'We’re still using the garden gates from Far from the Madding Crowd': How homes of all shapes and sizes can become stars of the screen

Could your property secure a starring role in an advert, television production or even on the silver screen? Opening your home to photoshoots and filming could provide a handy fillip to your income, not to mention some interesting tales to tell.

Jacobean Mapperton in Dorset, voted the ‘nation’s finest manor house’ by Country Life back in 2006, has featured in blockbusters including Rebecca (2020), Far from the Madding Crowd (2015), Emma (1996) and Restoration (1995), as well as television shows and photoshoots.

‘We’ve always welcomed film and television productions to Mapperton,’ explains Luke Montagu, 12th Earl of Sandwich. ‘This is partly because I used to work in film (I co-founded the MetFilm School in Ealing Studios), but also because the income is incredibly useful for fixing one of our many leaking roofs. A major feature film or television series always raises the profile of Mapperton and gives our visitor numbers a good boost. We also sometimes benefit from parts of the set that are left behind — we’re still using the garden gates from Far from the Madding Crowd.’

For Katharine Howard, founder of Country House Locations, a boutique agency that represents houses and gardens across the English countryside, another benefit is the chance to be part of a creative process. Mrs Howard has also welcomed brands into her weatherboarded Georgian house in Kent to shoot creative campaigns.

‘It’s fun to see how spaces can be transformed,’ she says. ‘I’ve had brands that measure the walls and windows. They then build a set, bring it to the house and push it up against the wall, leaving just enough space for the original architectural details behind. Our dining room was turned into a bedroom once for a photoshoot.’

Annabel Cull fell into the industry by accident and her family home in Ealing, London W5, is now regularly used for filming. ‘It adds a bit more variety to my day,’ she comments. ‘This house has been through so many different journeys. The walls have been painted pink, blue and grey. The kids like it and they know the drill — if we have to move out during filming, they pack their bags and tidy up.’

There’s no rule book on the properties considered. According to Imogen Bliss, director in Savills’s corporate services team, they can range from penthouses and offices to country estates, woodlands and even quarries. ‘Last year, we received a request for a huge warehouse in which to build and film a model spaceship.’ Harriet Gore, head of Knight Frank’s residential film and media team, agrees: ‘Agencies are looking for something different every time.’

Unsurprisingly, historic country houses are consistently sought after for films and period dramas. Oliver Custance Baker, head of Strutt & Parker’s national country house department, explains that, although some landmark properties, such as Chatsworth, Derbyshire, and Blenheim, Oxfordshire, regularly appear on screen, ‘there’s a continual search for lesser-known properties that are suitable backdrops for big budget productions’, adding that ‘alongside country houses with perfectly curated interiors, there’s a market for properties where you step into another era as you enter the home’.

A key feature is space. ‘Properties must accommodate both production activities and extensive backstage equipment,’ reveals Heather Carter-Drake, head of Hamptons’s media lets department. ‘Natural light is also highly sought after. Privacy is an additional priority, to prevent spoilers and safeguard the cast and crew.’ A day rate for filming can vary from £500 to £10,000-plus, adds Miss Carter-Drake; ‘the smallest fee was £500 for a front door in London and, more recently, we achieved a fee of £3,400 for a large country estate in Wallingford, Oxfordshire’.

Further down the line, if the production turns out to be ‘a classic, I am sure it would add some buzz to a house in the prime market and create a trophy home,’ comments Sebastian Toy, head of Islington sales at Knight Frank. ‘On the flip side, we had a studio apartment that appeared in a “Harry Potter” film at the lower end of the market and it didn’t affect saleability or the price. There needs to be a balance between being a premium property and the right film/television show.’