hope floats house

Image Credit: Bastrop County

It’s no secret that the Texas has been home to a multitude of artistic endeavors. From Austin’s ACL and South by Southwest music festivals, to the many highly esteemed galleries across the state. The beloved film “Hope Floats” a 1998 classic, was also filmed in the Lonestar state in the small town of Smithville, Texas. If you’re looking to take a fun, cinematic inspired road trip, consider heading down to Smithville to see the famous house, middle school, and dance hall.

Every romantic movie lover has high esteem for the movie Hope Floats. The film features Birdee (Sandra Bullock) leaving big city Chicago to discover the simplicity that southern holds after her marriage falls apart. Birdee and her daughter Bernice (Mae Whitman) move in with her mother (Gena Rowlands) and eventually run into one of Birdee’s lovers from the past, Justin (Harry Connick Jr.). The beautiful home that the movie features is of the Neoclassical style and was built in 1908 for J.H. McCollum. The house is now known as the McCollum-Chapman-Trousdale House.

However, the iconic house is not the only thing that movie lovers can see in Smithville from the set. Bernice attends Smithville ISD, which was constructed in 1924 and can be seen in town. The church Saints Peter and Paul is located in Kovar, Texas, a small town outside Smithville as well. For those who know the movie well, they’ll easily identify Cherry Hill Dance Hall, in which an iconic scene between Sandra Bullock and Harry Connick Jr. transpires. Finally, fans can visit Honey’s Pizza, which was the staged as the Back-Door Café in the film.

Hope Floats is not the only movie that was filmed in the small town of Smithville, Texas. Other films such as “Tree of Life”, “Bernie”, and “Beneath the Darkness” were also set in the small town. While Hope Floats may not be a person’s cup of tea that does not enjoy the romance genre, fans who do have been singing the movie’s praises for decades. Many even suggest that the small town of Smithville acts as a character itself in the emotional film.

You can learn more here.

Caroline Kidd
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