Inside the Real-Life ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ Town—and Its Impressive Hollywood History

“The Summer I Turned Pretty” has finally made its long-awaited return to the small screen, taking fans back to the idyllic Cousins Beach for another season of romantic twists and turns.

The hit Prime Video series, which debuted in June 2022, is based on a book series of the same name by author Jenny Han and focuses on the lives (and loves) of three main characters: Belly, played by actress Lola Tung, and brothers Conrad, played by Christopher Briney, and Jeremiah, played by Gavin Casalegno.

Each summer, the trio spends the warmer months soaking up the sunshine at a stunning beach house owned by Jeremiah and Conrad’s family in the town of Cousins Beach.

Amid the typical—and not-so-typical—teenage dramas that the central characters endure, they also experience elements of what appears to be the perfect summer setting in the fictional town.

Picture barbecues on the sand, bike rides around a quaint town, fun-filled parties by the ocean, and cocktails in front of the pool.

Sound too good to be true? That’s probably because it is … sort of.

In reality, Cousins Beach does not exist, having been dreamed up by Han to serve as an imaginary, yet very picturesque, backdrop to the love triangle that unfolds among Belly, Conrad, and Jeremiah.

However those seeking their own slice of that paradise shouldn’t be too discouraged, because the setting for the series, though imaginary in name, is a very real place.

“The Summer I Turned Pretty” was primarily shot on location in Wilmington, NC, not far from where Han attended college at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

“Cousins is inspired by a lot of different beaches,” she told Today.com in 2022, adding that the main inspiration for the town came from Cape Cod in Massachusetts, where she spent time while writing the book. Other locations such as Martha’s Vineyard and The Hamptons were also used to create what would eventually become Cousins Beach.

But it was North Carolina—and Wilmington in particular—that was chosen as the ultimate filming location, having also served as the set of other Hollywood projects, including “Dawson’s Creek,” “Scream,” “Sleepy Hollow,” “One Tree Hill,” and “The Conjuring.”

Multiple locations in and around the city were used as sets for “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” including the picturesque property that featured as the exterior of Conrad and Jeremiah’s family home.

In real life, that dwelling, which was chosen for its Cape Cod-esque aesthetic, is located inside an exclusive gated community called Porters Neck Plantation.

The property boasts five bedrooms, six bathrooms, a stunning backyard with a private swimming pool, and a dock.

The home need several updates to ensure it fit the vision that the authors and producers had in mind, series location manager Lindsay Fort previously told People.

“It had to have that cedar shake on it because [Han] wanted that Cape Cod Northeast look,” Fort revealed, adding that the crew removed several palm trees from the grounds and added a “bunch of hydrangeas” to give it the right aesthetic.

“Our greens department literally transformed the landscape around the house. I think we bought every last hydrangea plant in the state,” production designer Teresa Mastropierro noted.

As for the interior of the house, any scenes shot inside the property were actually filmed on a soundstage in Wilmington, where set designers created what they believed to be the perfect Cousins Beach dwelling.

Sadly for devoted fans of the series, the property that was used in filming is privately owned, having last traded hands in 2011, when it sold for $1.5 million. This means that the dwelling is not available to visit—nor is it visible on Google Maps’ street view.

However, there are plenty of other very public places in Wilmington that are accessible to those eager for their own “The Summer I Turned Pretty” experience.

Multiple beaches were used during filming of the show, including Carolina Beach, Kure Beach, and Wrightsville Beach, while scenes depicting the country club that many of the teen characters frequent and/or work at were shot at the Cape Fear Country Club and the local St. Mary Catholic School.

Several stores in the town of Wilmington also feature in the show, such as in one scene in which Belly seeks out a debutante dress.