6. Lyndhurst Mansion
A luncheon Marian attends with her aunt Ada, Mrs. Astor, Mrs. Fane, and Cornelius Eckhart at Mrs. Morris’ house is filmed in one of the rooms in Lyndhurst Mansion in Tarrytown, New York. Other rooms at Lyndhurst are also used for places in Mrs. Morris’ house, as well as a scene where an art auction takes place as a fundraiser for the Red Cross. As described by Emma Gencarelli, the Film, Photography, and collections Coordinator at Lyndhurst, the shooting took place in 2019 over a period of five weeks and was the largest production to date filmed at the historic mansion.
The work to transform the mansion into the set included removing and storing all the existing furniture and protect the walls and floors of the historic house. As part of the production, the Gilded Age set design team actually fixed up some of the wear and tear that had occurred in the house before — an added perk for the museum! As Gencerelli writes for The National Trust for Historic Preservation, “It’s truly a once-in-a-lifetime and thrilling process to see Lyndhurst go from a museum to a living, breathing set for a historic period drama. What was once a static and frozen-in-time space becomes alive with the energy of people, clothing, and objects that so arduously reflect the very history that we as a museum strive to recollect for visitors.”