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# Is Barton Academy in The Holdovers a Real School?
- URL: https://www.bensmovieguide.com/is-barton-academy-in-the-holdovers-a-real-school/
- Published: 2026-10-25T20:37:12.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-25T20:37:12.000Z
- Description: Barton Academy from *The Holdovers* isn't real, but the filmmakers used five actual Massachusetts schools to create it. Here's where those familiar buildings are located.
- Author: Ben
- Tags: #quick-note, #movie, Movie: The Holdovers (2023), drama, comedy, christmas, 2020s, Rating: R, #Runtime: 134, #Rated For: language, some drug use and brief sexual material, #Verdict: Rent, #Watch: Major Platforms

If you've watched *The Holdovers* (2023), you might have wondered whether Barton Academy, the prestigious New England boarding school where Paul Giamatti's character teaches, is a real place.

The answer is no. Barton Academy is fictional.

But the buildings are very real. In fact, director Alexander Payne used **five different Massachusetts schools** to create the fictional campus.

Rather than relying on studio sets, the filmmakers found actual schools that had the appearance they wanted for a movie set in 1970\. One school might have the right dining hall, another the perfect chapel, and another the sort of old-fashioned hallways that make you feel like you've stepped back in time.

**Five Schools Became Barton Academy**

The schools used in the production were:

· [Groton School](https://www.groton.org/?ref=bensmovieguide.com) in Groton, Massachusetts, where the filmmakers used the chapel.

· [Northfield Mount Hermon School](https://www.nmhschool.org/?ref=bensmovieguide.com) in Gill, Massachusetts, which provided exterior locations.

· [Deerfield Academy](https://deerfield.edu/?ref=bensmovieguide.com) in Deerfield, Massachusetts, where exterior scenes were filmed.

· [St. Mark's School](https://www.stmarksschool.org/?ref=bensmovieguide.com) in Southborough, Massachusetts, which supplied the dining hall, gymnasium, and headmaster's office.

· Fairhaven High School in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, which provided the study hall and auditorium.

The interesting part is that these five schools are scattered across Massachusetts, but in the movie they appear to be one campus.

Payne and his crew managed to combine them so convincingly that most viewers would never suspect they're looking at five different locations.

And considering how much of *The Holdovers* takes place inside Barton Academy, that's a pretty impressive bit of filmmaking.

So while you can't actually enroll at Barton Academy, you can visit the websites of the real schools that helped bring it to life.

![Is Barton Academy in The Holdovers a Real School?](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e9/54/e9540ff8-9c7a-495e-932d-5ba71686447c/content/images/2026/10/The-Holdovers-2023-16x9.jpg)

![Is Barton Academy in The Holdovers a Real School?](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e9/54/e9540ff8-9c7a-495e-932d-5ba71686447c/content/images/2026/10/The-Holdovers-2023-2x3.jpg)

![Is Barton Academy in The Holdovers a Real School?](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e9/54/e9540ff8-9c7a-495e-932d-5ba71686447c/content/images/2026/10/The-Holdovers-2023-4x5.jpg)

![Is Barton Academy in The Holdovers a Real School?](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e9/54/e9540ff8-9c7a-495e-932d-5ba71686447c/content/images/2026/10/The-Holdovers-2023-5x6.jpg)

![Is Barton Academy in The Holdovers a Real School?](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e9/54/e9540ff8-9c7a-495e-932d-5ba71686447c/content/images/2026/10/The-Holdovers-2023-6x5.jpg)

![Is Barton Academy in The Holdovers a Real School?](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e9/54/e9540ff8-9c7a-495e-932d-5ba71686447c/content/images/2026/10/The-Holdovers-2023-3x1.jpg)

![Is Barton Academy in The Holdovers a Real School?](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e9/54/e9540ff8-9c7a-495e-932d-5ba71686447c/content/images/2026/10/The-Holdovers-2023-1600x727.jpg)