MAIIM Vision Village: the training center that becomes a tycoon’s home on screen

When I watch a new drama, the house feels familiar to me first. Although the actors and company names have changed, the scenery between the wide windows, the garden, and the buildings seems like something I've seen before somewhere. The house where the main character of another work lived became the background for another character this time.

Of course, not all chaebols in dramas live in the same house. However, there are actual locations that are used repeatedly in several works. MAIIM Vision Village, located in Yeoju, Gyeonggi-do, is a corporate training center that has been used as a residential background in several dramas.

It's not actually the Chairman's house.

MAIIM's official history records the connection between 《Secret Garden》 in 2010, 《What's Wrong with Secretary Kim》 in 2018, and MAIIM Vision Village. The official ‘Drama and MAIIM’ material also introduces cases where Gam House, a pond, and a zelkova tree appeared in “Tomorrow’s Cantabile.”

The real use of the site differs from the home shown on screen. MAIIM explains this as a corporate training center. It is not even announced as a tourist destination that the general public can freely visit. It is easy to think that it is a place you can visit just by looking at the name of the filming location, but there is an original purpose of use and management beyond the screen.

The fact that it was filmed in the same complex does not mean that all scenes were filmed in the same room. The exterior and interior of a work can be composed of different locations, and several buildings and gardens can be edited to resemble a person's house. The address of the filming location and the boundary of the house in the story do not always match.

Space itself can suggest wealth

A home can convey wealth without showing expensive furniture. You can see your own garden beyond the window, the distance from the dining table to the sofa is long, and even when you go outside the building, the next house’s wall is not immediately beside you. The space that exceeds the area necessary for daily life can become an expression of wealth on the screen.

In the official episode introduction of What's Wrong with Secretary Kim, Youngjun's house is described as a place where Miso frequents for work, but also as a space that feels unfamiliar when invited. Even if it is the same house, entering for work and entering as a personal guest carry different meanings. The large house serves as a setting while also conveying the distance between the characters.

This reading of space is the editor's interpretation of architecture. It has not been confirmed that a specific production team chose the location for this very reason. Explanations that it was repeatedly selected due to filming schedule, cost, or accessibility cannot be given as a reason for individual works without first-party data.

Familiar place, new story

MAIIM Vision Village's filming history shows that each building does not play only one role. The space that companies use for education is transformed into a home that contains someone's daily life and relationships in the drama. The change includes not only the architecture, but also the direction of the camera, the order of scenes, and the way the characters stay.

The moment you recognize the house again, you see the space behind the actor one more time. The pond and window, which were previously the background, remain as actual places that crossed between various stories. Even when the fictional chairman changes, what remains the same is the memory of the house, and what changes are the stories of the people in it.