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Where Was Dan In Real Life Filmed

Dan in Real Life house Riven Rock Rhode Island

The 2007 movie Dan in Real Life is a heart-warming comedy about Dan Burns (Steve Carell), a widowed father who writes an advice column about parenting and relationship issues, even though he has plenty of his own.

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When he takes his daughters to the annual family reunion in Rhode Island, he struggles to connect with them in the way he hopes.

The movie was filmed almost entirely on location in an 8-bedroom summer house known as Riven Rock in Jamestown, Rhode Island. It was built in 1911 and has been in the same family for generations.

Take a look!

The “Dan in Real Life” House: Riven Rock in Rhode Island

family gathered in the kitchen

You can rent it during the summer.

There’s an interesting article in the Providence Journal about the locations used in the movie.

According to the paper, the movie crew changed a few things, like adding awnings to the front of the house (the family liked them but moved them to the water side after filming).

Dane Cook standing at kitchen island in cabin

Director Peter Hedges says, “To me, the house was another character in the film. The minute I walked in, I couldn’t wait to start filming in it.”

Dan in Real Life summer house kitchen

Even though it was a kind of small, quiet film, there were a lot of big actors in it, like Juliette Binoche as the woman Dan has fallen for, and John Mahoney and Dianne Wiest as his parents (even though Wiest is only about 10 years older than Steve Carell).

family eating in kitchen

It looks like they also added a red pegboard and shelving beside the fridge for the movie:

Dan at desk

Producers recruited some local children to play Dan’s young nieces and nephews.

sliding barn door in Dan in Real Life movie house

Dan in Real Life movie house stone fireplace

The Dining Room with Stone Fireplace:

dining room window

The dining room has a view of the water from the windows:

Dan in Real Life family around dining room table

Dan in Real Life movie house laundry room

As the only adult in the house without a partner,
Dan has to sleep on a cot in the laundry room:

bedroom with natural wood shiplap walls

Peter Hedges, who wrote the screenplay with Pierce Gardner, says that the film was really a tribute to his own father who raised him and his siblings alone: “I know he was really lonely. The nights were the hardest for my dad.”

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Hedges says he wanted the movie to be a “human comedy” that just shows the humor in real life, tempered with pain and sadness.

Matthew Morrison from Glee in Dan in Real Life movie

It has nothing to do with the house, but I have to mention that the police officer who pulls Dan over
several times during the movie was played by Matthew Morrison (aka Mr. Schuester from Glee):

The Entry Hall and Staircase:

Living Room Fireplace in Dan in Real Life Movie

The Family Room:

Stone fireplace in Dan in Real Life

Dan in Real Life summer house 2

Amy Ryan in Dan in Real Life movie

Dane Cook in Dan in Real Life movie

Dan in Real Life family talent show

the cast of Dan in Real Life

The cast (except for Steve Carell, who was busy filming The Office) spent four days living in the house and rehearing scenes before the cameras arrived, so they could bond and get into a familiar rhythm.

front of the house in Dan in Real Life movie

They put on a talent show for Carell when he arrived similar to the one shown in the movie.
He jokes, “I probably like these people better than my own family now.”

Dan in Real Life house Riven Rock RI

“Dan in Real Life:” A Summer House in Rhode Island

Want to take your own family to Riven Rock for a “real life” vacation?
Check the listing for rental information.
Visit my Houses Onscreen page to see the others I’ve featured, listed A-Z.

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