Initially touted as Netflix’s attempt to appeal to Breaking Bad fans everywhere, Ozark soon reached its own “cult TV show” status and subtly made its way into the hearts of viewers, ultimately establishing itself as one of the best TV dramas in recent years.
And while the Byrdes won’t be off to any new adventures anytime soon, as the popular show wrapped up filming after its 4th season, we thought we’d scoop around and learn more about that lake house of theirs.
The show follows the descent into the underworld of Marty Byrde (played by Jason Bateman), a financial consultant-turned-money launderer who has to pack up and leave Chicago in something of a hurry.
He and his wife Wendy (Laura Linney) resettle in Missouri, next to the Lake of the Ozarks — a manmade reservoir otherwise (rudely) known as the Redneck Riviera that’s surrounded by the scenic Ozark Mountains.
Or so the story goes.
In reality, most of the locations you see onscreen in Ozark are actually in Georgia and not Missouri, with tax incentives driving the filmmakers to shoot the popular series one hour’s drive from Atlanta.
This means the Byrde family house isn’t by the Lake of the Ozarks, but rather by Lake Lanier in Flowery Branch, Georgia.
The lakefront house first makes an appearance in the third episode of Season 1, when the Byrde family moves in — while Buddy, the terminally ill longtime owner of the house — moves to the basement.
The lakeside house is a pastoral idyll complete with its own pier to the front and deep pine woods to the rear. Spanning 2,513 square feet, it has a distinctive mid-century modern design and floor-to-ceiling windows that open up to lake views from nearly every room.
Shots of the house were all taken in Van Pugh North Park, on the south edge of Lake Lanier.
According to CNN Traveller, just next door to it, you will find another Ozark house, the home of Sam Dermody, Wendy’s real estate boss.
It too sits hours away from the Ozarks, in the same Flowery Branch, Georgia, that served as filming location for most of the show, on a 1.27-acre lot located on Gaines Ferry Road.
Another key character’s home, that of local minister Mason Young, is in Buford, which is a short drive south-west.
The cast bid an emotional farewell to the Ozark house before the show’s finale
As the popular Netflix series was wrapping up its final season in 2022, the streaming giant launched a whole series of promo efforts to hype up the much-awaited finale.
Among them was a stylishly produced 7-minute video in which the cast and crew bid farewell to the Byrde family house, sharing how much the house itself meant to them and everyone else involved in the production.
This house has been amazing for us. It kind of told us what it needed to be, it sort of delivered us the look of Ozark. As much as we sought it out, it kind of found us.”
Ozark executive producer Patrick Markey shared
Beyond helping set the stage for the aesthetics that became synonymous with the show, the cast shared the emotional connection they had formed with the primary filming location.
The Flowery Branch house has been the scene of many pivotal moments over the show’s four seasons, with some cast members admitting that 90% of their scenes were filmed here.
“When anyone says to me, “Ozark,” that’s what flashes in my mind, the Byrde house,” actress Laura Linney (Wendy Byrde) shares, before professing her admiration for it. “Stunningly beautiful. I mean, it is beautiful,” she adds.
But the biggest impact was on the series’ younger cast, Skylar Gaertner and Sofia Hublitz, who have spent the better part of their formative years playing Jonah and Charlotte Byrde, and filming scenes at the lake house.
“It’s honestly really kind of bizarre this is one of the last times I’m actually gonna walk through this place,” Skylar Gaertner (Jonah Byrde) admits in the video, right after sharing that “The Byrde house is probably one of my favorite locations to film at. All the different plot points end up weaving through here.”
Other fan-favorite Netflix shows filmed in Georgia
While it may sound off to learn that the Byrde house is actually set in Georgia, and not Missouri — or the actual Ozarks — the Peach State has long been a highly popular filming location.
Dubbed the Hollywood of the South, Georgia has long been attracting filmmakers to the area by offering all sorts of tax incentives and lower production costs, in an attempt to revitalize the local economy. And it worked.
Countless popular movies and TV shows have been filmed in the area in recent years.
In fact, Tony Stark’s cabin in Avengers: Endgame is located about an hour’s drive from the Ozark house (and it also served as a filming location for Godzilla: King of Monsters).
As is the fictional town of Serenity from Sweet Magnolias — another Netflix production filmed in Georgia — which is actually the town of Covington, GA, set about 12 miles away from Ozark’s filming location of Flowery Branch.
You’ll also find most of the Stranger Things houses in the area (including the eerie Creel house), with countless other Netflix productions being filmed in Georgia, including Cobra Kai, Raising Dion, Insatiable, and Dynasty.
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