Nancy Meyers may be the undisputed queen of the rom-com, but the director/screenwriter’s last major feature, the 2015 feel-good dramedy “The Intern,” proved somewhat of an atypical offering for the Hollywood stalwart. Rather than chronicling a romance, the heartwarming tale instead focuses on the unlikely friendship that develops between a young online clothing company founder, Jules Ostin (Anne Hathaway), and Ben Whittaker (Robert De Niro), the 70-year-old intern she hires as part of a senior citizen outreach program. As Meyers explained to HuffPost, ”It’s a love story, I think — it’s just not a romantic love story . . . I haven’t been able to do that relationship ever. I’ve never written it or directed it. It was interesting and it was fun to sort of figure out how to play all the moments between them because you can’t rely on ‘Oh, there’s a look in her eye and there’s a look in his eye’ — you can’t do that. You can’t fall back on any of that stuff.”
Though she claims to be a novice at writing about May-December friendships, Ben and Jules’ connection certainly echoes that of Arthur Abbott (Eli Wallach) and Iris Simpkins (Kate Winslet) from her beloved 2006 hit, “The Holiday,” with both relationships absolutely lighting up the screen! And audiences responded accordingly. “The Intern” may boast a paltry 59% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer, but it proved a commercial success, grossing nearly $200 million worldwide, with even Quentin Tarantino naming it one of his favorite films of 2015!
And now, one of the locations featured in it has hit the market!
Set and filmed mainly in Brooklyn, “The Intern” casts a glorious light on the Manhattan borough, showcasing some of its most charming spots, including a glorious 1910 brownstone in Clinton Hill that plays the onscreen home of Jules and her family. Williamburg’s trendy Toby’s Estate café at 125 N. 6th St. (which has since been renamed Partners Coffee) is where Jules rehires Ben after prematurely asking for him to be transferred to another department mid-film. And the CEO takes her intern and three of his work friends for celebratory drinks at Teddy’s Bar & Grill, an oft-filmed local staple at 96 Berry St. that has also been featured in such productions as “The Good Wife,” “P.S. I Love You” and “Kings of New York.”
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Image Credit: Compass But one location manages to stand out amongst the rest, which is really saying something considering this is a Nancy Meyers production, after all, and therefore teeming with stunning sites! The house that belongs to Jules’ sleep-researcher parents, though, is an undeniable beauty. And it has just hit the market for the first time in over a decade!
Repped by Laura Rozos of Compass, the exquisite Victorian, located at 495 E. 18th St. in Brooklyn’s Ditmas Park district, is being offered for a cool $3.85 million. (Please remember this is a private home. Do not trespass or bother the residents or the property in any way.) Featuring seven bedrooms and five baths (three full, two half) in 3,080 square feet, the 1910 dwelling last changed hands in July 2010 for just shy of $1.3 million.
While Jules claims in the film that her parents are “the cheapest people in America,” the house that producers chose to portray their residence certainly does not reflect a penny-pinching aesthetic! As noted in the listing, the three-story pad sits on a leafy 0.15-acre lot on what is “arguably THE BEST block in historic Ditmas Park.” With a façade comprised of large bay windows, pale blue siding trimmed in white, wood-framed glass double doors and a sprawling wrap-around porch, the place certainly has curb appeal on lock! And the beauty only continues once you move past the threshold!
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Image Credit: Compass Thoroughly updated in recent years but with countless historic elements remaining intact, the listing notes that the home “embodies the coveted combination of beautifully preserved original detail with the most thoughtful modern improvements.”
Clad in gorgeous wood detailing, the lower level consists of a bright, open floor plan covered in parquet flooring, capped by 10-foot beamed ceilings and lined with handsome wainscotting throughout.
Just beyond the entry vestibule, visitors are welcomed to the grand interior via a stunning parlor with an inglenook fireplace, a grand central staircase and stained glass windows.
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Image Credit: Compass Additional living areas include a formal dining room with a massive stretch of bay windows, two living rooms, a finished basement with a rec room and, situated at the rear of the first level with windows overlooking the backyard, a “true chef’s kitchen” that measures in at 300 square feet. Featuring custom oak and maple built-ins, a walk-through butler’s pantry, quartz countertops, an integrated dish drainer and a “top of the line appliance suite” with a six-burner Wolf range, a restaurant-grade salamander and a Miele convection oven, the attractive space literally has it all! There’s also a full outdoor kitchen with a Weber grill situated just outside.
Tucked away on the second level are three bedrooms plus the handsome owners’ suite, which is made complete by two walk-in closets and a spa-like bath featuring sea glass tiling, a clawfoot soaking tub and a separate shower. Three additional bedrooms can be found on the third floor, along with a full bath and a large storage room.
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Image Credit: Compass Though the listing is flush with information about the home’s many architectural details, nary a mention is made of its cinematic history!
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Image Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures -
Image Credit: Google The Victorian is featured in one of “The Intern’s” funniest scenes, in which Whittaker and three of his co-workers make like “Ocean’s Eleven” and break into the property in order to locate Jules’ mother’s laptop and intercept a vicious email that Jules has accidentally sent to her. As Ben informs his accomplices as they prepare for the heist, “The key is under a flower pot – we go in, we delete, we disappear.” The plan goes a bit awry, though, when the foursome discovers that the house is armed with a burglar alarm, which goes off while they are inside, alerting police to their presence.
The unlikely heroes do finally manage to delete the email and escape from the residence unscathed, just in the nick of time with sirens blaring in the background, hence the celebratory drinks Jules later treats them to at Teddy’s Bar & Grill.
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Image Credit: Compass Both the exterior and interior of the dwelling appear in the segment (which you can watch here, but, be forewarned, it is NSFW due to some swearing), with the grand staircase figuring prominently as Ben and his cohorts race through the house to search for the laptop and the offending email.
Though the scene only lasts about three and a half minutes, both it and the residence leave a mark! One look at those stairs and I was smitten!
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Image Credit: Compass The property boasts a couple of additional claims to fame! The picturesque Victorian also portrays the home of Atlantic City sheriff Elias ‘Eli’ Thompson (Shea Whigham), his wife, June (Nisi Sturgis), and their eight children on the HBO series “Boardwalk Empire.”
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Image Credit: Compass Much like “The Intern,” both the interior and exterior of the residence are featured on the show.
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Image Credit: Netflix It also pops up as the home of Robert Vance (Daryl Edwards), which a couple of Flight 828 passengers break into and take Vance’s young son hostage, in the season three finale of “Manifest” titled “Mayday: Part 2.”
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Image Credit: CBS And it plays the residence of a widowed single mother who believes her dead husband is haunting her in the season three episode of “The Equalizer” titled “Gaslight.”