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Film Locations
'Severance' Film Locations Around New York
This hit show films in the Hudson Valley and New Jersey area!
4 min read
New York’s Hudson Valley has enraptured artists for hundreds of years, from landscape artists in the 1800s to architects who built some of the region's majestic mansions. Now, it’s an inspiration for ‘Severance’ creator Ben Stiller, who set much of the first and second seasons in a snowy version of New York’s Hudson Valley.
Stiller’s mind-bending thriller on Apple TV+ follows several employees at the fictional Lumon Industries who have decided to “sever” their consciousness between their work and home lives. With two distinct personalities occupying the same body, the barren natural landscapes provide a contrast to the bright fluorescent office where the actors spend half their time. Making use of settings in New York and beyond, from a former groundbreaking lab facility and amazing homes in the Hudson Valley to a stunning state park and beloved Catskills diner, the show has been praised for its cinematography and directing.
The Lumon Industries Office - Bell Works, Holmdel, New Jersey
Mark Scout (Adam Scott) and the rest of the Lumon crew pull up to the beautiful Bell Labs building each morning, which serves as the exterior for Lumon Industries. The elliptical campus in Holmdel Township, New Jersey was designed by renowned Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen. Its giant mirrored pools straddle a sleek mid-century glass box.
The facility originally opened in 1962 as a research lab for the Bell Corporation. Over the years its researchers invented lasers, cell phones, and more, earning it a place on the National Register of Historic Places.
The interior gangways cut hard horizontal lines across a massive atrium. The powerful building is the perfect setting for a story about a corporation with near-complete control over its employees' lives.
The building fell into disuse until 2013 when it was revived as a mixed-use commercial space called Bell Works.
Idyllic Hudson Valley Homes
After the “innies” clock out at Bell Labs, the “outies” come home to gorgeous Hudson Valley homes. Mark and Ms. Cobel, played by Patricia Arquette, live in the Village Gate Townhouses in Nyack, high up on a ridge West of the Hudson with views of the river.
Irving, played by John Turtoro, also has an apartment abutting the water, right where Rondout Creek meets the Hudson River in Kingston, New York. The crew shot several other scenes in Kingston, including scenes at the Kingston-Port Ewen Suspension Bridge, Cornell Park, and the Red Owl Collective vintage store.
But the jewel of the bunch is the Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired mid-century modern home where Mark’s sister Devon and her husband Ricken live, played by Jen Tullock and Michael Chernus. Called the Bier House, the home was designed by Kaneji Domoto in 1949. It fits in well with the modern homes of the Usonia Historic District near Pleasantville, New York.
Pip's Bar & Grille - Phoenicia Diner
Any trip upstate isn’t complete without a trip to a diner. Phoenicia Diner is a retro landmark for Ulster County locals. In the show, it’s a frequent haunt of the moody Mark called Pip's Bar & Grille. Its style fits right in with the midcentury, geometric, and clean aesthetic of the architecture in the show.
Goat Room - Marine Park Golf Course, Brooklyn
To make the creepy goat room seen in season two, the cast went to the Marine Park Golf course in Brooklyn. The course, designed by famous golf course architect Robert Trent Jones Sr., has been a staple of the neighborhood since 1963. The show brought in real goats, put up a tent on the course, and added walls and a ceiling in CGI, according to Vulture.
Minnewaska State Park
Image Courtesy of Apple TV+
In last week’s episode, Lumon put their own strange spin on a corporate retreat, taking the team on a camping trip to a frozen lake with stunning vistas. They shot it at Lake Minnewaska, 70 miles North of New York City in the Shawangunk Mountains.
As the characters experience the disorientation of being outside the office for the first time, the high cliffs, barren, snowy landscape, and dramatic vista provide a contrast to the labyrinthian office.
With the sci-fi show so full of twists and turns, who knows where they might shoot next. But the natural beauty of the Hudson Valley and its postcard towns provide plenty of fodder.
Next, read about how ‘Severance’ took the internet by storm with a Grand Central pop-up, or see where other shows like Only Murders in the Building and Succession were filmed in New York.