Where was ‘Verity’ filmed? Inside the real location behind its ominous lakeside mansion
The house in ‘Verity’ holds plenty of secrets, starting with its address: that lakeside Vermont mansion is actually in New York. ‘Verity’ arrived in theaters on October 2, bringing Colleen Hoover’s novel to the screen with Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson and Josh Hartnett. The story takes Johnson’s Lowen Ashleigh from New York City to a lakeside home in rural Vermont. The production, however, stayed in New York. Its locations combine a real residence north of Manhattan with city businesses and studio sets that complete the Crawford family’s home.
Lowen accepts a job finishing the book series of Verity Crawford, played by Hathaway, after an accident leaves the author incapacitated. Jeremy Crawford, played by Hartnett, invites her to stay while reviewing his wife’s notes. There, Lowen discovers a manuscript that raises questions about the family’s past. The home where she works and stays is central to that mystery, and its exterior belongs to an existing property.
The Crawford residence is Beckoning Path in Armonk, Westchester County, also known as the Nierenberg House. Danish designer Jens Quistgaard designed it for Martha and Ted Nierenberg, the founders of homeware company Dansk, in the early 1960s. The property now operates as a private wellness retreat. It also includes a swimming pool and a tai chi studio. Its lakeside setting allowed the filmmakers to establish the Crawfords’ Vermont home without shooting at a residence in that state.
The house has an angular roofline, V-shaped windows and interiors featuring wood and stone. Location manager Elizabeth Krekel explained the search in production notes quoted by Condé Nast Traveler, "I was looking for something modern and ominous because that's how it's written." The crew added walls and bookshelves, while using the property’s kitchen and several other rooms. Filming also returned to the lake during summer for a canoe sequence, although much of the movie takes place in winter.
Not every room viewers see belongs to Beckoning Path. Verity’s bedroom, bathroom and office were recreated at Broadway Stages in Glendale, Queens. That means the home on screen combines the Armonk property with spaces built for the production. The office, where Lowen examines Verity’s work, is among the sets that extend the residence beyond its actual layout.
Architectural Digest Middle East’s report describes the office’s semicircular chrome desk, silver coffee table and salmon-pink seating stating this layout points to her imagined audience as they read stories she writes. Mirrors also open to reveal bookcases. Director Michael Showalter and Hathaway contributed to the office’s design. The room was constructed on a soundstage rather than situated inside the real house. The bedroom seen on screen includes a fireplace against a brick wall, wooden steps and jade-toned sofas, as AD reports.
Lowen’s bookstore reading was filmed at Books Are Magic in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. Her encounter with Jeremy takes place around Pershing Square, near Grand Central, with the crash sequence filmed at Park Avenue and East 41st Street. The subsequent publishing meeting used the real Hachette Book Group offices. The crew redecorated them with framed covers of Verity’s fictional books, and Hoover appears as the receptionist.
The locations continue into the characters’ meals and memories. Lowen meets her agent, Corey, at Rolo’s in Ridgewood, Queens, while Verity and Jeremy’s first meeting appears in a flashback filmed at Laissez Faire inside Manhattan’s Beekman Hotel. Jeremy’s birthday dinner with Lowen was shot at Zum Stammtisch in Glendale. Although the novel places that meal in an Italian restaurant, the film uses the Bavarian venue, adding another Queens location to its version of Vermont.
