday, there are different websites to check out and consider for the best experience.
Unfortunately, Iris’ Cottage In The Holiday Isn’t Real
Iris’ Cozy Cottage Was Built For The Holiday
Unfortunately, no matter which house-swapping website you use, you won’t find Iris’ cozy cottage in any of them, and it isn’t a location that fans ofThe Holidaycan visit, either. The production team ofThe Holidayscoured the Surrey countryside looking for the perfect cottage and they found it, but there was a big problem: it was too isolated, and the crew was based in London, with the cottage being 4.5 hours away (viaLocations Hub).The solution was finding an empty field where they could build the cottage, and that’s how it came to life.
All the interior shots of Iris’ cottage were created and filmed at Sony Studios in Culver City, the same place where the interior scenes of Amanda’s LA mansion were shot.
The chosen spot was a hill overlooking the town of Shere, but only the exterior of the cottage was built. All the interior shots of Iris’ cottage were created and filmed at Sony Studios in Culver City, the same place where the interior scenes of Amanda’s LA mansion were shot – however, unlike the cottage,the exterior of Amanda’s mansion is 100% real. The house is located in San Marino, California, and according toLocations Hub, it was built in 1928. Unlike with Iris’ cottage,The Holidayfans can take a look at Amanda’s mansion but only on the outside.
What The Holiday Got Right & Wrong About House Swapping
The Holiday Wasn’t Entirely Accurate About House Swapping
As house-swapping is a real thing,The Holidaygot some things right and others not so much. A simultaneous switch like that between Iris and Amanda is absolutely possible, but there are other options as well, such as a non-simultaneous exchange when the schedules of the homeowners don’t quite match, or a hospitality exchange, where, instead of switching, one homeowner hosts a guest. However,switching houses the following day isn’t accurate, as the owners involved have to prepare the house for their guest.
Of course, there has to be communication between owners before agreeing to the switch, which is what Iris and Amanda do, but something that isn’t right about house-swapping is having the guest care for your pet, as Iris did with her dog and Amanda. The overall concept of house-swapping shown inThe Holidayis real, but the details and outcome are very different.
Source:Locations Hub.
The Holiday
The Holiday is a 2006 rom-com starring Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, and Jack Black. Directed and written by Nancy Meyers, The Holiday tells the story of two women who arrange a home swap to take a break from the stress of their recent breakups. But things take a turn when they both fall in love with local men.
