Mystery, intrigue and brilliant locations figure prominently into Hulu’s latest drama “Nine Perfect Strangers,” the first three episodes of which debuted on the streamer this week. (The remaining five will drop each Wednesday through September 22.) Based on the 2018 book of the same name by Liane Moriarty of “Big Little Lies” fame, the Jonathan Levine-directed limited series tells the story of enigmatic, hard-nosed self-help guru Masha (Nicole Kidman) and the ultra-modern Northern California retreat center she runs, Tranquillum House.
The “nine perfect strangers” referenced in the title are Masha’s newest guests who have come to the facility to cure whatever respectively ails them via a ten-day wellness program, or as patron Lars Lee (Luke Evans) describes the intensive experience, “Just another construct to separate rich people from their money and get them to feel good about themselves in the process.”
Masha’s methods may be unconventional (her highly-regimented program bars all electronic devices and culinary vices, while encouraging 11-hour fasts, foraging off the land and even digging one’s own grave), but the bucolic setting where her special brand of healing takes place is nothing short of magical! Bound by brutalist concrete walls as well as floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking striking vistas at every turn, the retreat manages to be both starkly modern and serenely tranquil at the same time.
I have bad news for those hoping to seek their own enlightenment on the premises, though, as the center doesn’t actually exist IRL. Said to be in the fictional town of Cabrillo, in truth Tranquillum House is an amalgamation of two different spots, neither of which is located anywhere near the Sunshine State.
As first identified by Architectural Digest, the sanctuary is a mash-up of two sites Down Under – a dairy-farm-turned-timber-plantation known as Lune de Sang and a luxury yoga center named Soma, both of which can be found just outside of picturesque Byron Bay in New South Wales on Australia’s eastern coast.
-
Image Credit: Hulu -
Image Credit: YouTube - Australia By Design The first glimpses of Tranquillum House given to both audiences and the nine perfect strangers is of a so-called “shed” on the grounds of Lune de Sang. The unique concrete structure, as well as four other buildings that dot the 360-acre property were commissioned by current owners Andy Plummer and his wife Deirdre, who acquired the then dairy farm in 2007. The couple hired Sydney-based architecture firm CHROFI to design the shed, as well as a main residence and several other outbuildings, a project that took 13 years to complete. For their efforts, the firm won numerous accolades and awards, including Architecture by Design’s Ultimate Architectural Statement Award in 2019.
Along with serving as their homestead, Plummer, a glass artist, and Deirdre also set about transforming the site into a working timber farm in order to bring “back a pocket of subtropical rainforest to the Byron Bay hinterland,” as detailed by Archello. The website explains, “The vision is exceptional in that rather than planting a fast-growing crop, various hardwoods of the region have been chosen to establish a rainforest landscape that will take generations to mature. The hardwoods will be tended to maturity and then selectively harvested, the long lifespan of the trees meaning a wait of between 50 and 300 years before the various species fully mature.”
In the meantime, the surroundings certainly make for a glorious setting, all of it captured beautifully by the “Nine Perfect Strangers” production team.
On the series, the property’s concrete shed, which is built into a grassy hillside, serves as a sort of porte-cochère where the nine strangers are first welcomed to Tranquillum House. Quite a bit of CGI was utilized to change the structure’s appearance for the segment, including adding a pool and deck to its side and swathing its front in a rock façade.
-
Image Credit: Hulu -
Image Credit: YouTube - Australia By Design Lune de Sang’s main residence, known as the “Pavilion,” is also utilized on the show as Tranquillum House’s massage room. Though some of the actual furnishings were left on the premises for the shoot, series production designer Colin Gibson and set decorator Glen W. Johnson outfitted the sleek space with screens, additional couches and massage tables to give it more of a spa-like feel.
-
Image Credit: Hulu -
Image Credit: YouTube - Australia By Design Just outside of the Pavillion is the property’s rock-walled pool, which makes several appearances on the series, as well.
-
Image Credit: Hulu -
Image Credit: YouTube - Australia By Design Andy and Deirdre’s bedroom (shown from opposite angles above) also made it onto the screen. It is in the sleek space, which is marked by poured concrete flooring, wood-slatted walls and a bathtub made from a two-ton hollowed-out basalt boulder, that best-selling but down-on-her-luck author Francis (Melissa McCarthy) stays during her time at Tranquillum House.
-
Image Credit: Hulu -
Image Credit: Soma While Lune de Sang is a private home, the other site utilized on the series is an actual wellness facility that, much like Tranquillum House, can be booked for individual stays or group retreats! Tucked away on an idyllic 22-acres, Soma, as described on its official website, “is a super-luxe, purpose-built space suitable for yoga/meditation/corporate retreats and other immersive experiences. It is also perfect for a holiday escape as accommodation for a large group of friends or family to retreat to, where additional experiences can be tailor-made for guests including yoga, bodywork sessions, meditation sessions, and private catered dinners.” Rates start at $720 per room for a two-night/three-day stay or $8,580 for a full-house rental.
Soma is the brainchild of Vedric meditation teacher Gary Gorrow, who designed the facility in 2019 with his brother, hotelier George Gorrow, and architect Rieky Sunur. Featuring 10 bedrooms, 11 baths and space for up to 20 guests – or nine perfect strangers, as the case may be – the spectacular site is marked by solid oak flooring, concrete detailing, walls of glass and decorative wood screening.
It is Soma that is seen in most exterior shots of Tranquillum House.
-
Image Credit: Hulu -
Image Credit: Soma The interior is utilized extensively, as well. Per Soma’s website, the facility was “created as a space for people to connect with one another, so instead of a lobby there’s a living room with a 20-foot timber table delineating the communal dining area and the shared kitchen.” As such, the open space, with its large table made from a fallen Java tree, is where the strangers regularly gather for their specialty smoothies, which, as Masha’s right-hand man Yao (Manny Jacinto) explains, have been “tailored specifically” to each of the character’s “metabolic needs, so please do not share.”
-
Image Credit: Hulu -
Image Credit: Soma Tranquillum House’s yoga dome can also be found on the Soma grounds, though it was heavily altered for the shoot. As Gibson explained to Architectural Digest, before his redesign, the structure was “pretty much just a frame and a large plastic covering” which he transformed by adding parquet flooring and covering portions of the geometric panes with wood paneling and mirrors. The result is an ethereal spot almost as mysterious as the show itself!