The Gilded Age Season 2 premiered on HBO tonight, bringing viewers back to the magnificent mansions, titanic townhouses, and sensational sets that made the first season so darn intoxicating. Set in the 1880s, at the height of the titular Gilded Age, the series follows wealthy women fighting over opera boxes, heiresses looking for true love on the marriage mart, and the (mostly) sweet-natured staffs who keep the whole thing going. The Gilded Age Season 2 doesn’t just take us back to the Russell and van Rhijn/Brook homes on 61st street. It also introduces us to a whole new extravagant home, the Russells’ new “cottage” in Newport, Rhode Island, and teases the eventual opening of the iconic Metropolitan Opera House.
The Gilded Age‘s incredible sets were designed by Oscar- and Emmy-winning designer Bob Shaw, who has something of an encyclopedic memory for the historic homes in Newport, Albany, and beyond. He was the one who designed the main entryway set for the Russells’ Manhattan home and he’s the one who has cherry-picked ballrooms, bedrooms, and basements from other historic homes to stand in for the rest of the house.
Searching out “new old mansions” is something Shaw told Decider he thinks about constantly. Even in the “off-season,” he and Gilded Age locations manager Lauri Pitkis are texting each other houses they sea.
“The world that’s open to us more easily is historic properties. There are a lot of private properties that would be appropriate, but it’s harder to find them,” Shaw said. “So we’re constantly sending real estate listings and things to have in our back pocket because I keep saying we need more new old mansions.”
But which old mansions were used in The Gilded Age Season 2? How many grand houses in Newport, Rhode Island have we seen in the series before? And what new New York towns will the series use as 1883 Manhattan, Tuskegee, and beyond as the season goes on? Here’s everything you need to know about where The Gilded Age was filmed…
Many of the locations used in the first season of The Gilded Age appear again for Season 2. Which means that the HBO show returned to Upstate New York, the Hudson Valley and Newport, Rhode Island.
While the Russells’ grand entrance is a set, many rooms in their Manhattan mansion come from interiors split across several mansions in Rhode Island. For instance, the Russells’ ballroom is located in The Breakers, while their bedroom is in Marble House. The house’s expansive downstairs kitchen is located in a house called The Elms, which plays quite a big role in Season 2…
One of the most incredible shots in The Gilded Age Season 2 Episode 1 “You Don’t Even Like Opera,” follows Bertha Russell (Carrie Coon) as she welcomes Ward McAllister (Nathan Lane) to her new Newport “cottage.” The exterior for the home is in fact The Elms and it happens to be a favorite of team behind The Gilded Age.
“The Elms is my favorite house actually in the town,” series creator Julian Fellowes revealed during a recent virtual press conference for The Gilded Age Season 2 “I think it’s an absolute jewel. I’d be happy to move in there on Wednesday.”
Bob Shaw told Decider, “It’s like we say the Elms is the one that’s livable, the one that’s for people.”
Shaw went on to explain that because they’d already used the Elms for its basement, hallways, and Gladys Russell’s (Taissa Farmiga) New York City bedroom, he had to make sure the camera operators never peaked around corners that could ruin the suspension of disbelief.
“When we were shooting there, I kind of [would say], ‘No, no! You can’t see there because that ties to New York!'” Shaw said. “I particularly had to keep everybody honest when they were trying to film on the second floor of The Elms as their new Newport home.”
In addition to returning to Troy, NY for many of the exterior shots in the series, The Gilded Age also discovered new locations for Season 2 in Albany, Cahoes, Long Island, and even in Philadelphia.
If The Gilded Age Season 2 has you itching to visit where the Russells live or to learn more about the architecture of the era, Shaw says Newport, Rhode Island is where to start.
“Well, if they have access to Newport, I would say a trip to Newport is job one. Everyone tells me because I’ve been studying it for so long, including the houses, is that if I ever retire, my retirement career would be Newport tour guide,” Shaw said with a laugh. “But it’s a treasure trove. You’re not going to get such a concentration of that era in one place.”
If a trip to Rhode Island isn’t in the cards for you, Shaw said there are plenty of places to visit, starting in New York City with the Merchant’s House Museum in NoHo. “But I say Newport is essential.”