Twin Peaks Location – The Bookhouse in California from Episode 1.003

The second of three locations for The Bookhouse appears in Twin Peaks episode 1.003. Sheriff Harry S. Truman, Deputy Hawk and Big Ed Hurley take Special Agent Dale Cooper to this location shortly after enjoying pie and coffee at the Double R Diner. Unlike the Bookhouse in the Pilot, the interior for this scene was shot in Southern California and only appears once in the entire series. Grab a cup of free coffee and let’s explore.

WHERE IS THE BOOKHOUSE IN CALIFORNIA LOCATED?

As mentioned in the article about the Washington state film location, a deleted scene from the Pilot and “The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer” confirmed that Big Jake Morrissey owns both the Roadhouse and the Bookhouse. In the Pilot, two buildings are adjacent and found in Fall City, Washington. But in the “Twin Peaks Access Guide to the Town,” the Bookhouse is found along Main Street near railroad tracks (see #16 in the image above).

In reality, this scene was shot at The Old Place Restaurant located at 29983 Mulholland Highway in Agoura Hills, California. Other nearby film locations include Lydecker Animal Clinic (The Rock Store) or One Eyed Jack’s interior (inside a private home).

HISTORY OF THE OLD PLACE

Opened in 1970 by Tom Runyon, The Old Place is a history-filled gem in Cornell, California. The coal baron Runyon family moved to Southern California in the early 20th Century. At the time, land was cheap and the potential for striking it rich hung in the air.

After serving in World War II, Tom lived above the merry-go-round at Santa Monica pier. He became friends with Dudley Murphy who opened the Holliday House Restaurant & Hotel at the site that is now Geoffrey’s in Malibu.

In the early 1960s, Tom, looking for a new adventure, opened the now closed Hank’s Country Store. According to CornellCampgaign.com, Hank’s also served as the second post office in the area for more than 30 years. The image above is The Old Place before the western-themed facade was added.

Renovations of the post office and country store took several years throughout the 1960s. Finally, Tom opened the new restaurant in 1970 and soon, “attracted a wide variety of patrons from old Californian families to local Malibu stars seeking a unique crowd where everyone was treated the same. A collection of movie stars, tractor operators, outdoorsmen, artists and everyday folk mixed in the small space, and magic was created.”

Here’s a look at The Old Place as it stands today. As you can see, the building is much bigger than the 412-sq. ft shack in Washington state seen in the Pilot. Sadly, Tom Runyon passed away in 2009. His son Morgan currently runs the restaurant.

Fortunately, the Old Place was spared during the devastating Woolsey Fire from November 2018. You may recall that the Gazebo location from the first two seasons was destroyed in that fire.

The image above of Morgan was taken by @ReporterDawn from Thousand Oaks Acorn who wrote about how he saved The Old Place during the terrible fire. Abby Aguirre from Vogue.com also wrote about Morgan’s efforts to save the place. Both articles are fascinating reads!

DELETED ESTABLISHING SHOT FROM TWIN PEAKS EPISODE 1.003

With thanks to Dugpa.com user Vantine, we have a glimpse at a deleted establishing shot of the Bookhouse / The Old Place from Twin Peaks episode 1.003. Vantine pulled these images from an outtake/blooper video that has circulated in the Twin Peaks fan community for a few years. The script from Sept. 26, 1989, with revisions made on October 3, 1989, contains dialogue that could have been shot for this scene. It takes place after Truman tells Cooper about the Bookhouse Boys while at the Double R Diner.

CUT TO:

EXT. THE ROADHOUSE – NIGHT

A dusty parking lot surrounds the slightly seedy honky tonk. Behind it, another, smaller structure. The Book House. Sheriff Truman and the others arrive in a cruiser and a patrol car, exit. Cooper takes a deep breath of cool night air.

TRUMAN
This way.

Truman leads Cooper towards the Book House.

COOPER
How long have you been Sheriff, Harry?

TRUMAN
Five years.

COOPER
How long have you been meeting here?

TRUMAN
Longer than that.
(they, reach the door)
It’s a funny thing. Seems like every time you solve a mystery, there’s another one right behind it.

Cooper smiles. He can appreciate that sort of thinking.

It sounds like they could have used the Bookhouse establishing shot from the Pilot versus The Old Place location.

TELEVISED SCENE FROM TWIN PEAKS EPISODE 1.003

The televised scene begins with Sheriff Harry S. Truman escorting Special Agent Cooper inside The Bookhouse.

Luckily, Charles from the former InTwinPeaks.com took images from inside The Old Place in the late 2000s when they still had the payphone by the door (What’s a payphone?).

A more recent image from the Old Place shows the payphone is long gone.

Speaking of phones, I wonder who is placing a call as the Bookhouse Boys enter.  I attempted to locate more information about the business sign above the phone – E. Brownell Paint Contractor / Phone Bra. 1420-J – but I had no luck. It’s probably an actual business sign from before the mid 1950s (when the telephone exchange names were discontinued).

The gang continues walking along the bar toward the back of the Bookhouse.

Here are two location images from the same area inside The Old Place.

I particularly love this panoramic shot as it contains both the bar and the interrogation table where Bernard Renault was questioned by Agent Cooper.

James Hurley and Joey Paulsen flank a gagged Bernard who is seated at the table. You can actually dine at the table if you visit The Old Place. The bookshelf was added by the crew but check out the props along the back wall.

Those props are from the actual Old Place restaurant and can still be found there today. InTwinPeaks.com took these images above in the late 2000s yet I’ve seen more recent images that have those props included. Amazing!

The remainder of the scenes contain reverse shots of Truman, Cooper, Big Ed and Hawk. I didn’t find location reference photos for them.

Once again, I have to thank the now defunct InTwinPeaks.com for posting about this location. I visited it in 2010 but for some reason I didn’t take any images!?! Click on the image below to see an enlarge version of a tribute page from InTwinPeaks.com.

Stay tuned for the last part of this series which takes a look at the Bookhouse set built for Season 2.