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Comedy prodigy Ben Stiller did a total 180 and had a hand in directing the creepy thriller series Severance, all about the horrors of the workplace – very relatable stuff, he is a man of the people. With an amazing cast of Adam Scott, Britt Lower, Zach Cherry, and more, the drama show definitely makes you think and squirm a little bit, and while you may not want to actually dive into this world, the Severance filming locations are pretty special. Let’s explore!
Where was Severance filmed?
Apple TV’s hit dystopian show Severance was filmed in various locations across the US, in the states of New York and New Jersey, and Canada.
Severance filming locations season 1
Season 1 of Severance was filmed in locations around New York and New Jersey, as well as in studios in New York City.
1. Lumon Industries
The main setting for Severance, it was obviously very important for the producers of the show to get this right. The exteriors were depicted using shots of Bell Works in Holmdel, New Jersey. The massive opaque glass walls create that oppressive atmosphere, perfect to represent the ‘innie’ lives our cast of Adam Scott and Britt Lower experience. In reality, though, Bell Works is quite pleasant! It’s a leisure place for the town.
While some of the interiors at Lumon Industries were also filmed in Bell Works, the eerily empty floors of the interiors of the workplace were created on sets at York Studios in the Bronx, New York.
2. The Perpetuity Wing
This mysterious floor of Lumon Industries operates as a little bit of a museum, showcasing the company’s history and the enigmatic Eagan family who founded it, and the town of Kier. Well, if you thought it looked like a real certified museum, you’d be correct! This portion of Severance was filmed at the Hudson River Museum in Yonkers, New York. The museum in real life houses art galleries, history and science exhibits, and even boasts a planetarium!
But wait superfans, the best part is yet to come: you can actually visit a replica of the Eagan house at the Hudson River Museum! Step inside and take a small guided tour.
3. Kier
Kier’s bleak and snowy landscapes were captured along a few different locations in the Hudson Valley. The massive steel Kingston–Port Ewen Suspension Bridge, also known as the Wurts Street Bridge, features on Mark’s walk home and this Severance filming location can be found in Ulster County, New York. It’s fairly hard to miss as the bridge is pretty huge and also locally iconic.
Downtown Kier itself was mostly filmed in and around the town of Beacon in New York state.
Image source:Jay Bhadreshwara / unsplash
4. Baird Creek Manor
Under any other circumstances, the Baird Creek Manor lot might appear quite charming with the duck egg blue interiors and the quiet surroundings, but in Severance, the residential area is pretty… uninspiring. Well, in reality, these houses make up the Village Gate Townhouses in Nyack, around a half hour drive outside of New York City (if you can beat traffic).
The houses are on a hill which overlooks the Hudson River, and the neighbourhood in real life is actually quite charming and cosy.
5. Bier House
The gorgeous mid-century modern house in the woods (it’s giving Twilight’s Cullen House vibes) is thankfully a real Severance filming location, and you can find it in Pleasantville, New York. Where specifically? Usonia Historic District – a very regal name for a regal place. In the show, this house fills in for Bier House, where Ricken and Devon live.
For all you architecture geeks, you may be interested to know that this house was designed by Kaneji Domoto, a famous architect who designed most of the neighbourhood, using the Organic style first created by Frank Lloyd Wright. Honestly, even if you aren’t a Severance fan, this area is well worth a visit. You can pretend you’re a writer for Architectural Digest!
6. Pip’s Bar and Grille
In the first episode of Severance, Mark is invited to dine in the VIP section of Pip’s Bar and Grille, where he meets Petey and kickstarts some very important events… In the show the grill has that same eerie and sterile quality that everything else has, but in reality, this place is a cosy classic American diner! You can visit and have a delicious lunch at the Phoenicia Diner.
Severance filming locations season 2
Several Severance filming locations return for season 2 of the show such as Bell Works and the Village Gate Townhouses, but the cast and crew have opened up the filming into Canada as well!
1. Salt’s Neck
In season 2, episode 8, we head to a place called Salt’s Neck, which is where Harmony Cobel is from. This episode is filled with lots of important backstory about her and Lumon, so getting the vibes right was very much necessary. To get the cold, spacious, and gloomy vibes, the crew headed to various towns in Canada’s Newfoundland and Labrador region, specifically Bonavista, Keels, and Port Union – which are all charming in real life!
Image source:Zach Wear / unsplash
2. Woe’s Hallow
Well, the name really speaks for itself, doesn’t it? The main characters head here for a team-building exercise of all things, and while the activities are questionable, the surrounds are undeniably beautiful. Filming the Woe’s Hallow sequences was quite a challenge, but they managed, and used Minnewaska State Park Preserve in Ulster County, New York, for the tent and trekking scenes, and the nearby Awosting Falls for the waterfall scene.
John Turturro, aka Irving, had a dream sequence which included a Lumon office on the top of a mountain, and this was filmed in the forests around Sam’s Point.
3. The Goat Room
Did you, like many others, think the Goat Room at Lumon Industries was a CGI set? Well, there is a set element to it, but it was actually filmed at the Marine Park Golf Course in Brooklyn, New York. Production designer Jeremy Hindle revealed that they built the room with walls around the golf course and this apparently took months to put together. And the goats? Yes, they were actually there too!
