I always wished they showed more of the grounds but it was filmed in a studio in NY They did seem on the
earlier shows to show more of the outside and did film some in Essex Ct does anyone know why they stopped?
was it the expense? That was one of the nice things
about the movies the scenes of the outdoors!
jennifer
Several locations scenes were shot in the spring of 1966 before production on the TV series began in the NY studio. These included scenes of various cast members at Seaview Terrace (Collinwood), the beach, the cliffwalks and at the Black Pearl Restaurant (Blue Whale) in Newport, Rhode Island.
Scenes of the docks, main street, fishing fleet offices, the Griswold Inn (Collinsport Inn) and the Evans cottage were also shot at this time in Essex, CT. All of these location scenes were worked into the first 13 weeks of the series and were mostly exhausted by the time this period was up.
In the second 13 week cycle Dan Curtis introduced the spooky "Old House" and the exterior for this was located in Tarrytown, NY, adjacent to the Lyndhurst Estate (which represented Collinwood in the two DS movies). At this point a less expensive location shoot was done, since Tarrytown isn't too far from the NY studio where the series was shot. These scenes were also exhausted within the 13 week cycle they were intended for. This was also the last time they ventured out for location shots.
My source for this, of course, is the "DS On Location" tape w/Nancy Barrett as tour guide. DS had eventually created a "world of its own" and no longer needed to do costly and time consuming location shooting.
Personally I wish they had continued to do more from time to time. It did in fact lend an extra visual dimension to the series, which was sadly lacking in its later years when we had to make due with cheap looking sets supposed to represent the "woods" or a "graveyard."