Sunday, January 9, 2011

TV/Movie Houses: Firewall

Last night, we watched the Harrison Ford movie Firewall. It was a psychological thriller starring Ford as head of security for a large bank whose identity is compromised and family kidnapped all in a very elaborate plot to rob his bank of $100 million dollars.

The real star of the film, for design lovers, was Ford's house. The house not only played home to Harrison Ford in Firewall, but was also featured in a little known flop called Blitz, and I could swear it's the same house from the Jennifer Garner version of "Elektra" (I will be digging out that DVD to find out!)

In Firewall,  Ford's on-screen wife (Virginia Madsen) was an architect who had designed the stunning contemporary residence on a waterfront point near Seattle.

In real-life, the house is located in British Columbia, and was designed by Brian Hemingway.  Called "Tidewater",  "With the ocean as its pedestal, this 8000 sq. ft. post, beam and glass home sits nestled into the landscape's edge. Unobstructed views in every direction allow the residents to intimately relate to the beauty of their natural surroundings. Here, as in all his houses, Hemingway attempted to create a visual symphony of parts that flow from the guiding principles of the plan, and extend to the structure, flooring materials, built-in furnishings, cabinets, doors, window frames and light fixtures."


Photos courtesy Brian Hemingway

I absolutely LOVE how the rooms are defined by floor changes, the exposed structure, and how the coldness of all the glass is countered by the wood beams. It's hard to say if the interior scenes in the movie were filmed at Tidewater, but I suspect at least some of them were:

Ignore the violence in this screenshot, and look at the cabinetry
In this photo from Hemingway's site, notice that same corner by the ovens. Certainly looks like they shot on site, doesn't it?


And if that isn't the actual Tidewater fireplace behind them there, they were at least inspired by it.

Photo courtest Brian Hemingway

Finally, a few exterior shots:


 
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7 comments:

  1. I've had several readers ask me to feature this house, but I've never seen the movie. Now I see why they love it! Gorgeous!

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  2. Julia, thanks for stopping by! The movie is worth checking out just to see the house! Still pictures don't do it justice.

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    1. I believe this is the same house used as Gaius Baltar's home on Caprica in the recently reimagined Battlestar Galactica. Breathtaking view!

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  3. I could not imaging living in something that beautiful!

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  4. Hi. I can't find anywhere what year is this house build, can you help me with that?
    Great article and great house, thank you for this.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by! I couldn't find any information on when the house was built, but you might reach out to the architect for more information: http://www.brianhemingway.com/index.html

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  5. Thank you for featuring this house! I've wondered where this wonderful house was ever since I saw it in Elektra, and have often thought of it as a dream home. (The dream comes back to reality when I think of the meticulous window cleaning required, though.) It never occurred to me that it was in Firewall. I will have to dig that out and watch it. Thanks again.

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