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| Where Was East of Eden Filmed? All New Zealand Locations Revealed. |
“East of Eden” was filmed across New Zealand, with Oamaru, Dunedin and Otago, Auckland, Devonport and Thames providing the period landscapes and architecture needed to recreate early 20th-century America. Production ran from October 2024 to March 2025, and while several specific locations have since been identified, it is worth remembering that productions do not always publish every filming spot while cameras are rolling. That is partly to protect residents, and partly to stop overly enthusiastic location hunters turning a quiet street into an accidental film set tour.
Here are the confirmed filming locations and the specific places used to bring the 2026 Netflix series “East of Eden” to life.
Oamaru Historic Precinct, Oamaru
The Oamaru Historic Precinct is one of the most recognisable filming locations for “East of Eden”, and it makes an unusually convincing substitute for turn-of-the-century America. The South Island town is known for its preserved Victorian architecture, particularly its pale limestone buildings, giving the production an entire period-ready streetscape without having to construct a giant town from scratch.
For the series, the production transformed sections of the precinct with historical shopfronts, signage, dirt and gravel coverings, vintage vehicles, horses and horse-drawn carriages. The result was designed to resemble the commercial streets of the Salinas Valley rather than modern-day New Zealand. Oamaru essentially got a temporary historical makeover, which is probably the closest a town can get to time travel without causing problems for physicists.
Harbour Street, Oamaru
Harbour Street became one of the key streets used for the production's period scenes. Modern road surfaces were covered with dirt and gravel to remove obvious contemporary details from the frame, while buildings were dressed with early-1900s signage and props.
The street's Victorian character was particularly useful for establishing the bustling American community seen in “East of Eden”. With period costumes, carriages and carefully placed vehicles added to the scene, Harbour Street could convincingly stand in for a Californian settlement despite being thousands of miles from the Salinas Valley.
Tyne Street, Oamaru
Another important part of the Oamaru shoot was Tyne Street, where the existing historic buildings were adapted into period commercial surroundings. The architecture did much of the heavy lifting, allowing the production team to concentrate on smaller details such as shop signs, street dressing and vehicles.
The street was transformed for approximately two weeks during January 2025, creating one of the series' most substantial period environments. For viewers interested in “East of Eden” filming locations, Tyne Street is particularly appealing because the historic setting remains part of an established public precinct rather than a purpose-built television set.
Itchen Street, Oamaru
Itchen Street also formed part of the Oamaru filming footprint. Its historic streetscape was dressed to blend naturally with the surrounding period environment, helping the production maintain visual continuity between different parts of the fictional American town.
The clever part is that the series did not need to make every building look completely different. Instead, production design concentrated on removing modern visual clues and adding details that suggest another era. Sometimes the most convincing movie magic is simply knowing which things not to show.
Oamaru Rail Yard and Heritage Railway
The Oamaru rail facilities provided another useful piece of period atmosphere, with heritage railway equipment and vintage carriages incorporated into the production. Steam locomotives and historic rolling stock helped establish the transportation world of the early 1900s in a way that digital effects would struggle to match.
The railway environment also gave “East of Eden” a sense of scale, particularly for scenes involving travel and the movement of people and goods. It is difficult to fake the presence of a real historic locomotive convincingly, so the production made practical use of the machinery already available in Oamaru.
Friendly Bay, Oamaru
Friendly Bay supplied coastal surroundings for the production, adding another visual layer to Oamaru's role in the series. The open shoreline was used as part of the broader period environment, including scenes connected with shipping and transportation.
Its inclusion also demonstrates why the production chose locations rather than relying entirely on studio sets. New Zealand can offer streets, coastline, farmland and heritage buildings within a relatively manageable filming footprint. Hollywood geography, apparently, occasionally appreciates a little convenience.
Scottish Hall, Oamaru
Scottish Hall was used for interior scenes requiring a community setting, including gatherings and public social functions. Its historic character fitted the period production without requiring an elaborate reconstruction.
The building helped provide the series with spaces where characters could interact away from the family properties and rural landscapes. In a story as dominated by family conflict as “East of Eden”, giving everyone a few public rooms to argue in is practically a production necessity.
Princes Street, Dunedin
Production also moved to Princes Street in Dunedin, where the city's historic architecture helped expand the fictional world beyond the Oamaru streets. The area was dressed with period vehicles, costumes and horse-drawn transport to recreate an early 20th-century urban environment.
Dunedin's strong Scottish architectural influence gives the city a distinctive historic appearance, making it particularly useful for a period drama. Instead of pretending the buildings are old, the production could simply frame and dress architecture that already looks as though it has been waiting patiently for a costume drama to arrive.
The Exchange, Dunedin
The Exchange district in Dunedin was another significant filming environment. Historic streets and commercial buildings were adapted into fictional American businesses, with production dressing transforming existing storefronts into shops suitable for the series' period setting.
Custom signs, vintage props, clothing and hat-shop details helped turn the area into an early-1900s commercial centre. The location was particularly useful for scenes requiring a busier urban backdrop while retaining the visual language of the period.
Exchange Courthouse District, Dunedin
The streets surrounding the Exchange Courthouse district were also adapted for “East of Eden”. Storefronts opposite the courthouse were modified to resemble fictional retail businesses, extending the period streetscape across several connected locations.
This part of Dunedin helped the series create the impression of a much larger American town than any single street could provide. Clever production design can make a few blocks feel like an entire city, which is convenient when your actual city is on the other side of the world from California.
Historic Post Office Building, Dunedin
The exterior of the Historic Post Office Building was incorporated into the production and dressed with period props and printed materials. Its entrance became part of the fictional street environment, including a street-side newsstand.
Details such as newspapers, signage and public notices are easy to overlook, but they can make a major difference in period television. A modern building with a horse carriage outside still looks modern if someone leaves the wrong sign in the background.
Maniototo and Central Otago Plains
The wide-open landscapes of Maniototo and the Central Otago Plains provided some of the most important rural scenery for “East of Eden”. Their dry hills, broad horizons and expansive agricultural terrain helped the production recreate the scale associated with the Salinas Valley.
These landscapes were particularly suited to scenes involving the Trask and Hamilton family properties. Rather than making the farmland feel like a decorative backdrop, the production could use the enormous open terrain to reinforce the importance of land, farming and family inheritance within the story.
Cheltenham Road, Devonport
The production then moved north to Cheltenham Road in Devonport, Auckland, for residential period scenes. The area contains historic villas dating from around the early 20th century, making it a strong visual match for the homes required by the story.
Production teams worked with the existing properties and adjusted their appearance with period-appropriate colours and set dressing. Modern roads were also covered with heavy layers of shingle to resemble dirt tracks. More than 200 crew members were involved in managing the location, vehicles, dressing and security, so this was rather more complicated than simply putting a vintage chair on someone's front porch and hoping nobody notices.
Devonport's Historic Residential Villas
Beyond Cheltenham Road itself, Devonport's historic residential environment provided the architectural character needed for the series' domestic scenes. The intact villas helped recreate homes associated with the characters without requiring entirely new structures.
The choice is especially effective for a story moving between family interiors and broader landscapes. The houses provide the intimate scale of the Trask and Hamilton worlds, while the larger Otago locations provide the sweeping geography surrounding them.
Thames, New Zealand
The production also filmed rural properties around Thames, using the landscape to create additional countryside footage for the fictional American setting. These scenes helped expand the visual geography of the series and connect the more built-up locations with the open agricultural world.
Thames brought another texture to the production's New Zealand location palette, helping the countryside feel broader and less obviously tied to a single region. For a series that moves through multiple generations and locations, that variety matters.
Why New Zealand works so well for East of Eden
The decision to film “East of Eden” in New Zealand is easier to understand when the individual locations are considered together. Oamaru provides preserved Victorian streets, Dunedin supplies historic urban architecture, Central Otago delivers huge rural horizons, while Devonport contributes period residential streets and Thames adds further countryside.
That combination allowed the production to recreate early 20th-century California and Connecticut without filming in California or Connecticut. It is a classic period-drama trick: find somewhere that already looks old, remove the bits that look too new and then unleash the costume department.
My take on the East of Eden filming locations
There is something particularly satisfying about the location choices for “East of Eden” because they do not rely on one spectacular landmark doing all the work. The production instead builds its version of America from ordinary streets, historic buildings, farmland, railway infrastructure and coastal scenery. That makes the locations feel more integrated into the story rather than pasted behind the actors like an expensive postcard.
Oamaru is probably the location that will immediately catch the eye because its Victorian architecture already looks remarkably cinematic, while Central Otago offers the sort of enormous landscape that period family dramas absolutely love. Devonport brings a different charm with its historic villas, and Dunedin gives the production an urban texture without losing its nineteenth-century character.
The most interesting thing, though, is how much work went into making these places disappear into the story. Roads had to be covered, signs changed, buildings redressed and modern details removed. So while viewers may see an apparently effortless American town on screen, someone behind the camera was almost certainly having a much less effortless day.
With “East of Eden” set to premiere globally on Netflix on 1 October 2026, these New Zealand locations could become just as interesting to viewers as the characters themselves. The series stars Florence Pugh as Cathy Ames, Christopher Abbott as Adam Trask, Mike Faist as Charles Trask, Joseph Zada as Caleb Trask, Joe Anders as Aron Trask, Hoon Lee as Lee and Ciarán Hinds as Samuel Hamilton, with Zoe Kazan serving as creator and writer.
And there is still an important caveat for location hunters: not every exact filming spot was publicly disclosed while production was underway. That is normal for large productions, particularly when filming takes place around working streets and residential areas. Keeping some details private helps crews work without disruption and prevents filming locations becoming unexpectedly crowded.
For anyone planning an “East of Eden” pilgrimage, the locations above offer plenty to work with without needing to chase every camera position ever used. You can explore historic Oamaru, walk through Dunedin's heritage streets, take in the Central Otago landscape or explore Devonport's historic residential areas and still get a proper sense of the world created for the series.
So, would you actually put Oamaru, Dunedin, Central Otago or Devonport on your travel list after watching “East of Eden”? Tell us which location you would visit first, and if you've spotted another filming location in the series, share it with other viewers.