Is Hope Springs, New York Real? What to Know About the 'Hot Frosty' Filming Locations

If you're looking for your own hot snowman, here's where to visit.

Dustin Milligan as Jack, sitting at a diner counter, in 'Hot Frosty.'
(Image credit: Petr Maur / Netflix)
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This Christmas, Netflix gifted us an update on the fluffy holiday rom-com with Hot Frosty. Starring Mean Girls alum Lacey Chabert, the film follows a plucky diner owner who could use a bit of Christmas cheer. Kathy's (Chabert) holiday season is turned upside down when she's gifted a magical scarf that turns a chiseled snowman into an alive, hot-blooded man. Kathy has recently lost her husband, and the newly-human Jack (Schitt's Creek's Dustin Milligan) gives her a second chance at love (and a refreshing dose of lust for such a wholesome flick).

Like many Christmas movies, Hot Frosty takes place in a cozy small town that gives Gilmore Girls' Stars Hollow a run for its money. This movie's setting, Hope Springs, New York, has viewers wondering whether they could complete their holiday season with a trip to the town (hot defrosted snowman included or not). Read on for everything we know about the filming locations of Hot Frosty.

Is Hope Springs, NY a real place?

Lacey Chabert as Kathy Barrett, holding a red scarf while standing in front of a life-like snowman in 'Hot Frosty.'

Kathy (Lacey Chabert) meets Jack (still in snowman form) in Hot Frosty.

(Image credit: Courtesy of Netflix)

Sorry to break hearts, but Hot Frosty's small town of Hope Springs, New York, is completely fictional. However, there is a village with a similar name just an hour outside of N.Y.C. Cold Springs, NY, is located on the Hudson River just an hour MetroNorth ride away, and is idyllic enough to fulfill your small-town fantasies year round. (Whether you run into a hot, kind man who will cook you dinner is anyone's guess.)

Kath (Lacey Chabert as Kathy Barrett, right) holds up a phone with a picture of a snowman in a scarf, next to a man's (Dustin Milligan as Jack Snowman) face, in 'Hot Frosty.'

Kathy (Chabert) compares a chiseled snow man's face to Jack's (Milligan).

(Image credit: Courtesy of Netflix)

Where was 'Hot Frosty' filmed?

Like many Netflix productions, Hot Frosty was filmed on location in and around the cities of Brockville and Ottawa in Ontario, Canada. According to TheWrap, Brockville is just across the border almost due north of New York, a seven-hour drive or two-hour flight away.

As reported by Screenrant, Court House Square in downtown Brockville (also known as the City of the 1000 Islands) stood in for Hope Springs' plaza, where the snowmen competition took place and Jack was born (or transformed). Scenes in Kathy's diner and the Reclaimed Rags thrift store were filmed in nearby buildings, including the Keystorm Pub.

Dustin Milligan as Jack Snowman, standing shirtless on a roof next to two ladders, in 'Hot Frosty.'

Despite the winter weather, a shirtless Jack (Milligan) helps Kathy with maintenance around her house.

(Image credit: Petr Maur / Netflix)

Meanwhile, according to CTV News, Kathy's house was filmed in Almonte, a former mill town an hour northwest of Brockville and an hour southwest of Ottawa.

Finally, a closed elementary school in Ottawa served as the location for the Christmas dance.

Quinci LeGardye
Culture Writer

Quinci is a Culture Writer who covers all aspects of pop culture, including TV, movies, music, books, and theater. She contributes interviews with talent, as well as SEO content, features, and trend stories. She fell in love with storytelling at a young age, and eventually discovered her love for cultural criticism and amplifying awareness for underrepresented storytellers across the arts. She previously served as a weekend editor for Harper’s Bazaar, where she covered breaking news and live events for the brand’s website, and helped run the brand’s social media platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Her freelance writing has also appeared in outlets including HuffPost, The A.V. Club, Elle, Vulture, Salon, Teen Vogue, and others. Quinci earned her degree in English and Psychology from The University of New Mexico. She was a 2021 Eugene O’Neill Critics Institute fellow, and she is a member of the Television Critics Association. She is currently based in her hometown of Los Angeles. When she isn't writing or checking Twitter way too often, you can find her studying Korean while watching the latest K-drama, recommending her favorite shows and films to family and friends, or giving a concert performance while sitting in L.A. traffic.

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