Where to see locations used for HBO’s The Gilded Age, period drama series about clash of old-money New York and crazy rich newcomers
- The Gilded Age, set in 1880s New York high society, was filmed upstate and in Newport, Rhode Island, and on sets inspired by actual buildings you can visit
- Central Park, Hudson Valley and the interiors of mansions – summer houses for the super-rich – all appear in the drama by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes
After two years of travel restrictions to curb the spread of coronavirus, escape the frustrations by being transported to opulent New York, circa 1880.
That’s the premise of The Gilded Age, a new HBO period drama revolving around high society and taking in swanky settings from the Upper East Side, Manhattan to Newport, Rhode Island.
Central to the plot are the newly rich and ruthlessly ambitious Russells, a railroad tycoon and his wife determined to break into New York society. Trying to keep them out are the existing elite, including their neighbour on Fifth Avenue, Agnes van Rhijn.
The series was filmed on location and using sets inspired by actual buildings, several of which are open to the public.
For many of the Manhattan settings, shooting took place in upstate New York and Rhode Island.
The Gilded Age is a showcase for the brilliance of Beaux Arts New York
Preserved 19th century mansions in Newport, Rhode Island – summer houses for the super-rich in the literal Gilded Age – provided the backdrop for many of the show’s high-society scenes.
The two most ostentatious are The Breakers (which reopened to the public on January 10) and Marble House (which will reopen on February 5), both built for Vanderbilts and designed by an eminent architect of the era, Richard Morris Hunt.
The flamboyant interiors of both stand in for the Russells’ Fifth Avenue “palace”. So extravagant are the designs that they’re reminiscent of the Palace of Versailles in Paris, as van Rhijn’s butler remarks in the television series.
Morris Hunt designed many Fifth Avenue palaces that no longer stand, but his “cottages” (as the rich quaintly called their Rhode Island retreats) have been preserved, thanks to the Preservation Society of Newport County.
Filming also took place at neighbouring mansions along Bellevue Avenue. These include Chateau-sur-Mer, another Morris Hunt creation and the most grand of the Newport residences, at least until the Vanderbilts’ commissions came along, and Rosecliffe (which will reopen to the public in May), by society architect Stanford White, who Fellowes has creating the fictitious Russell home in Manhattan.
At the other end of the scale, the capacious “below stairs” of Bellevue Avenue’s The Elms stand in for the Russell family’s rather splendid servants’ kitchen. A Servant Life Tour of these quarters will be offered when the house is again open to the public, in April.
Among locations used in New York state is Lyndhurst Mansion, in the Hudson Valley. The Gothic Revival mansion overlooking the Hudson river, near Tarrytown, is an easy day trip from New York. The aforementioned Gould bought the estate in 1880 as a retreat after “summering” there for many years.
The grounds were inspired by European royal estates and featured the largest private greenhouse at the time. Among the highlights of a visit to the mansion is Gould’s orchid collection, which still grows in that greenhouse.
Further up the Hudson Valley, Troy substitutes for several exteriors in Manhattan. The town’s many mid-19th century buildings made it perfect for filming The Gilded Age, production designer Bob Shaw told the Times Union newspaper.
Like parts of New York, Troy was an affluent conurbation in the late 19th century and today its downtown historic district is defined by its independent cafes, shops and restaurants.
Filming took place in the historic district from River Street to Washington Park, including the brownstone houses of Second and Third streets. The buildings around Monument Square were dressed as period shops, with the oldest surviving one, The Cannon Building, dating back to 1835, made to look like Bloomingdale’s department store.
The white-marble-fronted Hart Cluett Museum, on Second Street, originally commissioned by a wealthy banker as a house for his daughter and now showcasing local history, also makes an appearance in the series. The Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, also on Second Street, stands in for the (now defunct) Academy of Music in New York, where the old guard elite are seen enjoying a symphony in the series.
Not much filming took place in New York itself because of practical constraints, although Central Park makes an appearance – Bethesda Terrace and Fountain, in the centre of the park, near the lake, to be precise.
The Angel of the Waters statue, at the top of the fountain, was created by sculptor Emma Stebbins and was the first public artwork by a woman seen in New York, a fact one Gilded Age character new to New York gleans from his guide book.
Bethesda Terrace was built in the 1860s partly as an architectural feature, partly as a public meeting place. People still meet there today.
The Gilded Age is streamed on HBO Go every Tuesday
