In Twin Peaks

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T H E...T W I N...P E A K S...F I L M I N G...L O C A T I O N S....:....T H E N...A N D...N O W

EPISODE 11

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PILOT – PAGE 1

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PILOT – PAGE 2

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PILOT – PAGE 3

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PILOT – PAGE 4

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PILOT – PAGE 5

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THE REAL BOOKHOUSE

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Situated just yards behind the Fall City Roadhouse (the Colonial Inn at the time of filming) in Fall City, WA, this little cabin was the Bookhouse in Twin Peaks. Below, a shot of the Roadhouse and the Bookhouse together which was filmed in 1989 for the pilot, but only used once in episode 16.

As you can imagine, I was rather distressed when I wasn't able to get the correct angle on this little house. There's a damned fenced-off lot full of new trailers that blocks the spot where the original shot was taken.

It's funny to think that this tiny house should have fit a multitude of bookhouse boys within its four walls. How were all those rooms seen throughout the series supposed to fit in that little house? The largest room we see in the series is the one they bring Audrey back to in episode 13. That room was a set.
The other Bookhouse scene, however, was shot in a very real and very authentically Peaksy place, The Old Place Restaurant and bar located in Cornell, CA. The owners have had this place for over 40 years and it shows. Practically every piece of decor and every stroke of paint is the same now as it was in 1990 when they filmed this scene. Of course, books were brought in and shelves were built to make it a "bookhouse", but everything else is very much the same. Notice the arrangement of objects on the wall behind Joey Poulson and how they're arranged the exact same way today as they were in Twin Peaks. Incredible.

Here are several more photographs of the interior and exterior of this location.

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WASHINGTON
BIG ED’S GAS FARM
BIRD'S BRANCH
BLUE PINE LODGE
BOOKHOUSE
DOUBLE R DINER
GIANT LOG
GREAT NORTHERN HOTEL
HAYWARD RESIDENCE
HIGH SCHOOL
HURLEY RESIDENCE
JOHNSON RESIDENCE
LAURA’S LOG
PACKARD SAWMILL
PALMER RESIDENCE
PICNIC VIDEO
ROADHOUSE
RONETTE’S BRIDGE
SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT
TWIN PEAKS SIGN
VALLEY VIEW
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CALIFORNIA

THE REAL WALLIES

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The location used as Wallies Hide Out was formerly a Mexican restaurant called Santa Susana Cantina. It's located near the Simi Valley just north of LA. In Episode 18 we see James biking his way out of Twin Peaks to an unknown town where he stops into Wallies and meets (to all our dismay) Evelyn Marsh. The first part of the scene, before he pulls up to Wallies, was filmed during the pilot shoot in Snoqualmie, WA. You can even see a "Entering Snoqualmie" sign in the background as he's racing down the road. A couple of roads in that area were featured in the scene. Luckily, all those roads look exactly the same today as they did in 1989.

When they cut to James riding up to Wallies, you can see the difference in landscape from lush, overcast Washington, to arid, sunny California.

All Wallie's interiors were filmed on a soundstage. Here are a few screen captures of the set they built for its interior. Notice the odd, rather horrid painting behind the bar from episode 22. It's unclear why they switched it from the more woodsy looking painting used in 18 and 21.

Standing outside the cantina, which had recently closed and is currently being used as office space, I didn't get much of a Peaksy feel. In fact, it's pretty busted around there. Seeing the rocky, cactus riddled mountains rising behind it and the suburban valley below, you wonder what made them choose this spot... especially given how out of the way it is from many of the other locations. Here are some photos of the inside of Santa Susana Cantina when it was still a restaurant/bar.

Here are two aerial shots of the location from different angles . Not at all how you pictured it, huh?

THE REAL FALLEN TREE

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The fallen tree seen in episode 5 is actually located only a hundred or so yards away from where they shot Jacques Renault's cabin. In fact, the whole walk that Cooper, Truman, Hawk and Doc Hayward took that day, with the exception of the exterior shot of the Log Lady's cabin, was filmed right around the cabin, which is located deep in the woods of the Angeles National Forest.

The fallen log has since been moved a little and partially sawn apart. Below, a photo of the clean cut on the stump and a different angle of the rest of the tree.

THE REAL OWL PIPE

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The location of "Owl Pipe" is in the same park where they filmed scenes of Glastonberry Grove, Windom Earles Cabin, Audrey and Jack's picnic, Donna and James' picnic and the scene where Hawk finds Major Briggs wandering out of the woods after he escapes his captor, Windom Earle. In fact, the pipe is located just yards away from where Briggs stumbles into the road. You can see a lager section of the pipe system in the background as Hawk drives up to Major Briggs: see below.

That larger pipe is featured in the scene where, from the owl's point of view, the camera speeds creepily through the small ravine (seen below) then up to the owl pipe.

THE REAL GENERAL STORE

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The Twin Peaks General Store was filmed in Monrovia, CA, at what was then Valley Hardware Toys & Trains. Little was changed about the store for the shoot other than a few clever additions like the Twin Peaks sign above the model train depot and the painted sign on the store windows.

While researching this location, I became more and more excited about seeing it in person because I knew from various reports that it still looked almost exactly like it did in the show. While surfing the web for photos of the store about two months prior to my visit to California, I came across a very recent photo in which all the windows were papered over and a "closed" sign was posted on the door. I was devastated (embarrassing, but true). Sure enough, when I drove up to the location, it was completely shut down. No more trains, no more hardware, NO MORE COTTON BALLS!

Myrtle Avenue, the street where the hardware store is (as well as the bakery from the deleted scene) was slated to be used as downtown Twin Peaks. I think it would have worked quite well, as you can see below. It's too bad we never got a chance to see it in the series. It would've been so interesting if there were more scenes filmed "on location" in the town of Twin Peaks. By sheer coincidence, the street lights in Monrovia are nearly a match to the ones outside Horne's Department Store, which was filmed in Washington State.

As Norma is walking on the sidewalk toward the entrance to the general store, you see this Senior Center sign across the street.

Below: Two photos of Valley Hardware before it closed for good. Notice that the model of the town and train were still in the window.

THE REAL CEMETERY

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The Twin Peaks Cemetery was filmed at the Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery in Sierra Madre, CA, about a ten minute drive from the Hayward house and General Store locations. A few fake graves were brought in and placed in the cemetery for the filming of Laura's funeral scene. Notably the large obelisk-shaped one seen above, behind Doctor Jacoby. Below: a few screen captures from the series followed by some of my photographs of the cemetery.

Below: the entrance to the cemetery and an aerial shot of the spot where Laura's grave was located.

THE REAL OWL CAVE

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The scenes of Owl Cave were filmed at the Bronson Caves located in Griffith Park in Los Angeles, CA. Incidentally, these caves were also used as the original "Batcave" in TV's Batman series. Being there was rather an odd awakening. Far from being set in the wilds of the Pacfic Northwest, a wider shot of the caves reveals a very familiar, albeit a decidedly southern California setting... the Hollywood sign is just up the next hill!

Interiors were also filmed inside the Bronson Caves. Below, stills from the series followed by a few of my photographs of the cave's interior.

THE REAL GLASTONBERRY GROVE

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Needless to say, Glastonberry Grove was among the most exciting and difficult to find locations from the series. The funny thing about locating this spot was that my friend Travis and I had actually been there already (the day before we officially found it) while photographing Windom Earle's cabin location, which is directly behind the grove. The thing is, we we so frantically trying to find Glastonberry, assuming it would be deep in some forest, that we didn't think for a moment that we were actually standing right in it! Thankfully, a little bird who will go unnamed told us the next day that it was directly behind Windom's cabin plot. We could hardly wait till the next day to go back and soak in the vibes! When we arrived back at the location, it felt amazing. I could easily imagine that I was standing inGlastonbrry Grove. We found no signs of a portal into another universe, but then... we didn't wait till nighttime. We got there about two hours early for the right light. The sun was blazing onto the trees so it was necessary to wait for the sun to fade a little later in the afternoon. Meanwhile, this gave us plenty of time to find where the oil puddle was! There was still a very distinct indentation where the hole used to be. I photographed it, but it didnt register at all on camera. Travis and I decided we had better fill it with water from the nearby pond so that it would show up. That we did and it turned out pretty well, as you can see... okay, so the water bled outside the lines a bit.

Apparently, the log that Harry and Andy sat on in episode 29 was there as of a few years ago, but alas, it was gone when I arrived.