The Big Chill House and Filming Locations in Beaufort
Tidalholm on the Point, the weekend house in the film, in a Historic American Buildings Survey photograph. It is a private home.
The Big Chill was shot in Beaufort in the summer of 1982, and nearly all of it happens at one house on the Point. It is a private home.
The Big Chill follows seven college friends who gather for a long weekend after one of them dies. Director Lawrence Kasdan filmed it in and around Beaufort in the summer of 1982, and it came out in 1983. Almost every scene takes place at Tidalholm, a Greek Revival house on the Point overlooking the Beaufort River. Kasdan chose it after seeing the same house in The Great Santini. Beaufort is about 40 miles from Hilton Head.
Where The Big Chill Was Filmed
Private, not open
Tidalholm, the Big Chill house
On the Point, Beaufort
Tidalholm is a private home and is not open to visitors. The porches, river views and rooms in the film are all this house, and it is the same one the Meechum family lives in in The Great Santini. The Point is a public neighborhood of old houses and quiet streets, so you can walk it and see the house from the street. Please stay off the grounds and out of the yard, and keep your voices down: people live there.
About 40 miles, an hour from central Hilton Head.
Open to visit
Bay Street, downtown Beaufort
Bay Street, along the waterfront, is where Nick and Harold go for the early-morning run. It is Beaufort’s main street, lined with shops and restaurants, and it is easy to walk from the Point.
About 40 miles, an hour.
View from the street
Sand Hill Baptist Church, near Varnville
The opening funeral was shot at Sand Hill Baptist Church, a country church near Varnville, inland from Beaufort in Hampton County. It is a working church, so it is one to know about rather than a stop on a day in Beaufort.
About 45 miles, roughly an hour from Hilton Head.
The 1983 Film and Its Cast
Kasdan co-wrote the screenplay with Barbara Benedek. The film was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress (Glenn Close) and Best Original Screenplay.
Tom Berenger
Sam Weber
Glenn Close
Sarah Cooper
Jeff Goldblum
Michael Gold
William Hurt
Nick Carlton
Kevin Kline
Harold Cooper
Mary Kay Place
Meg Jones
Meg Tilly
Chloe
JoBeth Williams
Karen Bowens
Seeing the Big Chill House From Hilton Head
Park downtown, walk the Point for the houses and the river, and have lunch on Bay Street. The Great Santini and The Prince of Tides were shot in the same town: see movies filmed in Beaufort, SC for all of them, and the Beaufort day trip page for the town itself.
Where The Great Santini was filmed in Beaufort, SC: the Meechum house on the Point, the air station, Pat Conroy's Beaufort and the drive from Hilton Head.
The Prince of Tides cast and who played whom, plus where the 1991 film was shot in Beaufort, SC, on Fripp and St. Helena, and the drive from Hilton Head.
Hilton Head to Beaufort is under an hour: the drive, the waterfront, carriage tours, Penn Center, Old Sheldon Church and Hunting Island.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where was The Big Chill filmed?+
In and around Beaufort, South Carolina, in the summer of 1982. Most of it was shot at Tidalholm, a house on the Point, with scenes on Bay Street and the opening funeral at a church near Varnville.
Can you visit the Big Chill house?+
No. Tidalholm is a private home and is not open to visitors. You can see it from the public street on a walk through the Point; please stay off the grounds.
Is the Big Chill house the same house as The Great Santini?+
Yes. Director Lawrence Kasdan picked Tidalholm for The Big Chill after seeing it in The Great Santini, which was filmed there in 1979.
How far is Beaufort from Hilton Head?+
About 40 miles, roughly an hour’s drive from central Hilton Head with no traffic.
Local guides like this come standard for Guests of Partner Properties — one small part of what a Partner Property gives every guest.
