JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
We're in the thick of holiday movie season. You know the ones. A big city professional comes home at Christmastime and finds herself falling in love with a small-town guy. Well, one New England state has been the backdrop for lots of these films. And this year, it's capitalizing on that role. Chris Polansky of Connecticut Public Radio has this report.
CHRIS POLANSKY, BYLINE: The Silas W. Robbins House in Wethersfield, Connecticut, is all done up for Christmas. The 1873 Victorian is covered with tinsel, wreaths, ornaments.
JEANNE GOODWIN: In fact, I'm looking right now at a life-size nutcracker with a royal crown. Everything is done perfectly and beautifully.
POLANSKY: That's Jeanne Goodwin, who's giving tours today. The house is so festive, it feels like you're in a Hallmark Christmas movie. In fact, it feels like a particular Hallmark Christmas movie.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "CHRISTMAS ON HONEYSUCKLE LANE")
JOHN PALLADINO: (As Ian Tillman) That is a beautiful house. And if I was living in the country, I couldn't imagine a better place to call home.
ALICIA WITT: (As Emma Reynolds) It's funny. Lately, I've been wondering, what if I did live in the country?
POLANSKY: That's a clip from the 2018 film "Christmas On Honeysuckle Lane." The movie was shot here at the Robbins House in Wethersfield, a town of around 30,000 people, about 10 minutes from the state capital in Hartford. That's how the house ended up on the new Connecticut Christmas Movie Trail. The trail is a tourism push by the state, a self-guided tour of taverns and town squares and more, where 22 Christmas movies have been filmed in the past 10 years.
ELLEN WOOLF: People love Christmas movies. I love Christmas movies.
POLANSKY: Ellen Woolf is brand director for the state of Connecticut and the mastermind behind the trail.
WOOLF: You can just pick a movie and watch it with a steaming cup of hot cocoa, a la Hallmark style, and then step into the shoes of your favorite actors and relive those special scenes from the movies right here in Connecticut.
POLANSKY: And there are plenty of options. Fan of Lifetime's "A Very Merry Toy Store" from 2017? Visit Amato's Toy and Hobby in Middletown and feel like you're in the film. Like the 2019 Universal film "My Adventures With Santa"? You can get a tree at Kogut's Hemlock Hill Tree Farm in Meriden, just like the family in that movie. And if you loved Hallmark's "Mystic Christmas" last year, head on down to the charming seaport village of Mystic.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MYSTIC CHRISTMAS")
JESSY SCHRAM: (As Juniper Jones) It's beautiful.
CHANDLER MASSEY: (As Sawyer Adams) Mystic magic.
POLANSKY: Woolf says the trail is a way to celebrate a holiday film industry that's brought millions of dollars to Connecticut. It's also a way to build the state's brand.
WOOLF: People are talking about us now, talking about Connecticut in a whole new light.
POLANSKY: And, of course, it's meant to boost business. Ivana Marrero, head of the Wethersfield Chamber of Commerce, says people are coming to town because of the trail. I catch up with her at Wethersfield's raucous tree-lighting ceremony.
IVANA MARRERO: It makes them feel special. It's like going to Hollywood, California, but instead you're going to Wethersfield, Connecticut.
POLANSKY: Back at the Robbins house, I talk with Olga Cherkasova. She owns the house and runs it as a bed and breakfast.
OLGA CHERKASOVA: Christmas in Wethersfield is truly something of a storybook.
POLANSKY: She says being on the movie trail is good for business, but for her, it's about more than that.
CHERKASOVA: It's more than commerce. It's more than business. It's a feeling that our Old Wethersfield brings. It's tradition.
POLANSKY: Cherkasova says guests have booked their stays around Christmastime because of the trail. She says the property and the town are perfect around the holidays.
CHERKASOVA: It's really quiet here. It's different. We have a lot of guests from the city, from New Jersey. They are running away from their, you know, everyday routine, from the noises (laughter) that brings, that life.
POLANSKY: Just like a Hallmark movie.
CHERKASOVA: (Laughter) Just like Hallmark, yeah. It's escape.
POLANSKY: For NPR News, I'm Chris Polansky in Wethersfield, Connecticut.
(SOUNDBITE OF RAMSEY LEWIS TRIO'S "HERE COMES SANTA CLAUS") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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