We may still be weeks away from Thanksgiving, but the spooky season is officially over, and you know what that means! It’s time for networks and streamers to start rolling out their holiday fare and for me, in turn, to write about the many locations featured in them. Adhering to the trend, Netflix released its latest original offering, “Love Hard,” last Friday. The Christmas-themed romantic comedy quickly skated into the coveted number one spot, which it has been holding onto ever since, proving that it’s never too early to start celebrating the holidays!
The yuletide yarn stars Nina Dobrev as unlucky-in-love Los Angeles-based dating columnist Natalie Bauer. (Think a younger, West Coast version of Carrie Bradshaw.) Though romantic mishaps are the norm for Natalie, her world is turned upside down when she flies to Lake Placid, New York, on a whim to surprise her new dating-app fling Josh Lin (Jimmy O. Yang) for Christmas only to discover that he has been catfishing her, passing himself off as his much better-looking friend Tag (Darren Barnet) in all of his online activity.
Festive and somewhat Hallmark-y in tone, the Hernan Jimenez-directed film is certainly no awards contender. Still, it makes for a pleasant, frothy watch (assuming you can get past this prevalent complaint concerning the storyline, that is). If nothing else, it’s worth tuning in just to witness Natalie and Josh’s fun, politically-correct rendition of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” as well as their ongoing discourse as to which is a better holiday movie, “Die Hard” or “Love Actually.” (“Love Hard’s” decidedly non-Christmasy title is a cheeky nod to that debate, as Cosmopolitan recently reported.)
Set primarily in the Adirondack Mountains, the film’s backdrop is merry and bright in all the right ways. But no filming actually took place on the East Coast. Instead, the cast and crew descended upon British Columbia for the shoot, with the idyllic hamlet of Fort Langley appearing as downtown Lake Placid in several scenes. Other B.C. locales featured include Nations Creations in Agassiz, which masquerades as All Things Outdoors, the woodsy sporting goods store run by Josh’s father, Bob (James Saito). Natalie’s reluctant indoor rock climbing session takes place at the former Cliffhanger Climbing Gym (now The Hive) in Vancouver Heights. And the now-defunct Rocky Point Taphouse at 2524 Saint Johns St. in Port Moody appears as the fictional Abbott’s Steakhouse, where Natalie and Josh’s ill-fated surprise engagement party is held.
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Image Credit: Google “Love Hard’s” most memorable location, though, is easily the stunning Craftsman where Josh lives with his father, step-mom Barb (Rebecca Staab) and relentlessly funny grandma, June (Althea Kaye). Said to be located at 420 Holt St. in Lake Placid, the picturesque residence actually stands about 15 miles southeast of Vancouver at 322 Sixth Ave. in New Westminster’s historic Queens Park neighborhood. (Please remember this is a private home. Do not trespass or bother the residents or the property in any way.)
Known as the Gordon D. Drew House in real life, the two-story dwelling was originally built for Dominion Customs clerk Gordon Drew in 1921. Designed with both Craftsman and Prairie influences, the property was the work of local architect/engineer Ernest H. Longley who was also responsible for a handful of other homes in the Queens Park community.
The striking façade is marked by a large wraparound porch, thick rock columns and peaked rooflines, all handsomely set back from the road behind a long flower-lined walk and rolling lawn on a leafy 0.18-acre corner lot.
The interior features an impressive six bedrooms and four baths in 3,163 square feet. Unfortunately, the pad hasn’t changed hands since January 2007, when it sold for just under $740,000, so MLS images are not available online. For an up-close and personal look at the place, you’ve gotta turn to “Love Hard.”
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Image Credit: Netflix -
Image Credit: Google For the shoot (which took place in late 2020 in the midst of the pandemic), the production team blanketed the Craftsman’s front lawn with snow and decked the place out with hundreds upon hundreds of twinkle lights, as well as a plethora of other holiday ephemera. Aside from those additions, though, little of the picturesque façade was altered for the film.
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Image Credit: Netflix Only the exterior of the home was utilized in the shoot. The Lin household’s warm interior, with its handsome built-ins, rich wood paneling and massive tiled fireplace seemingly ripped right out of Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, was, sadly, just a set created by production designer Patrick M. Sullivan. The aesthetic was partially inspired by the actual interior of the New Westminster residence as well as that of several other homes that Sullivan and his team scouted during the pre-production process, with some classical Craftsman elements thrown in. The basement, where Josh resides and “where the magic happens,” was also part of the studio build.
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Image Credit: Warner Bros. Television “Love Hard” is not the only small-screen production to feature the property. Sam Winchester (Jared Padalecki) also rescued a baby from a shapeshifter on the premises in the season six episode of “Supernatural” titled “Two and a Half Men,” which aired in 2010.
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Image Credit: Warner Bros. Television -
Image Credit: Netflix The episode made use of the inside of the residence, as well, albeit in some very darkly lit scenes. Regardless, it gives us an idea of how vastly the home’s actual interior differs from the “Love Hard” set, which is undeniably more cinematic. There’s certainly something to be said for the magical touch of a production designer!