It was the first crisp October morning. I was having coffee with a friend, and she asked me, “Have you had your annual Practical Magic viewing yet?” Every autumn, I wait until the perfect night to make a batch of hearty stew, light every candle in my apartment, and watch Practical Magic. For me, and so many others, rewatching the film is a right of passage that marks the beginning of autumn’s gentle descent into our lives. It signifies the start of cozy season, where wool blankets are pulled out from the attic and our kitchen counters are covered in squash.
Practical Magic, which was adapted from the 1995 best-selling novel by Alice Hoffman, first premiered in 1998. The film centers around the Owens sisters, two witches played by Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, and their eccentric aunts, played by Stockard Channing and Dianne West. The four witches attempt to live seemingly normal lives in their idyllic New England town, all while suffering from a devastating curse that prevents them from finding true love. In addition to the four witches who make up the core cast, there is one main character we can’t forget—the Practical Magic house.
The enchanting mansion acts as a home base for the witches to seek safety and comfort. The whimsigoth interiors are filled to the brim with dried flowers, rich fabrics, and ancient books. And it’s all thanks to Robin Standefer and Stephen Alesch of the AD100 design firm Roman and Williams. Standefer and Alesch met in Hollywood working as production designers. After an actor asked the duo to decorate his home, they formed Roman and Williams, their own design studio named after their maternal grandfathers. And on a film set in Hollywood is where a fateful friendship between Practical Magic’s director, Griffin Dunne, and Standefer and Alesch, came to be. “I first met Robin on a movie I was acting in called Search and Destroy. I then hired her for my first directing job called Addicted to Love,” Dunne tells AD. “Her production design was so tasteful that I looted some lighting fixtures and arm chairs from the set that are in my apartment today. I didn’t consider anyone but Robin and Stephen to bring their magic to the iconic look of the movie.”
