Back in 2006, the Speed co-stars Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock once again teamed up in the movie ‘The Lake House’. For those who haven’t seen it, the movie is about a doctor who falls in love with an architect. However, the two have never actually met. It is based on the South Korean film ‘Il Mare’, which was released in 2000.
The story centers on an architect (Keanu Reeves) living in 2004 and a lonely doctor (Sandra Bullock) living in 2006. The two meet via letters left in a mailbox at the lake house they have both lived in at separate points in time. The two carry on correspondence over two years, remaining separated by their original difference of two years.
Don’t try to think about it too hard…….
THE HISTORY OF THE LAKE HOUSE
After scanning lakefront locations in Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin and almost every single mile of Lake Michigan for a property that had all the necessary elements, the production team chose to build a house from scratch.
Location manager James McAllister returned to Cook County, Illinois, where he had worked a decade previously on Evil Has a Face at a Forest Preserve location along the tranquil, 55-acre man-made Maple Lake.
“It proved to be the perfect setting: naturally serene and romantic, with the surrounding texture and terrain Agresti had in mind.”
The house was created by British architect Nathan Crowley. He took the 2,000 square foot construction from just sketches to completion in ten weeks. With only seven weeks for the actual construction of the home.
Thirty-five tons of steel and a crew of around one-hundred people were required to construct the house.
“The house was actually constructed on dry land next to the lake, atop steel beams that rose 10 feet above the waterline.” They excavated nearly 1200 cubic feet of soil and let lake waters flood under the pilings.
“It wasn’t very big, but the logistics were a real challenge, especially in the limited time we had to do it,” Crowley says. “We even had a heating system installed to keep our actors warm.”
“In some ways its roots lie in the kind of 1960s glass box style. We also drew from the Regency Period, a style popular in England in the early to mid-1800s, to add romance and elegance to the overall look.” They also “integrated some elements of greenhouses.”
THE HOUSE AS SEEN IN THE MOVIE
Despite half the movie taking place in the house, we get to see very little of the interior. Most shots are taken inside are close up, leaving it all to your imagination. While the house had heat and running water, there was actually no bathroom.
To get permission to film on Maple Lake, the team had to promise to leave everything as they found it. This meant the house was taken down afterward and removed. The location, however, was turned into a pier.
Sandra Bullock has said in interviews that she loved the Lake House. She has also said how disappointed she was with the property being demolished: “I was so disappointed that I couldn’t keep it, move it, and at least use it as a guest house somewhere.