So much for the happy Hollywood movie ending…
The hills are no longer alive with the sweet sound of music–plans for an Austrian vacation villa created from the same home that once housed the famous von Trapp family immortalized in the blockbuster hit movie “The Sound of Music” has hit a roadblock.
Actually, it’s more like a neighborhood block. Residents whose homes border the famous property are irate that the landmark is being turned into a tourist attraction and fear visitors will create traffic jams and become nuisances in their quiet neighborhood.
“We will fight this with all means at our disposal,” one resident told a local news reporter.
The 125-year-old pale yellow home trimmed in white and black sits on the outskirts of Salzburg, where the 1965 award-winning film starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer was made.
It already attracts a fair deal of tourists each year, but the plan to turn the structure and adjacent property into a resort has caused a major concern for surrounding residents. Ironically, the Salzburg villa, which housed the real von Trapp family, never appeared in the movie. The lakeside castle and gardens were used for exterior shots but all of the interior shots were filmed in a Hollywood studio. As for the movie’s famous opening scene where Andrews is seen running across an alpine meadow, it was shot in Bavaria, Germany.
Of course, none of that matters to angry neighbors who are livid with Salzburg tourism officials, who announced plans last week to refashion the villa into a hotel—without consulting them first. Neighbors say they just want peace and quiet and having a slew of endless gawkers traipsing through their backyards will make that next to impossible. It won’t help that the park surrounding the villa will boast refreshment and souvenir stands, and that original furnishings that once belonged to the von Trapp family will be on display there.
Tourism officials say neighbors should get over their anger and embrace the project, which they estimate will go a long way to boost the local economy.
I certainly see why residents bordering the villa would be uptight about the new project especially given that most people in the area don’t understand why “The Sound of Music” enjoys such a cult-like following. The film may have been a hit in the United States, but it was never dubbed into German so most people in Austria have no clue it even exists.
What do you think about the plans? Would you be interested in visiting Villa Trapp?
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