The Lovecraft Country House & the Ardham Massachusetts Town Filming Locations

Posted by Ra Moon

Lovecraft Country is a story of racism in the United States mixed with H. P. Lovecraft-inspired otherworldly horror monsters.

Set in the 1950's Jim Crow America, the series is an adaptation of the 2016 dark fantasy horror novel by Matt Ruff of the same name.

The story revolves around a young black man, Atticus Freeman (Jonathan Majors), his Uncle George (Courtney B. Vance), and his childhood friend Letitia (Jurnee Smollett), embarked on a road trip across the country to Ardham, Massachusetts, in search of his missing father (Michael Kenneth Williams). Jordan Peele (Get Out, Us), and J. J. Abrams are also involved in this project, which started shooting in 2018.

Lovecraft Country is partially set and filmed in Chicago and several towns in Illinois. Some major sections of the show were also recorded in Georgia.

Welcome to our spoiler-free guide to the filming locations of this highly anticipated HBO production:

Where was Lovecraft Country filmed?

Film crews transformed the area at West 18th Street and S Laflin St in the Pilsen neighborhood into the 1950s' Chicago.

George's bookstore and workshop is located in one of the corners. The facades of some storefronts were completely modified to resemble the look of decades ago.

(You can open all the locations on Google Maps by clicking on the links below in the captions ↴)
Image courtesy of HBO - Chicago / Bar

The Denmark Vesey's Bar under the South Side Rapid Transit Railroad "L" tracks (short for "elevated"), is the L&L Tavern at 3207 N Clark in Lake View.

Image courtesy of HBO - Map

In the first episode, the trio does a detour into the fictional town of Simmonsville, to check out a diner featured in The Safe Negro Travel Guide.

This scene was filmed in the small town of Elburn, Illinois, which has preserved many period buildings in Downtown's Main Street.

The restaurant is actually called Old Elburn Hall.

Image courtesy of HBO and Google Maps

Before that, the travelers stopped briefly in Woodstock (McHenry County) to film a scene on Main Street.

Local media also reported that the series was filming in Hebron, La Salle, and Marengo.

The studio work took place at Cinespace Film Studios in Chicago and Blackhall Studios in Atlanta.
Image courtesy of HBO - Map

The scenes in the woods in Devon County were shot at White Pines Forest State Park, located in the heart of the Rock River valley and the Black Hawk Indian country in Mount Morris (Illinois).

The 385-acre park, established in 1924, is known for hosting the southernmost remaining stand of native white pine trees.

The scene of the group walking covered in blood after the nightmarish experience in the cabin was filmed at Haralson Mill Wooden Covered Bridge near Conyers, Georgia.
Image courtesy of HBO - Park / Bridge

Does Mr. Titus Braithwhite's Lodge ring a bell? If you watched the Netflix hit horror series The Haunting of Hill House you may have recognized the Bisham Manor in LaGrange, Georgia.

The English Tudor-style home was enlarged via CGI for the Lovecraftian series. Built in the 1920s and extensively refurbished between 1997 and 2002, this private residence was used as a wedding venue for a few years.

The new owners contacted us to clarify that the house has returned to its original 1920’s name, Alta Vista. Australian actress and model Abbey Lee plays Christina Braithwhite, daughter of the Sons of Adam leader, Samuel (Tony Goldwyn).

Image courtesy of HBO and Google Maps

If The Haunting of Hill House interiors were mostly a set constructed in a soundstage, this time the Lovecraft Country series made use of the hall and the oaken staircase of Bisham Manor for filming (upper picture).

The rooms, corridors, and the glass-domed ceremony hall of the Order of Ancient Dawn lodge (lower picture) were built in a studio.

The collapsing house seems a crossover with Edgar Allan Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher.

Image courtesy of HBO and Google Maps

In episode 3, Leti buys a 13 rooms run-down mansion in Chicago called the Winthrop House.

We also immediately recognized the remarkable Parrott-Camp-Soucy House as soon as we saw it - The House with a Clock in Its Walls 2018 movie filmed the exteriors of the enchanted magic mansion in this magnificent 1840's Second Empire-style Victorian estate.

Looking like something out of a fairy tale, this is one of the most photographed houses in Georgia.

Located at 155 Greenville Street South in Newnan Atlanta, this private property home was also featured in the 2012 Disney movie The Odd Life of Timothy Green.

Image courtesy of HBO and Google Maps

In episode four, the family trip to Boston in search of the valuable pages of the Book of Names.

The museum was filmed in the Healey Building in Atlanta, an impressive 1917 Gothic Revival skyscraper located in the Fairlie-Poplar district.

The Indiana Jones-style scenes in the Titus Braithwhite wing were shot in the dramatic Atrium hall of this magnificent 16-story building.
Image courtesy of HBO and Google Maps

The Marshall Field and Company store is the triangular 18-story skyscraper Hurt Building in Atlanta.
Image courtesy of HBO and Google Maps

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