Story: The Beautiful Lake House in Illinois
On a crisp morning, Kate Foster (Sandra Bullock), with her chic short hair, was about to leave the beautiful lakeside house in Illinois and head to work at the busy Chicago hospital. Unwilling to leave this spacious and bright place, where she could even see the lake view from inside the house, Kate left a note in the mailbox outside when she departed. She hoped that the next occupant of the house would get in touch with her. In the letter, she also explained that the indelible claw marks on the front door had already existed when she moved in, hoping that the new resident wouldn't mind them.
The next tenant of the lakeside house, Alex Wyler (Keanu Reeves), is a gifted but directionless architect. The house has special significance for Alex; it was designed by his famous architect father whom he hadn't seen for many years. In Alex's eyes, the long-neglected house was completely abandoned: covered in dust, overgrown with weeds, and without the claw marks on the front door that Kate had mentioned.
While packing up and renovating the house, Alex began to enjoy the unexpected tranquility of the beautiful lakeside setting. However, he paid no attention to the note left by Kate. It wasn't until days later, when a stray dog accidentally stepped on the freshly painted breakwater he had just finished, leaving the very claw marks on the front door that Kate had mentioned, that a puzzled Alex finally decided to write back and inquire how Kate knew about the fresh dog paw prints on the otherwise untouched house. Through their correspondence, they discussed trivial matters, hopes, disappointments, and everything else. They also discovered that they were separated by two years of time and space. The only connection between the two, who gradually fell in love, was the mailbox standing beside the lakeside house...