FIVE FUN FACTS FROM FILMING AT CHASE FARM IN LINCOLN . BY KAITLYN MURRAY
KATHY HARTLEY HAS TWO CLAIMS TO FAME IN LINCOLN : She is the director of the Hearthside House Museum and Great Road Heritage Campus , and is a descendant of the Chase family who owned and farmed the land at Chase Farm for more than a century before the town purchased it in 1979 . Both of these earned her special access and an insider look at Hocus Pocus 2 filming at Chase Farm .
FAITH , TRUST AND FAIRY DUST It all started with a mysterious email from Fairy Dust Productions in June 2021 . “ They used a Gmail account and wrote , ‘ We have a great filming opportunity for Hearthside if you ’ re interested to have a major feature come in ,’” Hartley recalls . “ I ’ m like ‘ Yeah , right , Fairy Dust ?’ But I played along .” She scheduled a visit for two days later . “ The scout couldn ’ t have spent more than fifteen minutes going through the house ,” she continues . “ But before she left , I asked , ‘ What ’ s the movie ?’ And she said , ‘ It ’ s Hocus Pocus 2 .’”
Hartley hadn ’ t seen the original film at the time , but she was familiar with the Sanderson sisters and knew they were from 1600s Salem , a different era from Hearthside ’ s nineteenthcentury origins . The scout assured her , though , that they were looking for houses that could be used for modern-day scenes .
“ As she ’ s leaving , I say , ‘ Well , just so you know , we have other sites available if this doesn ’ t work out . We have a blacksmith ’ s shop and an old mill down the street . And if that doesn ’ t interest you , think of eighty-five acres of pristine land ,’” Hartley says . “ She said , ‘ I ’ ll let my producer know .’ A week goes by and then I hear , ‘ Oh my God , the director drove down Great Road , saw Chase Farm and fell in love .’”
That ’ s all it took . Disney got in touch with the town , secured the proper filming permits and the trailers began arriving on Aug . 18 , 2021 . Hearthside House provided large tents for the crew to use , and between that involvement and Hartley ’ s management of historic properties on the farm , she was granted daily access to the site .
“ Everyone went out of their way to make my time there special ,” she says . “ My grandfather , Benjamin Chase , really loved Disney . On Sunday nights he would invite neighbors over and we would sit and watch ‘ The Wonderful World of Disney ’ with the fireworks in color over Magic Kingdom . Throughout this whole thing , I ’ m saying , ‘ He ’ d get such a kick out of this , that Disney came to his house and did a major movie here .’”
THREE MONTHS FOR THREE MINUTES The production team needed a rural space to recreate seventeenth-century Salem Village , aka the Sanderson sisters ’ hometown . Though the eight or so buildings were mostly facades , Hartley says it took three months to construct .
“ Each one was different and from a different time period , just like how today a neighborhood will have houses built in different years . The Sanderson ’ s house was a very early cottage while the reverend ’ s was much more elegant ,” she says .
The Sanderson sisters ’ house was the only one on the lot that was completely furnished .
“ I met the art director , and it was his responsibility to make everything realistic . They went to local antique stores and outfitted the whole thing . The care and detail included actually flying in an expert from Ireland who constructed the thatched roof ,” Hartley says .
82 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l OCTOBER 2022