Where Was ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ Filmed? Visit the Dreamy Beaches That Brought Cousins to Life
Yes, you can visit Cousins Beach—here’s where 'The Summer I Turned Pretty' was really filmed!
Belly (Lola Tung) and Susannah (Rachel Blanchard) may have deeply believed in the magic of the fictional beach town of Cousins, but their love of the coastal community has bled through to the viewers as well. Cousins is the picture-perfect location for a dreamy summer vacation, one that will make you long to visit the stunning town.
While Cousins Beach itself was created solely for the setting of the drama The Summer I Turned Pretty, there are a few actual filming locations you can head to, as well as towns that served as inspiration for Belly’s favorite place. Find out where The Summer I Turned Pretty was filmed and whether you can take a trip to see some of these fan-favorite locations.
Where was ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ filmed?
If you think you recognize a few locations in the series, you’d be correct. The show was filmed throughout North Carolina, specifically in the Wilmington and Cape Fear regions. Wilmington is a well-known filming location for major television series, including Dawson’s Creek, One Tree Hill, A Walk To Remember (2002) and I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997).
Locations used throughout The Summer I Turned Pretty filming are actual spots that you can visit. The idyllic beach house where Belly and the boys spent their days playing, and the moms planned their perfect Fourth of July parties, is an actual home that served as the exterior shots for the show. The Fisher family vacation home is located in a private, gated golf community called Porters Neck Plantation. The home, however, is a private residence and cannot be visited by fans. Interior scenes were shot on sound stages at Screen Gems Studios in Wilmington.
Visit Cousins Beach in real life
When Belly made her way to the stunning Country Club where that debutante scene was filmed, the actress was actually heading over to a real country club. The exterior and some of the indoor scenes were filmed at Cape Fear Country Club. However, the debutante ball was filmed inside nearby St. Mary Catholic School in Wilmington.
As for Whale of a Tale Bookshop, where Laurel (Jackie Chung) held her book party, those scenes were filmed at Papercut Books, which is located in downtown Wilmington. Similarly, the iconic boardwalk scenes from Season 2 were filmed at both the Carolina Beach Boardwalk as well as the Jungle Rapids Family Fun Park.
Visit the towns that inspired Cousins Beach
Cousins Beach was created from an amalgam of different East Coast beach towns, all of which offered something to create the idyllic community. If you’ve been hoping to find your own Cousins Beach or something similar, you may want to pay these stunning locations a visit.
The Summer I Turned Pretty was inspired by locations that include Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts and the Hamptons in New York, to name a few. And Jenny Han, the author and showrunner for the drama series, wanted it to feel exactly like an East Coast summer.
“Cousins is inspired by a lot of different beaches,” Han shared. “I borrowed something from all those beaches.”
In fact, Han spent time writing the original book while in Cape Cod, which makes sense considering the world she created. Of course, you can find other towns that deliver a feeling similar to the one given by Cousins, including Cape May, New Jersey or Outer Banks, North Carolina. But even if you don’t frequent any East Coast beaches, you can still live the Cousins life wherever you are.
“I think it’s why these books have really resonated with people all over,” Han explained. “Everybody has a beach they’ve been to as a kid, so people in Sweden or in Vietnam can imagine their own.”
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