Inside the Eerie House From Jordan Peele’s New Film “Nope”
First came “Get Out,” then “Us”— and now, “Nope” is hitting the silver screen, as the third movie from comedian-turned-director Jordan Peele. In true horror film fashion, an eerie home is on full display throughout “Nope”—and Apartment Therapy spoke to set decorator Gene Serdena to learn more about it.
Modeled after late 19th century California ranch houses, this particular dwelling was built exclusively for its role in “Nope,” in a remote area of the Santa Clarita Valley — “so remote that its only access point was down a winding, 5-mile single-lane dirt road off the highway,” reveals Serdena.
The overall goal when designing this home was for it to “hint at a richly layered history.” As such, Serdena and his team “started with the supposition that the original owner might have been a homesteader who erected the home in the late 19th century [and] that the home had been kept in the family for generations, [before it was] eventually acquired by OJ and Emerald’s father, Otis Haywood Sr., who may have been a ranch hand.”
Essentially, this backstory of the home would show that, “as Otis Sr. built up his horse training business, he could have accumulated enough capital to make an offer to the original family whose interests might have gradually faded in rural ranching.”
Naturally, “Nope” wouldn’t be a true cowboys versus aliens film if it didn’t pay homage to its predecessors. In fact, there are numerous shots in this film that are clear nods to prior Westerns, such as the opening and closing shots of John Ford’s “The Searchers” (1956), which are referenced whenever we see the opened front door of this California ranch house. Other sources of inspiration include the Victorian home from Terence Malick’s “Days of Heaven” (1978) and George Stevens’ “Giant” (1956), as well as the paintings of Edward Hopper and Andrew Wyeth.
“I think these iconic images and moments are etched in the minds of most people, and they act as filters that inform and broaden the scope of contemporary designers and filmmakers,” adds Serdena.
When it came to furnishing this abode, the design team conducted “a deep dive into research of California ranch houses and interiors. We added to that a layer of Black cowboy iconography — some of which is available historically, and much of which we acquired through discussions with contemporary groups and families.” As a result, there is an amalgamation of antique and modern pieces on display here, with the former being items that “might have been left behind as part of the estate when Otis Sr. acquired the estate,” and the latter being “everyday modern comforts and personal bits that might reflect the personalities of its inhabitants.”
Ultimately, Serdena says “we tried always to be true to the characters, often sacrificing style for a sense of tangible realness.” The one overarching point of connection? “All of it is deeply grounded in ranching and horse culture,” he reveals.
And although certain dwellings, especially ones in horror films, tend to have a daunting quality to them, Serdena believes that “design is rarely intrinsically horrific.” By this, he means, “there are certain features that can be provided by design teams that will enable filmmakers to photograph and edit sequences that promote the audiences’ discomfort. For example, pieces that may read one way when exposed to light, but take on a new, menacing cast under the shroud of darkness.”
As seen in a trailer for the film, the house does undergo quite a bit of an unwanted makeover at one point, when it is doused in a red liquid that may or may not be blood (and later becomes rusted as a result). To this, Serdena says “I can only say that an event takes place that alters the exterior of the home, and to give it away would be a sin. It’s quite a spectacle — don’t miss it!”
And while the ranch house appears to act as a source of shelter, that may just be a “false sense of security.” After all, as Serdena makes clear, there is always a vulnerability to places of shelter “in the face of cataclysmic events.”