As most location enthusiasts are well aware, Kellerman’s Mountain House, where the seminal 1987 coming-of-age movie “Dirty Dancing” is set, is not an actual place. In truth, filming occurred at two different sites that were blended together onscreen to create the fictional Catskills resort where Baby Houseman (Jennifer Grey) and her family vacationed for a few formative weeks during the summer of 1963. The front portion of the idyllic hotel, which included the main building, guest cabins, beach and gazebo, was portrayed by Pembroke, Virginia’s Mountain Lake Lodge, while the segments involving the rear, comprised of the staff quarters, dance studio and ballroom, were shot about 225 miles away at the now-defunct Chimney Rock Camp in Lake Lure, North Carolina.
So it is a bit ironic that a similar two-location schematic was also employed by the Amazon Prime series “Red Oaks,” a 1980s-set coming-of-age tale that not only boasts a very “Dirty Dancing” vibe but also features Grey in a leading role!
The charming dramedy, which debuted in 2014, takes place over three consecutive summers at the tony Red Oaks Country Club in New Jersey, where college student David Myers (Craig Roberts) gets a job as an assistant tennis pro/videographer while on break from NYU. The eponymous facility that serves as both the heart and main backdrop of the story doesn’t actually exist in real life, though. Much like Kellerman’s Mountain House, Red Oaks as seen onscreen is a mash-up of two different locales situated about 25 miles apart from each other – Edgewood Country Club at 449 Rivervale Rd. in River Vale, New Jersey and Willow Ridge Country Club at 123 North St. in Harrison, New York.
