#Dirty dancing location virginia movie#
Meanwhile, some of the hotel’s long-standing staff will take you on a guided tour of key movie locations, and there’s a small museum and a shop selling Dirty Dancing memorabilia, including ‘Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner’ t-shirts.
Mountain Lake’s main lodge has 100 rooms, most with views of the lawn, and there are also a dozen or so timber cabins dotted around the grounds, including Virginia Cottage, aka Baby’s Cabin. Many of the film’s locations are still recognisable, including the magnificent Stone Lodge, the gazebo where Baby had a heart to heart with her father Dr Jake (Jerry Orbach), and the Harvest Restaurant and Patio, aka Kellerman’s dining room, where Johnny and Baby first clapped eyes on each other. The lodge is understandably still surfing the wave of Dirty Dancing popularity three and a half decades after it was filmed, and squeezes every drop out of its big screen moment. It was named after Mountain Lake, which has, sadly, almost entirely dried up, while the small town of Pembroke is a 15-minute drive away, as is Cascade Falls, a popular hiking area and waterfall.ĭuring the 1800s, Mountain Lake was a popular stop along the stage coach route, while the main lodge, built in 1936, is crammed with Appalachian charm with rustic oak panelling, rugged stone walls and a huge fireplace. Mountain Lake’s rugged stone façade and red roof is instantly recognisable to movie fans, and even if you’re not Dirty Dancing’s No.1 fan, it’s hard not to be captivated by nostalgia and the hotel’s secluded location.Ī four-hour drive from Washington DC, Mountain Lake Lodge is set within a nature preserve and bird sanctuary in Jefferson Forest. ‘Baby’s Cabin’ at Mountain Lake Lodge “Squeezes every drop out of its big screen moment”Īlthough Dirty Dancing was set at the fictional Kellerman’s mountain retreat in upstate New York, much of the on-location shooting actually took place at Mountain Lake Lodge in the state of Virginia, with some scenes at the staff quarters filmed in North Carolina.
However, the movie wouldn’t have been the same without the stunning location. It won an Oscar for the song ‘(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life’, while audiences fell in love with the characters’ forbidden love story, toe-tapping music, and electrifying dance routines, including the famous ‘lift’. No one could have predicted the cultural impact of the film, which almost wasn’t made and was generally panned by critics. When dance teacher Penny (Cynthia Rhodes) falls ill after a botched abortion, Baby agrees to take her place in an upcoming competition, and has training sessions with snake-hipped bad-boy Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze).Īs she is swept off her feet (literally) by Johnny, Baby must balance her free-spirited desire with both her family and society’s conservative expectations. Thirty-five years on, Dirty Dancing is seen as much more than a guilty pleasure – although it is set in 1963, it is a quintessential 1980s movie, and fills audiences with feel-good vibes from start to finish.ĭirector Emile Ardolino’s film tells the story of teenager Frances ‘Baby’ Houseman (Jennifer Grey) who, tired of the genteel pursuits at Kellerman’s Resort summer camp, falls in with the rowdy below-stairs staff. During the summer of 1987, one of the most beloved films in history quick-stepped its way into cinemas.
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