[Editor’s note: While your Flavorwire editors take a much-needed holiday break, we’ll spend the next two weekends revisiting some of our most popular features of the year. This post was originally published July 20, 2011.] Tiny bathrooms, creepy Craigslist roommates, mice-infestations — typical apartment living is nothing like the movies. Our fifth-story walk-up is a far cry from the spaces we dreamed of when still living with Mom and Dad; there isn’t even one spiral staircase or floor-to-ceiling window. Looking back, we realized that many of our dream apartments were inspired by our favorite films. As a follow up to our list of the best movie bedrooms, we’ve rounded up 15 big-screen flats that are simply too good to be real, from Auntie Mame’s city splendor to Patrick Bateman’s minimalist bachelor pad. Add your suggestions in the comments.
Brontë Mitchell’s apartment in Green Card
While Green Card is a fairly forgettable romantic-comedy from the ’90s, we could never forget environmentalist Brontë Mitchell’s unbelievable New York City apartment. Kitschy, homey, and featuring a greenhouse, it defies the popular notion of Manhattan as a colorless, concrete jungle. Hell, if it would help us score an apartment with a hand-tiled pond and indoor atrium, we too would be willing to marry Gérard Depardieu.
Loco, Pola, and Schatze’s apartment in How to Marry a Millionaire
With magnificent views of New York City, a wrap-around terrace available for brunching (and, in the models’ cases, scheming), and pastel colors popping in each room, the apartment in How to Marry a Millionaire is pure luxury.
Monsieur Hulot’s apartment in Mon Oncle
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For some reason, we always wanted to live in Monsieur Hulot’s rooftop studio. Perhaps we love his apartment because it is so much like the character himself — colorful, frivolous, and full of light.
Irene Jansen’s apartment in Dark Passage
With massive bay windows that reveal views of scalloped cottage roofs and an outdoor patio that faces the Bay, Irene Jansen’s San Francisco apartment is an artist’s dream. Jansen’s stylishly Deco furniture, a spiral staircase, and Bogie himself are just icing on the cake.
Mame Dennis’s apartment in Auntie Mame
Throughout the course of Auntie Mame, the title character’s apartment is redecorated a least six times. We would be hard pressed to choose our favorite version of the madcap bohemian’s home; we love all of Mame’s flamboyant decor — especially the hanging goldfish bowls by Yule Oolu, the Marie Antoinette guest room, the ornate metal doors, and the Danish avant-garde hydraulic benches.
Molly Gunn’s apartment in Uptown Girls
The abundance of throw pillows, the heavy curtains, the decadent palette of red and copper, the candlelight — Molly Gunn’s apartment is unapologetically feminine and absolutely beautiful. Everything about this uptown pad makes us want to snuggle up on one of those couches and lose ourselves in a good book.
Jules’s apartment in St. Elmo’s Fire
We instantly fell in love with party girl Jules’s Georgetown apartment when we first saw St. Elmo’s Fire. To us, it was like an ’80s version of paradise. We would move into the pink-painted and expensively furnished studio today if we had the chance — but, though we enjoy “Rebel Yell,” we would still probably have to paint over the massive portrait of Billy Idol.
Patrick Bateman’s apartment in American Psycho
We hate to admit it, but Patrick Bateman’s all-white bachelor pad is alluring. (Kanye West, who riffed on it in his “Love Lockdown” video, must agree.) With hard lines and little color, the Manhattan apartment is chic, modern, and pristine, though we imagine the carpet cleaning bills would be daunting.
Dr. Eldon Tyrell’s Apartment in Blade Runner
Who could resist living in such imperial splendor? The combination of the apartment’s immense windows, which allow in floods of ethereal light, and the textured stone walls creates a temple-like peace. It isn’t surprising that we are captivated by the home’s extravagant architecture — many of Blade Runner‘s apartments were inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright’s Ennis House.
Josh Baskin’s apartment in Big
Sure, the hardwood floors and soaring windows are nice, but the real draw is having a trampoline in your living room. Josh’s toy-filled Manhattan loft makes us wonder why we even bother with furniture when we could have installed a basketball court in our hallway.
Alice and William Harford’s apartment in Eyes Wide Shut
With sky-high ceilings and molded architectural details, Alice and William Harford’s New York City apartment is lush and extravagant, a perfect tonal fit for Kubrick’s final film.
Barbara Novak’s apartment in Down With Love
Barbara Novak’s apartment is like a Barbie’s Dream House come to life. While all of the homes in the Dorris Day tribute Down With Love are remarkable, it is Novak’s mid-century-style penthouse that captured our hearts, an exuberant fantasyland featuring white shag carpeting, sherbet colors, and a fire pit.
Midge Wood’s apartment in Vertigo
Neat freaks be damned, there is such a thing as cluttered-cool, and Midge Wood’s California apartment is just that. We love the half-completed fashion paintings tacked to her walls and mason jars filled with paint-colored water on the tables — the scattered papers and brassieres all work to support Midge’s quirky, artistic image and make the space her own. We also wouldn’t mind having that remarkable view.
Holly Golightly’s apartment in Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Holly Golightly’s home mixes antiques, taxidermy, vintage posters, and modern fixtures in a manner that is tasteful and charming — it’s the apartment that all Local Natives-loving girls fresh out of college attempt to create. The look is carefree, easy, and eccentric, just like Holly herself. Because of Breakfast at Tiffany’s, we will forever be searching for a clawfoot tub sofa.
Madame Alvarez’s apartment in Gigi
We are mad for the red walls and velvet chairs in Gigi’s grandmother’s turn-of-the-20th-century apartment. The overall effect is romantic, lavish, and very Parisian.