Ever since the day after Thanksgiving, Hallmark has been running their immense catalog of Christmas movies. But this year is a little bit different since a home used in one of their made-for-TV movies is currently up for sale. The huge 4,424 square-foot home used in 2008’s Moonlight & Mistletoe, which starred Candace Cameron Bure and Tom Arnold, is located in Chester, Vermont. The town is pretty small and only has a population of 3,023, so it was a very big deal when Hallmark chose the town to film one of their Christmas movies there.
In Moonlight and Mistletoe, Tom Arnold plays the owner of Santaville and is struggling to make ends meet, so Candace Cameron Bure, who plays Arnold’s daughter in the movie, comes back home to help out. In the movie, the location of the business is built into the home, just like it is in real-life. Georgette Thomas started her business there in 1983 as a bed and breakfast and placed teddy bears on all of the beds. Visitors loved the bears so much that she opened a store below to sell them, which is where the Santaville store scenes were shot.
The giant Victorian home has eight bedrooms and seven bathrooms, which is some serious upkeep. However, the listing has the Hallmark home up for $247,677. The listing is currently down, but the owner says that the home is still up for sale. That price is pretty amazing for such a huge home. The current owners hope that the buyer will keep the bed and breakfast business going or remodel it for a family house.
When Hallmark’s Moonlight and Mistletoe started filming in Chester, Vermont, they were not filming in the winter. Instead, they filmed during the summer, which was reportedly one of the warmest that they had in a long time. Current owner of the home Kris Thomas says that the actors all had to wear heavy winter clothing in the crazy heat. Thomas went on to talk about how exciting it was for the local community. He explains.
“It was an especially hot summer. Even the fake snow didn’t cool things down. But, the presence of a movie crew really stirred things up a small town, with locals acting as extras for the film, making it quite a community event.”
Considering that $247,677 won’t go very far in too many cities in North America, a move out to the small town of Chester, Vermont might not be such a bad idea. The estimated mortgage on the home that Hallmark once used as a movie set is only a little over $2,000 a month. After looking at the photos in the listing, some people might just want to make an offer and pack up for a new life in Chester Village. You can check out the listing for the home used in Hallmark’s Moonlight and Mistletoe over at Zillow.