The new film adaptation of Colleen Hoover's bestselling thriller Verity stars Anne Hathaway as the title character and Dakota Johnson as Lowen, a struggling writer hired to ghostwrite for the injured author. Though the story is set in New York City and rural Vermont, almost everything was shot in and around New York — and several locations are places you can actually visit.
The most important location, the imposing Crawford family home, isn't in Vermont at all. Location manager Elizabeth Krekel and production designer Amy Williams chose the Beckoning Path, a sprawling modern property in Armonk, Westchester County, created by Danish designer Jens Quinsgaard and normally operated as a private wellness retreat. With angular architecture, V-shaped windows (V for Verity), a pool, a tai chi studio and its own lake, it doubles as both the film's creepy centrepiece and a real place. The crew added walls and bookshelves to make it feel like an author's home, and returned in summer to shoot the canoe scene on the lake — most of the film takes place in winter.
Manhattan features heavily too. The scene where Lowen witnesses a fatal car crash and locks eyes with Jeremy (Josh Hartnett) was filmed at Park Avenue and East 41st Street, a block from Grand Central — a spot so busy it attracted paparazzi. The Hachette Book Group offices, where Lowen gets the ghostwriting job, are the real publishing house's offices; Colleen Hoover even cameos as the receptionist. For the flashback where Verity and Jeremy first meet, the production used Laissez Faire, the upscale cocktail lounge inside the historic Beekman Hotel in the Financial District.
Brooklyn and Queens fans get the best souvenir hunting. The bookshop where Lowen reads from her novel is Books Are Magic in Carroll Gardens, a beloved independent store where you can buy Hoover's actual books. Dinner with Lowen's agent was shot at Rolo's in Ridgewood, Queens, known for wood-fired polenta bread and homemade pasta. And the birthday dinner scene, an Italian restaurant in the book, became Zum Stammtisch, a historic Bavarian pub in Glendale — the crew ate there more than once, and Williams recommends the pretzels.
For Hoover fans and set-jetters, this makes an easy weekend: a Manhattan loop taking in Grand Central, the Beekman's bar and Midtown, plus a Brooklyn and Queens food crawl with a bookstore stop. Since the Crawford house is a private retreat rather than a public attraction, treat it as drive-by trivia rather than a destination — but Armonk is a pleasant Westchester detour if you're keen.
