Sound of Music House… Turns Hotel
- May 14th, 2008
- Posted by Emma Cillekens
Visitors to Austria will soon be able to bunk in the von Trapp family at their villa in Salzburg.
The famous villa best known as the backdrop of the 1965 film, The Sound of Music, opens as a hotel in July.
Guests can enjoy a stay where the ‘movie magic’ began; have the chance to sleep in the family’s rooms, or get married in the chapel.
Also on offer is the Gazebo where Liesl and her boyfriend famously performed ‘Sixteen going on seventeen’… only it’s a self-assembly construction set… not the real thing. But close enough for budding brides.
Staying at the Hotel will set visitors back 100 Euros, a cost which Gold Coast musical theatre performer Josh Lovell says is a small price to pay.
 “The Sound of Music is one of my favourite musicals, and to stay in the house where it was filmed would be incredible.”
“It’s definitely a small cost, considering you’re getting to stay in the place where Maria first arrived from the Abbey, to care for the von Trapp children.
“For me, staying there would be like a dream come true.”
The successful film starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plumer was based on the Roger’s and Hammerstein musical, The Sound of Music.
It follows the story of a young aspiring nun is sent to care for Captain von Trapp’s seven children, and how with love, care and song she eases her way into their lives.
The von Trapp family lived in the villa from 1923 to 1938, before fleeing the Nazi takeover of Austria.
Until recently the home was owned by a missionary order that bought it after World War II.
The new owners of the villa say that the conversion to a hotel won’t modify the building, other than essential alterations like painting and rewiring.
Salzberg tourism statistics reveal the famous film generates around 700, 000 overnight stays a year from North America, Asia and Britian; with 40% of them coming soely because of the film.
Reference
Reuters. “Von Trapp’s Sound of Music Villa to become a hotel”. http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSL1374781520080514, (14.5.08)
Joshua Lovell. Musical Theatre Performer. Gold Coast. Australia