About the HouseHere is the house the Witches live in... Full of life and charm, come see what it's all about!
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A sketch of the house
Important to the story of the Owens family is their multigenerational home, prompting filmmakers to build it rather than to look for an existing structure. |
The perfect house for a family of witches
Although the tale of the Owens women begins in the 1600s, the story of "Practical Magic" spans three decades (from the 1970s to present day), so the structure needed to be adaptable to the passing periods. "By the very nature of the family, the aunts in particular, there is a timelessness about the environment and about the house that particularly interested me," explains Standefer. "I chose a Victorian style for the house because it needed to be rambling. There are so many children in the house, so many generations. You could almost move in a circular fashion and get lost, finding yourself in different time periods. The design really developed from there. I tried to find elements of design that have stood the test of time. You couldn't be sure if things were originally in the house in 1850 or they had been added to it in the Twenties."  |
The perfect house for a family of witches
The story dictated that the house had to be built on an island, originally in New England. Because most of the filming was scheduled to take place during winter months, it was decided to re-create the New England setting in a more temperate climate. The filmmakers settled on the San Juan Islands in Washington State. "Having been in New England, I knew there is always this whiteness. It comes from the sand, glowing off the water; everything seems over-exposed," explains Standefer. "I decided to make the exterior of the house very, very white and to make the plants in the garden quite white with lavender and pale blue, the colors of the sea." |
