From what I can gather from the myriad of interviews I've read, the art director and production designer of Moonrise Kingdom seem particularly proud of the Bishop Family Home set - and you certainly don't have to have more than a passing interest in architecture and design to appreciate how incredible it is in the film's opening sequence. Now I've never been to New England, and really don't know too much about its aesthetic beyond hurricane lamps and adirondack chairs, but that first 3 1/2 minutes seemed like a crash course in New England style. Well it turns out that the influence for the house was an amalgamation of five New England houses of varying iconic status.
Thanks to a great piece on the film's official website (shout out to Focus Features!) I could learn all about the most important of these house inspirations. The first one, Conanicut Light on Rhode Island, was used solely for the exterior, and has been replicated almost exactly: (set house on left, real house on right)
Another great influence was Clingstone house, the inspiration for interior shingles, which literally sits out in the bay off Newport, Rhode Island. The New York times has a detailed piece on the house, but I'll just steal some of their photos:
From Comfort Island house, which sits on the St. Lawrence River right on the cusp of Canada, the designers took the Alson S. Clark impressionist wall murals and the kitchen and inserted them into the Bishop family home. And apparently they even rented furniture from the house itself!
From Comfort Island house, which sits on the St. Lawrence River right on the cusp of Canada, the designers took the Alson S. Clark impressionist wall murals and the kitchen and inserted them into the Bishop family home. And apparently they even rented furniture from the house itself!
Clingstone house images by Erik Jacobs from The New York Times
Comfort Island images from here
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