In Twin Peaks Part 11 on Showtime, Becky Burnett shoots Gersten Hayward’s apartment door in a fit of rage. This film location is found in Snoqualmie, Washington. It took me three visits to the Snoqualmie Valley region to go inside.
WHERE IS GERSTEN HAYWARD’S APARTMENT LOCATED?
Colonial Square Apartments is located at 39555 SE Park Street in Snoqualmie. The approximate coordinates for the building / apartment are 47°31’31.5″N 121°48’47.4″W.
During my visits to the region in September and October 2019, I only circled the exterior of the building.
The Apartment location is in the middle of a treasure trove of Twin Peaks film locations. It’s across the street from the original Fat Trout Trailer Park, down the street from the Twin Peaks High School (Mount Si High) and near the former site of Mo’s Motor from Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.
You may recognize the exterior as it’s seen in the famous Intersection scene from Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.
Another shot is seen at the same Intersection on Part 6.
While it’s an apartment building today, it was originally a hotel built in 1924 for the then new town of Meadowbrook.
HISTORY OF MEADOWBROOK IN WASHINGTON
Danna McCall published a fascinating look at Meadowbrook for LivingSnoqualmie.com in 2018. The short version of her story goes like this.
In 1904, Arthur W. Platt and Angus J. Moffat purchased the 1,200 acre Meadowbrook Farm and turned the land into a successful dairy empire. With the Snoqualmie Mill opening just a few years earlier, Platt thought part of his land could serve the mill workers as they drove on their way to work. In 1923, Platt and his wife turned part of the dairy farm into the town of Meadowbrook.
Downtown Meadowbrook had a grocery store, drug store, general store and even a hotel. Nearby, homes were constructed Bill Blaisdell, who also constructed homes for the mill town across the river. These new places were perfect for mill workers who didn’t want to pay rent to the Snoqualmie Falls Lumber Company.
Meadowbrook was eventually annexed to the City of Snoqualmie in 1952.
One building in downtown Meadowbrook you may recognize is The Brook theatre. According to McCall’s article, “‘The Brook’ invested in ‘Talkies’ in 1928, becoming what local historians believe to be the first movie theater in east King County to have sound.”
It served as the location of Mo’s Motor in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.
I took the shot above on January 24, 2020 in an attempt to match the black and white photo. As you can see, Mo’s Motor / The Brook Theatre is long gone (demolished around 2015).
MEADOWBROOK HOTEL
As mentioned, the hotel that is now Colonial Square Apartments was constructed around 1923-24. The image above shows the hotel in 1940, with a Cafe located on the first floor. At some point, possibly in the late 1970s, the hotel became an apartment complex.
On May 5, 1976, a shooting took place at the Meadowbrook Hotel. Wilbur Presley Allen, 30, was shot in the chest following an altercation. He was visiting sister who lived on the second floor at the time. He stumbled down to the lobby where he laid unconscious and bleeding until medics and law enforcement arrived. He died three hours later at the Overtake Hospital.
Police arrested and charged Michael Edward Mitchell, 32, of Snoqualmie following an altercation with second-degree murder about seven days later. He was held in King County jail in lieu of $25,000 bond.
Charles Peterson, who was sworn in as Mayor of Snoqulamie in January 1974, believed the shooting was the town’s first murder. Peterson would later be instrumental in creating the Centennial Log pavilion as seen in the opening credits of the Twin Peaks pilot. I’ve been unable to locate records as to the outcome of this case, but it’s an important moment in Snoqualmie history.
A former property manager recalled her experience at the building in the ’80s/’90s on the Snoqualmie Valley Historical Museum Facebook page: “As the property manager in the 80’s and 90’s, I was handed a ring of keys with no numbers on any of them. Had to spend time finding out which key belonged to which unit.”
BECKY AT THE GERSTEN HAYWARD’S APARTMENT
The scene opens with Becky at the bottom of the stairs.
The entrance to the staircase is on back side of the building, on the side away from Meadowbrook Way. I found the photograph of The Brook Theatre on the wall at the bottom.
Becky angrily climbs the stairs.
The easiest way to find this staircase is the painting on the wall.
It’s the same painting that is briefly seen in the episode. I haven’t identified it yet (something I’ll need to find later).
The artwork is titled “Spring in the Smokies” by Robert Wood. See this Twin Peaks Blog article for more details about this work.
APARTMENT DOOR 208
As Becky approaches the top, you see the corner of the aforementioned painting.
Becky yells outside the door for Steven.
Notice how the “208” is found on the wall in the episode versus on the actual door. Most likely, the door was replaced as Becky will shoot at it in just a few moments.
The blinds were closed in the episode which helped control the lighting. The view looks toward Mount Si High School.
NOSY NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR
A nosy neighbor, played by Cynthia Lauren Tewes (best known as Julie McCoy on The Love Boat), tells Becky, “They left. They just left. There’s nobody in there!”
Tewes moved to Seattle in 1994 where she has performed with the Tacoma Actors Guild and the Seattle Repertory Theatre. This could explain how she got a brief cameo in this episode.
BECKY SHOOTS THE DOOR
Fed up, Becky unloads five shots at the door.
DOWN THE HALL
The camera then cuts to a shot zooming down the building’s hall.
The camera turns the corner in the episode. In the actual building, they have vintage Washington state travel posters hanging along the walls.
Zooming along, the camera continues down the second hall. Notice the blinds are closed in the episode.
Here’s another look at the window at the end of the hall. The camera will continue down this path until the staircase found just below the Exit sign.
GERSTEN AND STEVEN WAIT
The second staircase is found at the back entrance closest to Meadowbrook Way. When I visited, I entered this side first which meant I walked the scene backward.
Down the stairs the camera goes, passing a window with the blinds closed.
Gersten and Steven are seen waiting for the rage-filled Becky to leave.
HISTORICAL PHOTOS IN COLONIAL SQUARE APARTMENTS
One detail I loved at the Colonial Square Apartments was the historical photos on the wall.
For example, this image of a frozen Snoqualmie Falls is spectacular. The former Snoqualmie Falls Lodge is seen perched above the chilly landscape.
I was, however, particularly delighted to find this aerial photo of Snoqualmie hanging on a wall. Does it look familiar?
Charles Laidlaw took this image somewhere between 1918 and 1940 according to the Snoqualmie Valley Historical Society.
But it may look more familiar if you opened Mark Frost’s Secret History of Twin Peaks. The same image is used as the title page. Above is my autographed copy of this book.
Here’s a similar color version of the photo taken many years later. This image appeared on a postcard. Everything is so green which is exactly how I remember every visit to Snoqualmie.
