On the Market: Easton home has been featured in two films
The custom-built colonial house at 25 Abbey Road in Easton features 5,848 square feet of living and entertaining space.
In 2019, the residents of the custom-built colonial house at 25 Abbey Road in Easton had occasion to celebrate two Thanksgiving Days in the same year — the traditional November feast and another one months earlier in February.
That year, award-winning French filmmaker and writer Jonathan Bucari used Nancy and David Purcell’s home to film “The Elephant in the Room,” which follows a young couple questioning its relationship after a tough political fight among family on Thanksgiving, according to the IMDB website. Bucari described it as “a family love story in danger because of political divisions.”
It was the second time Bucari chose the Purcell’s home as the setting for one of his films. The first was in 2011 for “The Sacrificial Lamb,” an FBI drama filled with political intrigue.
In the library there is a wall of built-in cherry cabinetry and shelving, a bay/bow window and wainscoting on the lower walls.
“Location is as important as casting (actors) … Two aspects made me choose that house,” Bucari said, pointing out the home’s beauty and seeming remoteness while actually being convenient to modern amenities. Bucari said the house is set in a quiet neighborhood, which was necessary for filming, while it is near Route 25, as well as the center of Monroe, its shops and restaurants.
The beauty of the three-acre level parcel is augmented by its panoramic views, including the five-acre pond across the street. David Purcell said they have kayaked on the pond, and when it freezes over, they skate on it. Tranquility is guaranteed because the Purcell’s lot adjoins Aquarion Water Company property on which nothing will be constructed.
The formal living room, which features a marble fireplace, was featured in a film called The Sacrificial Lamb.
Bucari also appreciated the home’s interior, citing its “really gorgeous décor, warm color tones, lots of natural light and lots of windows.” He said the Purcell’s home is what he pictured in his mind. “It’s almost like I wrote (The Sacrificial Lamb script) for this house.” The house elevated the film’s production value, he said, adding, “It’s an inspiring house.”
It’s also a house of high form and function, something Bucari took advantage of while shooting his projects, particularly the most recent one.
During most filming, meals are only artful re-creations of actual food. For “The Elephant in the Room,” Bucari said the feast “was an actual Thanksgiving meal,” cooked in the Purcell’s gourmet kitchen and fed to the cast and crew after filming concluded for the day. In fact, Nancy Purcell did all the cooking “except for the turkey.”
The chef-ready eat-in kitchen offers top of the line appliances, a center island, granite Ogee-edged counters, under-cabinet lighting, high-end appliances, and sliding doors to the bluestone patio and spectacular grounds.
The eat-in kitchen features top-of-the-line appliances, a center island, riverbed granite Ogee-edged counters, under-cabinet lighting and sliding doors to the sizable bluestone patio and spectacular grounds.
“We worked hard on our birding areas to attract birds in winter and summer,” Nancy Purcell said. They enjoy watching Baltimore orioles, evening grosbeaks, indigo buntings, and a resident Cooper’s hawk. “It’s peaceful and beautiful; a natural wonderland,” she said.
The butler’s pantry between the kitchen and formal dining room has a tumbled marble backsplash, stainless sink and beverage refrigerator.
The formal dining room, which features a double inlaid wood border, was the setting for a political short film called The Elephant in the Room.