In pictures: the great gatsby’s glamorous mansion
Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby had its premiere at Cannes Film Festival this week and arrives in UK cinemas today. Adapted from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s tale of an enigmatic millionaire, it is an extravagant explosion of colourful costumes and fancy buildings - and the Moulin Rouge director spared no expense in crafting the look of The Great Gatsby’s period properties.
Photo credit: Warner Bros (via Architectural Digest)
But Luhrmann went to his home country of Australia to shoot his most extravagant structure. Gatsby’s Estate is Centennial Park, “one of Sydney’s most popular recreational areas”, with the park’s Cook Road doubling as the entrance to the property.
The 1920s property itself is represented by St. Patrick’s Seminary - a building surrounded by palm trees, which were digitally removed to make it look like the USA.
Photo credit: Keith "Captain Photo" Cuddeback
Faux ivy was then added to the first two floors of the building, while a temporary fountain was installed in the courtyard.
For the interiors, Luhrmann and his wife, designer Catherine Martin, overseas 42 individual sets, including a ballroom, library, master bedroom and entrance hall, which were built and decorated in 14 weeks.
Photo credit: Warner Bros (via Architectural Digest)
Inspiration came from early 20th Century houses from Long Island’s North Shore, such as Beacon Towers.
“Looking at images of Beacon Towers, there’s something that gives it the feel of the Disneyland castle, and Baz referenced that—the idea that Gatsby was building a fantasy,” Martin told Architectural Digest.
The result is a house full of gold-filigree, ornate chandeliers, monogrammed floor and a “serpentine staircase”. The bedroom, meanwhile, is full of 20s decor, polished hardwoods and harlequin-patterned walls.
Photo credit: Warner Bros (via Architectural Digest)
“On set the crew would have their camera phones out, shooting the scenes to remember them,” star Tobey Maguire told the magazine. “Baz and his team built this spectacular world that brings you back to a version of the 1920s—one that also kind of contemporizes it. It’s the ’20s as the characters might have experienced them. The film is an amazing, immersive experience.”
Indeed, if a house is a reflection of its owner, Gatsby’s New York mansion is arguably one of the most important fictional buildings of the 20th Century.