Of all the shows returning in 2024, one of the most anticipated has been CBS’s hit sitcom Ghosts, which kicked off its third season on Thursday, February 15.
Based on the UK series of the same name, the American version of Ghosts stars Rose McIver and Utkarsh Ambudkar as Sam and Jay, a married couple who escape city life to become proprietors of a sprawling bed-and-breakfast tucked away in the countryside of New York’s Hudson Valley.
There’s just one problem. Besides the fact that just about everything in Woodstone Mansion, which Sam inherited from a great aunt, is in dire need of fixing, the house is full of ghosts. After a fall down the stairs, Sam acquires the ability to see spirits—and Sam and Jay’s life will never be the same.
Given that we love seeing an old country house restored to its former glory, as well as idyllic small towns in New York or elsewhere, this spirited comedy is our kind of show. But is the house where it’s filmed real?
Though CBS’s Ghosts is set in Upstate New York and weaves in local references to the area, filming takes place on a soundstage in Montreal in Quebec and the surrounding area.
“It’s no secret that we [the cast] all love each other, and thank goodness for it because we’re packed so closely together, not only as characters trapped for all eternity in this house, but as a bunch of actors who have all had to leave our own lives,” Rebecca Wisocky, who plays Hetty, told Country Living. “We shoot the show in Montreal, so we’re all kind of stranded up there together.”
Rebecca Wisocky Talks About Hetty’s Big Revelation
According to one fansite, the home that serves as Woodstone Mansion’s stone exterior is about an hour from Montreal and was built by a Belgian family in the 1940s. If you look very closely at an aerial view of that location posted on Reddit and an outdoor behind-the-scenes photo posted on Instagram by McIver, you can spot architectural details that match.
During Season 2 production in July 2022, a local news source reported that the Ghosts cast and crew were filming at Morgan Arboretum in the area of Montreal known as West Island.
Ghosts Fan Trivia: Not a single scene of CBS’s Ghosts Season 3 was filmed outside the soundstage. The writers and actors strikes of 2023 pushed production to winter, when it is very cold in Montreal, according to Wisocky:
“They rebuilt the entire exterior facade of the mansion. So when you see us in the episode where we go and free Flower from the well [Season 3, Episode 8], that’s all on a sound stage, and it’s just done so beautifully and is a testament to the talent of our crew,” the actress said.
