The artful trickery of building homes for Hollywood

Production designer William Creber created the set of a 1920s Craftsman bungalow for House Beautiful    VIDEO CNN's Gloria Hillard takes a tour of the set Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- House Beautiful magazine gave Hollywood production designer William Creber an assignment: Build a house to show the public how it's done for the movies.

So Creber, whose credits include "Poseidon Adventure" (1972) and "Towering Inferno" (1974), created a bungalow set against the backdrop of the Hollywood Hills that looks like it could sell for a million dollars -- on camera, anyway.

Things aren't as they seem on closer examination, though. The two-story bungalow isn't really two stories; the stairs go nowhere. The ceilings -- if there are any -- are made of stretched muslin. And forget about a backyard; if the script doesn't call for it, don't look for a lawnmower.

CNN's Gloria Hillard showed up at the open house.

For more STYLE news, myCNN.com will bring you news from the areas and subjects you select.

House Beautiful
The Craftsman home
William Creber

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.