The exploration of the home used as the Palmer House in Twin Peaks and Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me continues with a look at the kitchen. It’s fitting we begin our look inside here since it’s the first room seen early on in the Pilot Episode.
WHERE IS THE PALMER HOUSE IN EVERETT, WASHINGTON LOCATED?
There were two houses used for the Palmer family in Twin Peaks. The house seen as the establishing shot in Seasons 1 and 2 is found in Monroe, Washington. The other, which was used for the Pilot, feature film and Season 3, is located at 708 33rd Street in Everett, Washington. The approximate coordinates are 47°58’25.3″N 122°13’14.4″W.
You can read more about the extensive history of this home in this article.
If you are interested in taking a tour of this location, please check out VisitPalmerHouse.com. Mary Reber (Mrs. Tremond in Twin Peaks Part 18) owns the house and has created a variety of tour packages showcasing this historic Everett, Washington home.
Please remember this is a private residence, so please be respectful if you are in the area. This reminder includes anyone who wants to scream at the house while standing on the street – yes, it happens. Don’t be that person.
FILMING AT THE HOUSE ON MARCH 7, 1989
The first time we see the kitchen is in the Pilot Episode when Sarah Palmer calls out to Laura. This scene, along with several others at this location, was shot on March 7, 1989.
The first draft of the script, then titled “Northwest Passage and dated December 7, 1988, describes the action.
INT. PALMER HOUSE – MORNING
SARAH PALMER, a thin, nervous chain-smoker, mid-forties, turns some bacon over on the griddle, lights a cigarette and goes to the bottom of the stairs.
Thanks to KING 5 in Seattle, we see the kitchen during a video tour with former owner Marilyn Pettersen. She put the home up for sale in 2014 after living in it for 49 years.
The Zillow Blog shared this image in an interview with Mrs. Petersen in July 2014. It’s neat to see that some of the stencil work seen in this first shot was still found in the kitchen nearly 25 years later.
FULL VIEW OF THE PALMER HOUSE KITCHEN
I combined two subsequent shots of Sarah to get a better look at the entire kitchen.
During my visit to the home on September 13, 2019, I snapped a similar shot of the kitchen. The home’s owner, Mary Reber, did a wonderful job updating the space with lots of modern touches (I love the see-through cabinets). She also had a yellow telephone located on a small desk just below the island.
NOT GONNA TELL YOU AGAIN
SARAH
Laura, sweetheart, I’m not gonna tell you again!
(silence; she waits)
Laura!
(no response; to herself)
Oh for goodness sakes …
She starts up the stairs.
As Sarah ascends the staircase, we get a quick view of the kitchen, a shot that will later be seen in Twin Peaks – Fire Walk With Me.
FRANTIC PHONE CALLS MADE BY SARAH PALMER
When Sarah can’t find her daughter, she returns to the kitchen to place several phone calls beginning with Betty Briggs, Bobby’s mother. The script, however, has the phone calls taking place in Laura’s bedroom.
She goes into Laura’s room. Notices for the first time that the window is open and the lace curtains are blowing in the breeze.
Sarah picks up the white princess phone beside Laura’s bed, dials and waits for someone to answer.
We never see a phone in Laura’s bedroom during the series. It wasn’t until The Missing Pieces did we get a look at the phone beside her bed. The coolest part to me is that it is a “white princess phone,” exactly as described in the script.
On a side note, the “princess phone” was first introduced in 1959 by the Bell System. Famed industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss designed this compact telephone for “convenient use in the bedroom.” Models contained a light-up dial that double as a night-light.
MORE CALLS PLACED BY SARAH PALMER
Unsuccessful, Sarah places calls to the Twin Peaks High School field house (whose telephone number began with 474 according to the pilot script), and then The Great Northern Hotel.
Of course the Quaker Oats Cereal box and the Cap’n Crunch boxes behind her were altered to avoid endorsement complications.
Another look at the more modern Palmer kitchen from September 2019. You may notice the cherry pie on the island countertop.
The night I visited Mary with fellow Bookhouse Boy Aaron Cohen and the Ostrbo sisters, we enjoy pie from The North Bend Bakery in North Bend, Washington.
This is the same bakery that supplied pies when Season 3 was being shot at Twede’s Cafe in North Bend. Damn fine pie (thank you, Aaron)!
GRACE ZABRISKIE’S PERFORMANCE AS SARAH PALMER
Upon hearing the dreadful news, we are then introduced to a powerful performance of a grieving mother by Grace Zabriskie.
The camera cuts to close-up reaction shots of Sarah as she hears the news that Laura has been killed.
That scream gets me every time!
What an incredible actress! The raw emotion is palpable and my heart aches with every viewing.
The Pilot is the only time we’ll see the kitchen in all three season of the show.
There is a deleted scene that follows Sarah’s wailing with Janice Hogan, the Palmer’s neighbor. Read more about it in this article.
KITCHEN IN TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME
The kitchen makes a very brief cameo in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me when Laura Palmer returns home after being gifted the framed image for her walk. As she slowly creeps toward the stairs, we see a shot similar to one from the Pilot.
Shooting for the Palmer house scenes in the film took place around September 25, 1991. The shooting diary from Charlotte Fraisse mentions the kitchen as the place where Marilyn Pettersen hung out with the prop guys.
Location: Laura’s house. This house, where the pilot was shot, is smallish, very clean, with white walls and white or pinkish beige curtains, little pink garlands painted over the windows and an unbelievable amount of knick-knacks. The floors are protected with large pieces of cardboard. The lady of the house retired graciously to her kitchen with the prop men. With David’s agreement, Mary Sweeney, the editor, shows us some rough cuts: school out, a dialog between Laura and the Log Lady and a scene with Bobby and Laura. These scenes are superb, very intense and I discover an unexpected Sheryl Lee. Enhanced, under remarkable lighting and direction, this actress with a clean-cut look, who could have seemed a bit too demure for the part, turns out to be a genuine Lynch heroine.
During the 2014 video tour with KING 5, we see Marilyn trace a similar path.
We catch two glimpses of the kitchen as seen from the dining room in both The Missing Pieces and the theatrical release.
The Zillow Blog also offered this alternate view of the kitchen. The maroon-colored wall leads to the dining room, while the side hall goes toward the bathroom where Laura washes her hands, the stairwell and the living room.
Thank you again to Mary Reber for her hospitality. It was a real treat to walk in these spaces.
