Inside the real life mega posh houses used for Fool Me Once on Netflix

Fool Me Once has finally dropped on Netflix, and the twisty drama centres itself within some pretty impressive houses. The plot revolves around Maya and the Burkett family, who have an unfathomable amount of money, meaning where they live is literally a dream land for most of us.

Harlan Coben’s Fool Me Once follows Maya Stern, who is trying to come to terms with the brutal murder of her husband, Joe. But when Maya installs a nanny-cam to keep an eye on her young daughter, she sees her husband – who should be dead. Detective Sergeant Sami Kierce leads the homicide investigation into Joe’s death while grappling with secrets of his own. Maya also lost her sister who was shot, and soon it looks as though the two deaths weren’t a coincidence.

Aside from the thrilling plot, it would be easy to get distracted by the incredible homes the characters are living in. Filming for the series was in Manchester and the Northwest of England and took place in stately homes and modern builds. Here’s what we know about the locations.

The Burkett family estate of Farmwood

via Netflix

The Burkett family are multimillionaires, and Judith swans around their huge family estate, called Farmwood in the show. Netflix used the stately Arley Hall and Gardens, a country house near Northwich in Cheshire, for these scenes.

The main hall is where Judith lives, and the cottages on the estate were also used for filming – they’re where we see staff coming in and out of, and the nanny Izabella as living.

It’s been reported that Joanna Lumely, who played Judith, lived in one of the houses on site whilst filming for Fool Me Once took place. The four cottages on site are available for the public to rent, with prices starting at around £400 per night.

In real life the main house is home to Viscount Ashbrook and his family. The house is a Grade II listed building, as it has an adjacent chapel, where some of the scenes for Joe’s funeral were also filmed.

The estate is used as a filming location quite often – previously the house has been Tommy Shelby’s house in Peaky Blinders, and Michelle Keegan might know it as Brassic also filmed there. The home was used in another Harlan Coben drama, for the wedding in the final episode of Stay Close on Netflix.

Maya’s house

via Netflix

One of the most stunning houses in Fool Me Once is where Maya calls home. Maya is said to live in the fictional area of Winhurst in the show. In real life, her incredible modern home is a house in Alderley Edge in Cheshire.

Show producer Jessica Taylor told MEN: “Maya has this beautiful big house, and we filmed this in Alderley Edge in a very modern design house that spreads over three floors with its own swimming pool. We took over a residential house for three weeks.”

via Netflix

She added: “There is also a gun room at her property, but naturally we had to build this into the house as we don’t tend to have those in this country.”

Fool Me Once is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news, drops, quizzes and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook. 

Related stories recommended by this writer:

• Fool Me Once ending explained: What did all the final twists actually mean?

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• The 12 most unhinged and ridiculous moments in Fool Me Once on Netflix