Where Is Cousins Beach
The Question Every Fan Is Asking
If you have binged The Summer I Turned Pretty on Prime Video and found yourself completely swept up in the sun-soaked world of Belly, Conrad, and Jeremiah, you are not alone. One of the first things viewers want to know after watching is where is Cousins Beach actually located. The show does such a convincing job of bringing this dreamy coastal town to life that it feels like somewhere you could genuinely pack your bags and visit tomorrow.
Cousins Beach is, at its core, a fictional place. It exists in the pages of Jenny Han’s beloved young adult novel series and was brought to the screen with stunning visual detail. But fiction always borrows from reality, and the filming locations behind the show are very much real places you can visit.
This article covers exactly where the show was filmed, what inspired the fictional setting, and what fans can expect if they decide to make a pilgrimage to the real-world spots behind Cousins Beach.
What Is Cousins Beach in The Summer I Turned Pretty?
Before getting into the real-world locations, it helps to understand what Cousins Beach represents within the story itself.
In Jenny Han’s novels and the Prime Video adaptation, Cousins Beach is a fictional seaside town somewhere along the East Coast of the United States. It is the place where the Fisher family spends every summer at their beach house, and it serves as the backdrop for Belly’s coming-of-age story across multiple summers.
The town has a classic New England coastal feel — think white clapboard houses, beach bonfires, debutante balls, and the kind of long, lazy summer days that feel almost mythical when you are an adult looking back on them.
Why Cousins Beach Feels So Real
Part of why so many fans immediately search for where Cousins Beach is comes down to the production design. The creative team behind the show worked hard to make every detail feel authentic and lived-in. The beach house itself, the local haunts, the stretch of coastline — all of it is presented with a warmth and specificity that makes you feel like this town genuinely exists on a map somewhere.
Where Is Cousins Beach Filmed? The Real Locations
The answer to where is Cousins Beach in terms of filming is primarily one state: North Carolina. The production team chose the Outer Banks and Wilmington areas of North Carolina as the primary filming bases for both seasons of the show.
North Carolina has become something of a go-to filming destination for stories set along the American East Coast, and it is easy to see why. The coastline is gorgeous, the towns have the right architectural character, and the light in summer is absolutely golden.
Wilmington, North Carolina
Wilmington served as a major hub for the production. Much of the interior filming, including scenes inside the Fisher beach house, were shot on soundstages and location properties in and around Wilmington. The city has a well-established film industry infrastructure, which makes it an attractive option for television productions with complex scheduling needs.
The area also provided some of the exterior coastal scenes, particularly those requiring a specific kind of quiet, upscale residential beach community feel.
The Outer Banks Connection
Some filming also took place in the Outer Banks region, which offers the raw, natural coastline beauty that defines many of the show’s most visually striking outdoor sequences. The wide, open beaches and the particular quality of the light along that stretch of North Carolina coastline are a significant part of why the show looks the way it does.
[INTERNAL LINK: related topic — best filming locations in North Carolina for TV fans to visit]
What Inspired the Fictional Town of Cousins Beach?
Jenny Han, the author who created Cousins Beach in her novels, has spoken about drawing on real places and experiences when building the fictional setting.
Han grew up in Richmond, Virginia, and spent time along the Virginia and North Carolina coastlines during her summers. The atmosphere she describes in the books — the ease of beach town summers, the specific social rituals of coastal communities, the way time feels slower and more charged with meaning — draws heavily from those real memories.
The Virginia Beach and Delaware Influences
Some readers and literary commentators have pointed to the Delaware beaches and the Virginia Beach area as potential inspirations for Cousins Beach. The social world Han describes in the novels — complete with debutante culture, long-established summer families, and a particular kind of East Coast upper-middle-class leisure — maps quite closely onto real communities in those areas.
This does not mean there is a single definitive real-world town that Cousins Beach is based on. It is more accurate to say the fictional setting is a composite, drawing on the feeling of several real places rather than being a direct copy of any one location.
Can You Visit Cousins Beach? What Fans Should Know
Since Cousins Beach itself does not exist as a named destination, visiting it means visiting the real filming locations. Fans of the show do exactly this, and North Carolina has quietly become a destination for Summer I Turned Pretty enthusiasts in the same way that other filming locations attract dedicated fan tourism.
Here is what you should know if you are planning a visit:
- Wilmington, North Carolina is the most accessible starting point for a filming location tour.
- The Outer Banks is a popular tourist destination in its own right and well worth the trip beyond just the show’s filming history.
- Some specific locations used for the show may be private properties or have restricted access, so always check before turning up.
- Local tourism boards in the Wilmington area have started to acknowledge the show’s cultural footprint, which means guided information is increasingly available.
Other Filming Locations Used in the Show
Beyond North Carolina, a handful of scenes in The Summer I Turned Pretty were filmed in other locations to capture specific visual needs. The production has been somewhat private about the full list of locations, but fans who pay close attention to the show’s scenery have identified elements that suggest filming took place in multiple East Coast settings.
[INTERNAL LINK: related topic — complete guide to Summer I Turned Pretty season two details and what to expect]
The Real Beach House Behind Cousins Beach
One of the most searched elements tied to the question of where is Cousins Beach is the beach house itself. The Fisher family home is central to the show’s identity — it is almost a character in its own right.
The exterior of the beach house was filmed at a real property in the Wilmington area of North Carolina. The house has a classic, slightly faded East Coast elegance about it — wide porches, weathered wood, the kind of place that looks like it has held decades of summer memories within its walls.
The interior was primarily built on a soundstage to give the production team full control over lighting and camera angles, which is standard practice for a show of this scale.
Finding the Beach House as a Fan
Some fans have tracked down the general area where the exterior was filmed, and while the exact address is not something that should be publicised out of respect for property owners, the Wilmington area coastal communities are beautiful to explore regardless. You will get a genuine sense of the show’s visual world just by spending time in these neighbourhoods.
Why the Setting Matters So Much to the Story
It would be easy to treat the location question as pure fan curiosity, but understanding where Cousins Beach is filmed and what inspired it actually deepens appreciation for the show itself.
The setting is not just a backdrop. In Jenny Han’s storytelling, place carries enormous emotional weight. The beach house represents continuity, family, memory, and the particular ache of things changing. The fact that it is a liminal space — somewhere the characters only inhabit in summer, between one phase of life and another — is central to every major theme the story explores.
When the production team chose North Carolina, they were not just picking somewhere convenient. They were choosing a place with the right emotional register: somewhere that feels genuinely sun-warmed and slightly melancholy, beautiful and temporary all at once.
[INTERNAL LINK: related topic — Jenny Han’s novels ranked and where to start if you are new to her work]
Frequently Asked Questions About Cousins Beach
Is Cousins Beach a real place?
No, Cousins Beach is a fictional location created by author Jenny Han for her Summer I Turned Pretty novel series. It does not exist as a named town or beach on any map, though it draws on real East Coast coastal communities for its atmosphere and detail.
Where was The Summer I Turned Pretty filmed?
The show was primarily filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina, with additional filming in the Outer Banks region of North Carolina. These locations provided the coastal scenery and architectural character that defines the show’s visual identity.
What state is Cousins Beach supposed to be in?
Within the story, Cousins Beach is implied to be located somewhere on the East Coast of the United States, though the books and show are deliberately vague about the exact state. Many readers and viewers interpret it as being in the Carolinas or Virginia based on the cultural details described.
Can you visit the beach house from The Summer I Turned Pretty?
The exterior of the beach house was filmed at a real property in the Wilmington, North Carolina area. The exact address is not publicly promoted, but the surrounding coastal communities in that region are open to visitors and reflect the show’s visual aesthetic beautifully.
Did Jenny Han base Cousins Beach on a real location?
Jenny Han has indicated that her fictional setting draws on real memories of East Coast summer communities from her own upbringing in Virginia. It is a composite of several real feelings and places rather than a direct representation of any single town.
Is the Outer Banks the same as Cousins Beach?
No, they are separate fictional and real-world locations. The Outer Banks is a real barrier island chain in North Carolina that was used as one of the filming locations for The Summer I Turned Pretty. It is also the setting for a different Netflix show called Outer Banks. The two are not connected beyond geography.
Why did the production choose North Carolina for filming?
North Carolina offers a combination of practical advantages — established film industry infrastructure, generous production incentives, and accessible coastline — alongside the right visual and atmospheric qualities to bring Cousins Beach to life convincingly. The state has hosted numerous major productions for these reasons.
Final Thoughts on Where Cousins Beach Really Is
Cousins Beach lives most fully in the imagination — in Jenny Han’s prose and in the warmth of the Prime Video adaptation. But the real places that bring it to life, particularly the coastline and communities of North Carolina, are genuinely worth visiting on their own terms.
Whether you are a devoted fan looking to walk in Belly’s footsteps or simply someone who fell in love with the show’s visual world and wants more of it, the Wilmington area and the Outer Banks will give you something close to what you are looking for.
The beach, the light, the sense of summer held briefly in your hands before it slips away — that feeling is very real, even if the town on the sign does not exist.
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