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Couple unknowingly bought the real-life cottage from The Holiday and now have tourists turning up to take photos

Couple unknowingly bought the reallife cottage from The Holiday and now have tourists turning up to take photos
Jon and Cressida Bromley unknowingly bought the Surrey cottage that inspired Cameron Diaz's idyllic rural retreat in 2006 Christmas romcom The Holiday.
Yahoo Style UK
Marie Claire Dorking
23 December 2021, 2:59 pm
Honeysuckle cottage inspired the one built in the film The Holiday. (SWNS)
Honeysuckle cottage inspired the one built in the film The Holiday. (SWNS)

A couple who bought a cute cottage without realising it inspired Cameron Diaz's idyllic rural retreat in Christmas romcom The Holiday have described how film fans regularly turn up and take photos of their home. 

When Jon Bromley, 57, and his wife Cressida, 51, bought their chocolate box house in Surrey they had no idea they were going to be living in the cottage that inspired Kate Winslet's country house in the 2006 festive flick, until they saw news of the sale in a property magazine.

Now they regularly have movie fans turning up to their home in Holmbury St Mary to take photos and pose outside.

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Jon and Cressida Bromley with their dog, Jay. (SWNS)Jon and Cressida Bromley with their dog, Jay. (SWNS)
Jon and Cressida Bromley with their dog, Jay. (SWNS)

During preproduction on the film, researchers from the studio discovered the house and fell in love with it. 

Unfortunately, the location was too isolated to bring the cast and crew to, so instead the team built a near-perfect replica of the house on a studio.

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Rosehill Cottage, which features in the film, is an identical match for the Bromley's home, right down to the picket fence, wooden gate, country garden, and rural track that Diaz famously slips down.

In the movie, newly-single Amanda Woods, played by Diaz, leaves Los Angeles to spend a two-week holiday in Rosehill Cottage in rural England.

During the mini-break, she meets the landlady's brother, Graham, played by Jude Law, and they fall in love.

Read more: Good news for renters: It's now cheaper not to own your home

Who wouldn't want to live here? (SWNS)Who wouldn't want to live here? (SWNS)
Who wouldn't want to live here? (SWNS)

The Bromley's moved into the £625,000 home in 2019, totally unaware of their new home's fame. 

"I came to see it on my own to begin with and just literally fell in love with it straight away," Jon Bromley, a sports photographer, explains. 

"Just everything was beautiful - low ceilings, beams, a massive inglenook fireplace with a log burner.

"Then we saw it in a Country Life article saying something like 'the inspiration for The Holiday cottage is back on the market'.

The film studio built a near-replica of the cute home for the movie. (SWNS)The film studio built a near-replica of the cute home for the movie. (SWNS)
The film studio built a near-replica of the cute home for the movie. (SWNS)
The cottage is packed with traditional features. (SWNS)The cottage is packed with traditional features. (SWNS)
The cottage is packed with traditional features. (SWNS)

The three-bed cottage also boasts an Aga stove, underfloor heating and the iconic picket fence as seen in popular film. 

"There's a fair few people that come past looking for the house," Mr Bromley continues. 

"Then you get the odd one who goes past and stops and says 'I recognise that, is this the 'Holiday' cottage?' and 'do you mind if I take some pictures?'"

Production designer for The Holiday, Jon Hutman said on the DVD commentary that the team were looking for the "cutest, smallest, most English cottage that we could find" when he stumbled on the real life home.

Read more: Dad transforms pigeon shed into incredible man cave with James Bond-style secret door

The cottage has some impressive traditional features. (SWNS)The cottage has some impressive traditional features. (SWNS)
The cottage has some impressive traditional features. (SWNS)
The couple live in the chocolate box home that inspired the cottage in the film The Holiday. (SWNS)The couple live in the chocolate box home that inspired the cottage in the film The Holiday. (SWNS)
The couple live in the chocolate box home that inspired the cottage in the film The Holiday. (SWNS)

The couple can definitely understand why their chocolate box property served as the inspiration for the film's remote romantic getaway.

"It snowed last year and it just has that warmth to it," Mr Bromley explains. 

"It's one of those getaways where you go and hide yourself somewhere in a little village.

"There's nothing here but a pub next door, no shops.

"I'm just really proud of it, it’s a very lovely house and we're very lucky."

Additional reporting SWNS.

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