For the gothic romance film Crimson Peak, it was almost as if the massive manor of Allerdale Hall was a character unto itself. The easy thing to do would have simply been to find a real mansion, or just use some green screen, but this is Guillermo del Toro were talking about here, so of course he decided to build the entire house on a soundstage. Believing that by linking the supernatural to a real setting, it would make it more believable, del Toro commissioned the structure, which was three stories tall and took seven months to build. The level of detail is incredible, the elevator was functioning, the fireplace was real, and they even had different sized versions of tall the furniture to help set different moods. The only thing that wasnt actually built was the gaping hole in the ceiling. The efforts to construct a memorable setting absolutely paid off and made Allerdale Hall feel like a living entity. If only that sort of detailed care had been given to element os the story as well.