Manchester-By-The-Sea Passes for Alaska in The Proposal The New York Times

Manchester-By-The-Sea Passes for Alaska in The Proposal
The New York Times

Working in Boston's photogenic factory district, Ft. Point, we're no strangers to Hollywood's occasional invasion. But we were genuinely surprised to discover that the small North Shore town of Manchester-by-the-Sea was Hollywood's choice for a more tax-friendly "Alaska" in the recent film, The Proposal. We saw the movie and were totally duped...

We commend the location scout who found this place and the team who had the vision to transform it into a believable Alaskan mansion. The jaw-dropping 9 bedroom, 10 bathroom home belongs to the Kaneb family who — after some hard convincing by their 4 teenage children — agreed to have a film crew move in for three weeks of filming. The article is a fantastic glimpse into what really happens when you invite Hollywood into your home. Check it out on The New York Times.

(Images: Kerry Hayes/Touchstone Pictures)

Comments (4)

Darn it! I hate being duped. And I loved the house in that movie.

posted by sally305 on August 3rd 2009 at 8:11pm
view sally305's profile

I have an ex from Manchester By the Sea. Love the town, can't stand the ex.

posted by cassielynn on August 3rd 2009 at 9:34pm
view cassielynn's profile

Most of the filming was done at Bear Skin Neck in Rockport, MA (about 20 minutes north of Manchester).

They were so successful in the transformation, and switched the town name sign, apparently a woman had thought she had gotten on the wrong plane, was driving through Alaska and thus ended up at the police station. Though, I'm not quite sure how one could be so dull.

Pic of Rockport transformed: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://z.hubpages.com/u/1128165_f520.jpg&imgrefurl=http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Film-The-Proposal---or-Rockport--MA-posing-as-Sitka--Alaska&usg=__UKac3eWf2EsPiRPwDdCpv19e2Qs=&h=390&w=520&sz=37&hl=en&start=2&sig2=sFnmMywXfngr7HoxiO0ICQ&um=1&tbnid=tc_KZsYKyGRwxM:&tbnh=98&tbnw=131&prev=/images%3Fq%3DBear%2BSkin%2BNeck%2Bin%2Bthe%2BProposal%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rlz%3D1R1GGGL_enUS333US333%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1&ei=VS54SqqiEM-ymQeZz4XWBg

Also, the red shack in Rockport is the most photographed location in New England. How they expected to disguise that, I'm not quite sure.

posted by katanne9 on August 4th 2009 at 7:52am
view katanne9's profile

that's my hometown!

lots of filming there over the years because of the the "small town" look and the Massachusetts tax breaks for film crews. nice for the local economy, and fun for us to see recognizable vistas. ; )

posted by love it on August 4th 2009 at 11:11am
view love it's profile