If you’ve watched ‘The Holiday‘ even once, you already know the cottage. The moment Amanda pulls up outside that tiny, snow-covered English home, it feels like the film has found its soul.
For viewers, it quickly turns into the heart of the film. As the story moves forward around that cozy setting, one question naturally follows. Was that cottage ever real, or was it created purely for the screen? Now, Jude Law has addressed it.
Was The Cottage in ‘The Holiday’ Even Real?
When The Holiday hit theaters on Dec. 8, 2006, it gave us a magical setting. Iris Simpkins, a London newspaper columnist played by Kate Winslet, is heartbroken and desperate for a change. So she does something bold: she lists her countryside cottage on a home exchange website.
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That listing ends up in front of Amanda Woods, a movie trailer editor played by Cameron Diaz, who’s also running from her own romantic mess. The two women agree to swap homes for the holidays, sending Amanda to England while Iris heads off to Amanda’s glamorous Los Angeles mansion.
The moment Amanda arrives at the snow-dusted Rosehill Cottage is pure comfort viewing. The small rooms, the warm lighting, the classic English details; it all feels like a hug. Over time, the cottage became one of the most talked-about parts of the film.
Jude Law Finally Spills the Truth
The long-running cottage mystery finally came up during a BBC Radio interview in November 2024. When the hosts excitedly asked Jude Law, who played Graham, if they could Airbnb the cottage, he broke some hearts. He shared that the Rosehill Cottage doesn’t exist in real life, and the studio reaction was instant shock.
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Law explained that writer-director Nancy Meyers searched all over the English countryside trying to find the perfect cottage. But nothing quite matched what she had in mind. And since Meyers is known for being very particular, she decided not to settle and had the cottage built just for the movie.
The exterior scenes were filmed in England during winter, but every time characters walked inside, the interiors were actually shot about three months later on a set in Los Angeles. As the hosts begged him to stop because the truth was “too upsetting,” Law laughed and apologized.
Even though Rosehill Cottage itself was created for the film, it wasn’t totally imagined from nothing. Its look was inspired by a real place called Honeysuckle Cottage, tucked away in the Surrey village of Holmbury St Mary.
While the English cottage may be movie magic, Amanda’s Los Angeles mansion is very real. The interiors were filmed on a soundstage at Sony Pictures Studios. But the exterior was shot at a real home at 1883 Orlando Road in San Marino. Fans will instantly recognize the balcony where Amanda confronts her cheating boyfriend before the home swap.
If all this talk has you itching for a rewatch of ‘The Holiday’, there’s no better time than this!
