where is the summer i turned pretty set

June 28, 2026

“The Summer I Turned Pretty” is set in Cousins Beach , a fictional upscale seaside town that’s implied to be in New England, modeled especially on Cape Cod–style Massachusetts beach towns.

Quick Scoop

In the story, Cousins Beach is presented like a classic New England summer spot, with a vibe similar to Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, the Hamptons, and Nags Head that author Jenny Han blended together into one fictional place.

Within the show’s universe, the Fisher family is based around Boston, which reinforces the idea that Cousins is meant to be somewhere on or near the Massachusetts coast.

In real life, the series is filmed mainly in and around Wilmington, North Carolina, using nearby beaches like Wrightsville Beach, Kure Beach, and Carolina Beach to stand in for Cousins Beach.

Story vs. Real World

Fictional setting (in-universe):
- Cousins Beach, a made-up town, strongly implied to be a New England beach community, especially Cape Cod–like Massachusetts.

Actual filming locations (real world):
- Wilmington, North Carolina and surrounding coastal spots such as Wrightsville Beach, Kure Beach, Carolina Beach, and the Porters Neck Plantation gated community for the beach house exteriors.

Simple HTML table (settings vs. filming)

html

<table>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>Aspect</th>
      <th>Details</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>Fictional town</td>
      <td>Cousins Beach, a made-up New England–style beach town.[web:1][web:9]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Implied region in story</td>
      <td>New England, especially a Cape Cod–like part of Massachusetts.[web:1][web:3][web:9]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Author’s inspirations</td>
      <td>Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, the Hamptons, Nags Head, and other East Coast beaches.[web:1][web:5][web:9]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Main filming city</td>
      <td>Wilmington, North Carolina.[web:1][web:3][web:5][web:9]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Key beach filming spots</td>
      <td>Wrightsville Beach, Kure Beach, Carolina Beach, and the Southport area.[web:1][web:3][web:5][web:7][web:9]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Beach house exterior</td>
      <td>Porters Neck Plantation gated community in Wilmington, NC.[web:3][web:9]</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

Bottom note: Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.