Some locations are so crucial to a production that they almost function as a plot point. Such is the case with the residence that house flippers Pete (Mark Wahlberg) and Ellie Wagner (Rose Byrne) purchase at the beginning of the 2018 comedy “Instant Family” (streaming now on both Hulu and Amazon Prime). The film’s opening sees the couple walking through the property, which is in a state of disrepair, discussing plans to fix it up for Ellie’s sister, Kim (Allyn Rachel), and her husband, Russ (Tom Segura), and the rest of the movie is dedicated to both their renovation of the dwelling and their journey bringing three children into their home via foster care.
Based on screenwriter/director Sean Anders’ experience of adopting his own three children, the house, in its various stages of construction, serves as a throughline for the heartwarming tale, as well as an emblem of the Wagners’ evolution as a family. At one point, Pete even compares fostering to renovating a home. After meeting two veteran adoptive parents at a seminar, he rather lumberingly tells Ellie, “This is what we do. We see potential in things, we fix them up, right? Like they did. I mean they find this kid in a state of disrepair. They give her a new coat of paint, scrape off her emotional popcorn ceiling, install some countertops in the form of, like, love and self-esteem or whatever. Look I’m not saying she’s a house . . . but I think we’re perfect for this.” So it is only fitting that Anders chose to have a residence undergo the transformation process along with the couple onscreen. So significant is the house’s metamorphosis that (spoiler!) Pete and Ellie wind up moving there at the end of the film upon formally adopting their children.
Producers landed on the perfect property to represent the rehabbed home. Said to be in Northern California’s fictional Terrance County (so named in honor of Anders’ father), the charming dwelling can actually be found in Atlanta, Georgia.
-
Image Credit: Estately The gorgeous French Country-esque estate sits far back from the road on a leafy 0.34-acre plot located at 440 Brookfield Dr. NE in the city’s affluent Meadowbrook neighborhood. On a block chock full of handsome residences, it is easily one of the prettiest. And with five bedrooms and six baths spread across two stories and 6,631 square feet, it is also one of the largest.
Though not a remodel, the property is a recent build, similar to its onscreen portrayal. Completed in 2008, the pad replaced a more modest three-bedroom, two-bath residence that initially stood on the premises but was torn down in 2007.
The new dwelling is a monolith of construction with a grand façade boasting a double-peaked roof split by a handsome stone and columned front porch.
-
Image Credit: Estately The expansive lower level consists of a study with built-ins and a fireplace, a formal dining room with seating for 12, two powder rooms, a laundry room and a mudroom. With high ceilings, French doors that open to the sprawling backyard and hardwood flooring throughout, the living areas are bright, airy and inviting.
-
Image Credit: Estately The kitchen is the home’s real showpiece, though. Open to the adjacent family room as well as an adjoining office, the lofty space, which looks straight out of a design magazine, features a bay-windowed breakfast nook, pendant lighting, both a walk-in pantry and a butler’s pantry and a lengthy center island with bar seating.
-
Image Credit: Estately -
Image Credit: Estately Rounding out the bottom floor is the spacious owners’ suite with walk-in his-and-her closets, a soaking tub, separate shower, double vanity and water closet.
-
Image Credit: Estately Four additional bedrooms and three baths, all centered around a large media room, can be found upstairs.
-
Image Credit: Estately The rear of the home is a virtual mirror image of the front, with a covered porch made complete by a stone fireplace with bench seating and a wood mantle.
-
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures -
Image Credit: Estately The property was on the market at the time of the “Instant Family” shoot in Spring 2018, which is how it came to be featured in the movie. While the production team did perform many in-person scouts around the Atlanta area, Anders found the locale while cyber-searching on the real estate website Zillow. He told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “Truthfully I got on Zillow and I just started looking at houses all over Atlanta that were for sale — I’m sorry, we were traveling all over town so I don’t remember what part that was in — but I found that house on Zillow and we went out and we scouted it and it was great.” Well, Sean might not remember where the residence is located, but that’s what you have me for!
-
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures -
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures The exterior of the property is shown throughout the movie in various stages of the renovation as Pete and Ellie fix it up. But, amazingly, nothing was physically done to alter its appearance during the shoot. All of the modifications to the façade were instead crafted digitally by Zero Visual Effects during post-production! Video clips of how the process was accomplished are even featured on the company’s website.
-
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures -
Image Credit: Estately At the end of “Instant Family,” the residence is shown in its natural state, though a few minor changes were made. Not only were the front porch columns covered over with wood beams for the segment, but the hand-railings alongside the front steps were removed. These alterations were also done digitally by Zero Visual Effects.
-
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures For interior scenes involving the home in its assorted states of repair and disrepair, production designer Clayton Hartley constructed a set at Tyler Perry Studios that shared the footprint of the Meadowbrook pad.
-
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures -
Image Credit: Estately By the time Pete and Ellie’s rehab neared completion, though, filming shifted to the inside of the real residence, which Hartley redesigned somewhat prior to filming. Anders told The Atlanta-Journal Constitution, “We did a little bit of work inside to make that the finished version of the house.”
-
Image Credit: Realtor.com -
Image Credit: Estately Before Hartley’s renovation, the kitchen island was capped by a much thinner slab of granite and the backsplash behind the stove was fairly simple. Both elements were swapped out for more screen-worthy replacements for the shoot. The production team also exchanged the wooden doors of the upper cabinets with glass-fronted versions. And the beige granite flanking the stove was replaced with a muted black substitute. The changes were fairly minor but vastly updated the look of the space.
-
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures -
Image Credit: Realtor.com There is somewhat of a mystery surrounding the stained glass window that serves as a constant throughout the onscreen renovation. Anders told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “We had been looking for an element in the house that people could identify the house by in various states of repair.” He noticed the red-flowered window during the in-person scout of the Meadowbrook residence and decided it was the ideal touchstone, saying “That stained glass window that they already had was the perfect tie-in to let everyone know that’s where we are, no matter how much nicer the house gets.” But per recent listing photos, the window is not currently an element of the home and, if past MLS images are to be believed, never was. So its provenance is a bit hazy. In all likelihood, the piece was just a prop added by Hartley for the filming and was apparently so well executed that it forged its way into Anders’ memories.
Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂
Stalk It: The Wagner family home from the end of ‘Instant Family’ is located at 440 Brookfield Dr. NE in Atlanta. Disclaimer: Please remember this is a private home. Do not trespass or bother the residents or the property in any way.