How Netflix’s ‘The Four Seasons’ Transformed the Hudson Valley Into Italy, Philadelphia and the Jersey Shore

When location manager Matt Lamb cruises the back roads of New York’s Hudson Valley, he’s not just sightseeing—he’s mentally casting trees, lakes and Victorian homes in an imaginary film. That instinct turned the region into a chameleon for Netflix’s The Four Seasons, a dramedy that recently dropped its second season. In one episode, a luxury estate in Fishkill becomes a snowy Italian escape; in another, a nursing school in Newburgh doubles as a Philadelphia hospital. The scenic stretch, just an hour north of Manhattan, has proven it can convincingly mimic everything from the Jersey Shore to the Italian Alps.

A Series of Emotional Journeys—and Geographic Leaps

The Four Seasons, created by Tina Fey and inspired by Alan Alda’s 1981 film, follows a tight-knit group of friends who take quarterly vacations together. After the devastating death of Nick (Steve Carell) in Season 1, the surviving characters—Kate (Fey), Jack (Will Forte), Danny (Colman Domingo), Claude (Marco Calvani) and Anne (Kerri Kenney-Silver)—try to maintain their bond by continuing the tradition. This season, they’re joined by Ginny (Erika Henningsen), Nick’s pregnant girlfriend.

The show’s emotional weight is matched by its logistical ambition. Each episode demands a new vacation spot, yet the production team often stays within the Hudson Valley to fill multiple roles. It’s a sleight of hand that requires sharp eyes, deep local knowledge and a bit of movie magic.

Matt Lamb: The Man Behind the Locations

Lamb, who has also scouted for Girls5Eva, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Elementary, says the Hudson Valley’s variety is its secret weapon. “What’s so great is that there’s such a wide array of different places to shoot at,” he explains. For Season 2, his team needed a lakeside retreat, a motel, a hiking trail, a beach boardwalk, a hospital and an Italian piazza—all within driving distance of New York City.

Cold Spring and Lake Oscawana returned as the lake house setting, with Lamb praising the area’s “picturesque” scenery and welcoming locals. “It really feels like you’re deep in the Adirondacks,” he says. Meanwhile, the Blue Fox Motel in Narrowsburg became the backdrop for a poignant episode where the group scatters Nick’s ashes. The owners were so accommodating that production spent five weeks there, including 10 days of filming.

But the motel scenes required some geographic trickery: the hiking sequences were shot at Bear Mountain, 90 minutes east. “There was just something so breathtaking about the mountains and the range there,” Lamb recalls.

From Fishkill to Italy: The Art of Location Doubling

Perhaps the season’s most audacious transformation is Willow Lake in Fishkill, a luxury estate that steps in for the Italian Alps. The cast and crew did travel to Trento, Italy, filming at Buonconsiglio Castle, the Christmas market and the restaurant Osteria a le Due Spade. But scheduling constraints forced the team to shoot additional Italian scenes back in New York.

Willow Lake, which Lamb had eyed for Season 1, proved the perfect stand-in. “It is such a beautiful property—it’s so picturesque inside,” he says. “It just looks cinematic.” The estate’s grand interiors and snowy grounds convincingly evoke northern Italy, proving that the Hudson Valley can be whatever the script demands.

Elsewhere, the Jersey Shore exteriors were filmed on location, but interior scenes were shot in historic homes on Newburgh’s Grand Street. A nursing school at Mount Saint Mary College became a Philadelphia hospital, thanks to location scouts Chris LeStrange and Christina Cominelli, who knew the city’s architectural gems.

Why the Hudson Valley Is a Producer’s Dream

Lamb’s career illustrates a broader industry trend: the Hudson Valley has become a go-to filming hub due to its proximity to New York City, tax incentives, and extraordinary scenic diversity. In addition to The Four Seasons, he has used the region to stand in for Texas, Missouri, Kansas and even a South Dakota Indian reservation. “You tell me what you want, the chances are we’ll find it in the Hudson Valley somewhere,” he says.

This flexibility saves production budgets and travel time, while delivering high production value. The area’s mix of mountains, lakes, small towns, historic mansions, beaches and universities allows filmmakers to swap continents without leaving the state. For The Four Seasons, that means Kate, Jack and the gang can grieve, laugh and heal against backdrops that feel authentically diverse—even when they’re just a few miles apart.

What This Means for Fans and the Industry

For viewers, the show’s location sleight-of-hand is invisible—a testament to the craft behind the credits. For aspiring location managers, Lamb’s work demonstrates how creative problem-solving turns logistical constraints into narrative assets. And for the Hudson Valley itself, The Four Seasons is another feather in its cap. As streaming services continue to demand fresh, cost-effective locales, regions like this will only grow in importance.

The road ahead for location scouting is one of endless transformation. If a Fishkill estate can double for the Italian Alps, what can’t this stretch of New York become? As Lamb puts it, the only limit is the imagination—and a good gas tank.

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