The star-studded spectacle’s biggest prize is the award for Best Picture, and best pictures almost invariably are filmed in cinematically beautiful locales.
Consider the fictional remote island home of Pádraic (Colin Farrell) and Colm (Brendan Gleeson) in The Banshees of Inisherin. Picturesque seascapes also play their part in the comedy-drama Triangle of Sadness. Ruben Ostlund, the film’s director-screenwriter, revealed that filming in the Greek islands was his “most joyful shooting ever.” Some locations depict altogether different worlds, as is the case with the ethereal, aquatic realms of Pandora in the CGI fantasy Avatar: The Way of Water.
Here we present superstar homes worthy of the limelight by virtue of their cinematic locales and their stellar amenities, private airstrips, yacht docks, and recording studios. All these properties are elegant and luxurious in their own right, so let us offer up everything, everywhere, all at once.
1. Clare Island Lighthouse on Clew Bay, Co. Mayo, Ireland
Clare Island Lighthouse has been a nautical landmark on Ireland’s rugged west coast for more than two centuries.
The coastal views are among the finest on the Emerald Isle, taking in the Atlantic Ocean and Keem Bay on Achill Island, which doubled as the fictional home of Colm Doherty (Brendan Gleeson) in the Golden Globe-winning and Oscar-nominated The Banshees of Inisherin. Today, Clare Island Lighthouse offers both residential and guesthouse opportunities for this unique location.
The main lighthouse keeper’s residence and five outbuildings were sensitively restored to preserve their original character while providing every modern convenience.
The 2.35-acre property also has its own helipad. The Clare Island Ferry offers daily, year-round service to Roonagh Pier on the mainland. The crossing takes around 20 minutes.
West Paces Ferry Road, one of Atlanta’s most affluent and elegant districts, is the setting for this regal Southern mansion, which greets passersby with a Versailles-inspired fountain.
The home’s ornate façade of Dominican coral opens to epically scaled reception rooms with decorative gold-leaf ceilings, marble floors, monumental carved-stone fireplaces, and Versailles-inspired furnishings.
The Old World details seamlessly blend with the latest amenities for the “live-work-play” lifestyle: a professional recording studio, tiered theater, billiards room, study, cocktail bar, hair salon, tasting room, and three wine cellars.
Nine luxurious bedrooms include two principal suites, each with a sumptuous, spa-inspired marble bathroom.
The outdoor spaces are designed to the same exacting standards. The central courtyard features a classically inspired pool and spa surrounded by balconies, loggias, and a limestone terrace with a Hibachi grill and brick-oven pizza kitchen. A four-car garage and formal gardens complete the picture.
3. The Peninsula in Porto Heli, Peloponnese, Greece
Best Picture Nominee: Triangle of Sadness | Special Feature: Yacht Dock
A protected yacht dock, heliport, and private pebble beach are just some of the features that make this one of the most desirable properties in the region.
The main villa and various cottages and bungalows offer more than 13,000 square feet of living space with 14 en suite bedrooms.
The interior spaces include several elegant reception rooms, three kitchens, four powder rooms, a game room, and expansive sea-view terraces for alfresco dining and entertaining.
Idyllic gardens, a swimming pool, and a pergola-covered beachfront terrace (with an open kitchen, bathroom, and changing rooms) add to the resort-like ambience. Just across the turquoise waters of the Aegean is the island of Spetses.
4. Four Hearts Ranch in 100 Mile House, British Columbia, Canada
Best Picture Nominee: Top Gun: Maverick | Special Feature: Airstrip and Aircraft Hangar
Four Hearts Ranch is quite simply a wild, Canadian paradise. This biodiverse expanse in British Columbia’s South Cariboo Mountains encompasses 5,925 acres of forest, pasture, grasslands, lakes, river gorges, and preserved wetlands.
The homestead was built as a multigenerational family compound with eight stand-alone residences, including a 10,000-square-foot log mansion designed in harmony with the sylvan landscape. There’s also a lake house on Simon Lake, one of British Columbia’s top fly-fishing spots.
The equestrian center is a world-class facility with stabling for 10 horses, an indoor arena, hay barn, carpentry shop, wrangler’s cottage, round pen, and acres of fenced pastures.
Four Hearts Ranch also boasts a private network of roads and environmental sensitivities, such as geothermal heating and on-site water filtration.
5. Villa Baan Sang in Koh Samui, Thailand
Best Picture Nominee: Avatar: The Way of Water | Special Feature: Sea Views
A hillside aerie nestled within coconut palms, Baan Sang offers utmost privacy and comfort, with huge windows and walls of glass providing CinemaScope-worthy views of mountains, valleys, and cerulean seas.
There are five large bedrooms with sweeping sea vistas, four full bathrooms, and a sleek, contemporary kitchen, all air-conditioned and luxuriously fitted and finished.
This style of contemporary Thai coastal architecture takes inspiration from the colors, textures, and materials of the island: beach stone, granite, bleached Thai teak, and hand-cast bronze, as well as Sukabumi (a mosaic-like azure stone for the infinity-edge pool) are among the exquisite finishes.
The villa is one of just two homes in the Five Islands Estate, an exclusive gated and private sanctuary on the west coast of the island. The other villa, Baan Hin, is available as well, along with additional infrastructure and land.
6. Cutting-Edge Contemporary Estate in Bel Air, Los Angeles, California
Best Picture Nominee: The Fabelmans | Special Feature: Cinematic Location
Privately set behind double gates, the sleek, multi-level home extends to more than 14,500 square feet of fluid living space, designed with precision craftsmanship and top-of-the-line materials, finishes, and amenities that delight and surprise.
The main level is anchored by a dining room, vast chef’s kitchen, and formal living room with a Champagne bar and wine room. Fleetwood glass doors open to a landscaped pool terrace worthy of a post-Oscar party: an alfresco lounge, pizza kitchen, fire pits, and a walk-in swimming pool.
There are nine generously sized bedrooms and thirteen bathrooms. The highlight is a lavish owner’s suite with a cozy sitting room, fireplace, walk-in closet, and garden-view breakfast terrace.
The lower level is an entertainer’s paradise with a cutting-edge movie theater with billiards table, club-style lounge, tequila bar, DJ mixing station, hammam, vast fitness studio, and three-car garage.
7. Private Country Estate in Sarlat-la-Canéda, Dordogne, France
Best Picture Nominee: All Quiet on the Western Front | Special Feature: Rural Escape
Built of local limestone with a traditional rough-cut lauze (stone) roof, the château offers luxurious accommodations in its north and south wings.
The eight-bedroom, seven-bathroom residence includes two kitchens, formal dining and reception rooms, a bar, cinema, and gym with Jacuzzi. An elegant, air-conditioned conservatory overlooks the French gardens. A stone pigeonnier tower offers an additional bedroom suite and opens to the courtyard.
Just beyond, the mosaic-tiled swimming pool and adjoining pavilion offer wonderful views of the valley. Nearby, a serene lake with a Japanese-style wooden bridge evokes Monet’s gardens at Giverny.
A Colonial-style summer house, guardian’s house, two greenhouses, a hen house, and a borie (a traditional stone roundhouse) complete the ensemble. The estate is offered turnkey, with all furnishings, fixtures, and equipment.