Site reader Kenneth Tomasi paid a trip to some of the locations featured in the feature film House of Dark Shadows earlier this year, and has sent in some photos of the sites as they look today, more than 40 years later. With a shoestring budget, director Dan Curtis relied entirely on existing locations for Dark Shadows' first big screen outing, rather than building studio sets. The Lyndhurst estate, a National Trust property in Tarrytown, New York served as the new version of Collinwood, with additional filming taking place in Connecticut.
Overlooking the Hudson river, Tarrytown's historic Lyndhurst estate and its grounds are open to the public all year round. For more information, visit the official Lyndhurst website.
The stables at Lyndhurst also featured in the film, having previously appeared in the early episodes of Dark Shadows as the Collinwood garages and caretaker's cottage. This archway is seen during the scene where Daphne Budd is attacked by Barnabas.
The Lyndhurst offices, also located on the grounds, were used as the cottage where novelists Claire and Alex Jenkins lived in Night of Dark Shadows.
The swimming pool at Lyndhurst was also seen in both films, most memorably in the sequence where Carolyn appears to David from beyond the grave in House of Dark Shadows.
The nearby Sleepy Hollow Cemetery was the site of the very first filming for the movie, doubling as the Eagle Hill Cemetery. This tomb was used for the Collins mausoleum, with the Collins family name added above the entrance.
The Three Bears restaurant in Westport, Connecticut, was the location for the Collinsport Inn. The diner remained in business until 2008, re-opening briefly under new management as Tiburon in 2009.
Also located in Connecticut, in nearby Norwalk, is the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion, which served as the backdrop for House of Dark Shadows' finale. With its interiors redressed heavily, it became the abandoned monastery on St. Eustace's island where Barnabas fled with the kidnapped Maggie Evans. For more information on the property, which is open to the public, visit its official website.
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There are several interior shots of a stained glass window with gorgeous clear and cobalt blue glass borders, which are the finest I have seen anywhere. Whoever and whenever they were made produced some exceptional glasswork.
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