The Land Down Under has certainly become a hotbed of filming activity as of late. As The Guardian notes, “Generous government financial incentives and a comparatively virus-free environment turned Australia into one of the world’s busiest film-making hubs.” Just a few of the productions to recently make use of the country’s gorgeous landscape include the 2021 Hulu drama “Nine Perfect Strangers,” NBCUniversal’s upcoming “Joe Exotic” series, Baz Luhrmann’s highly anticipated “Elvis” film and the new Netflix show “Pieces of Her.”
The latter, which hit the streamer in early March, is based upon best-selling author Karin Slaughter’s 2018 thriller of the same name and tells the story of Andy Oliver (Bella Heathcote), a 911 operator whose life changes while out to lunch one afternoon when her mild-mannered speech therapist mother, Laura (Toni Collette), thwarts a mass shooting at a local eatery by dramatically slitting the killer’s throat. The chilling event turns Andy’s normal existence upside-down as she begins to realize that her mother isn’t who she has purported to be, setting her off on a dangerous path to piece together the mystery of her life.
Initially quite scintillating, “Pieces of Her” soon starts to ebb and flow, resulting in a storyline that limps rather draggingly through its final acts. As such, it wasn’t exactly well-received by audiences, with one Redditor commenting, “The first episode, to be fair, was what hooked me; the rest just about killed my will to live.” Viewers especially took umbrage with Andy, with practically the entire internet grumbling over her increasingly infuriating actions.
At least the show’s locations are pretty! Set mainly in the fictional seaside town of Belle Isle, Georgia, the production team followed a circuitous route before eventually deciding to set up shop in Australia. As detailed by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “The series was originally going to shoot for three months in Vancouver after Georgia was ruled out in part because the producers were upset by a strict anti-abortion bill passed by the state legislature in 2019 that was later struck down by a federal judge. Then the pandemic happened. The producers pivoted and landed in Australia instead, where key actors like Heathcote and Collette are from.”
Though quite a few scenes did end up being lensed in the Peach State, the series’ primary locales, including the main houses, can all be found in the Land Down Under. The stunning Gothic Revival estate belonging to the wealthy Queller family is actually The Swifts, an 1882 manse located just steps from the southern edge of Sydney Harbor in Darling Point. The modern monolith where the U.S. Marshals take Laura mid-series, a masterpiece of concrete and glass known as the Harry & Penelope Seidler House, is situated just 10 miles away in the suburb of Killara.
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Image Credit: realestate.com.au And the show’s central location, the charming two-story residence where Andy and Laura live, can be found about 60 miles north of Sydney at 51 Lakeside Dr. in MacMasters Beach – though viewers likely won’t recognize the place because, in what is seemingly becoming a trend with Netflix, its façade was changed considerably for the shoot. (Please remember this is a private home. Do not trespass or bother the residents or the property in any way.)
The modest waterside dwelling was originally built in 1927 for Dr. John MacMaster, nephew of Allan MacMaster, the landowner for whom the coastal town is named. The doctor dubbed the property “Fort William” in honor of his family’s ancestral home in Scotland.
At the time the house was built, MacMaster worked as the chief medical officer for the Port Jackson Quarantine Station in North Head, which operated from 1832 to 1984. As explained by Wikipedia, “The concept behind its establishment was that, as an island nation, the Colony of New South Wales . . . was susceptible to ship-borne disease. Those who might have an infectious disease would be kept in quarantine until it was considered safe to release them.” Today, the station serves as a hotel and tourist attraction.
Originally a simple one-story fishing cottage, Fort William’s second level was added in 2006 by previous owners who also renovated the interior upon purchasing it in 1994.
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Image Credit: realestate.com.au Featuring an open, light-filled floor plan, the beach house boasts three bedrooms and two baths in 2,234 square feet. A guest unit also sits attached to the home’s one-car garage with an additional bedroom/office, bathroom and upstairs loft area.
Living spaces in the main residence include a kitchen, a living room, and a dining room that opens to an adjoining deck overlooking the bucolic yard. Upstairs, there is a secondary living room along with a kitchenette.
The property’s original timber flooring still lines the lower level and vaulted ceilings and handsome framing can be found throughout.
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Image Credit: realestate.com.au The pad’s tree-lined 0.26-acre lot is tucked against the shores of Cockrone Lagoon and is just 200 meters (650 feet) from MacMasters Beach. The sun-dappled grounds boast multiple gardens, a grassy expanse and serene views.
Repped by Matthew Kidd of the Ray White Bensville – Empire Bay agency, the dwelling last sold in December 2016 for $1.71 million AUD (about $1.25 million USD). As the listing noted, the MacMasters Beach area is a “tightly held location in which property is rarely available.” I’ll say! Prior to the 2016 sale, the residence hadn’t changed hands in more than two decades!
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Image Credit: realestate.com.au For the “Pieces of Her” shoot, production designer Steven Jones and his team gave the property a significant facelift. As detailed in a Newcastle Herald article, the extensive transformation included the relocation of the front door, the addition of blue shutters on the upper-floor windows and the installation of a large porch. The carport was also removed for the filming and artificial grass brought in to cover most of the yard. The metamorphosis was quite radical, rendering the place virtually unrecognizable onscreen.
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Image Credit: realestate.com.au The guest cottage where Andy lived, located in the home’s backyard, was yet another fictional element created by the production team. The sloped roof structure (seen at the right in the screen capture above) was just a façade constructed around a small shed that stands on the property in real life.
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Image Credit: realestate.com.au Only the exterior of the residence was utilized in “Pieces of Her.” Interiors were filmed on a studio-built set – one that, aside from the configurement of the windows and glass doors, doesn’t resemble the actual inside of Fort William in the slightest.