Let’s return to the wonderful town of North Bend, Washington to explore a previously discussed film location seen in David Lynch’s 1992 masterpiece, Twin Peaks – Fire Walk With Me. This time, however, we are going to the opposite side of the Mt. Si Motel from where scenes with Teresa Banks and Leland Palmer were shot. This roadside motel opened more than 70 years ago in the shadow of Mount Si. It returned to the small screen in Twin Peaks – Parts 15 and 17 from Season 3.
WHERE IS THE DUTCHMAN’S LODGE EXTERIOR LOCATED IN TWIN PEAKS?
Mt. Si Motel is located at 43200 SE North Bend Way, about one mile east of downtown North Bend. The approximate coordinates for this spot are 47°29’01.9″N 121°45’46.7″W.
I discuss the history of this spot in this article about the Red Diamond City Motel, so I won’t repeat it for this story.
This image from line producer Christine Larson-Nitzsche on May 20, 2018 shows David Lynch, Sabrina Sutherland, Scott Cameron, Ruth De Jong and others visiting the Mt. Si Motel during location scouting.
The scenes used in Parts 15 and 17 were shot during the evening of October 12 and into the early morning (or is it late night?) of October 13. It was a slightly rainy night, which is why you’ll see the parking lot had some puddles.
This was also the final night of location shooting in Washington state before the crew relocated to Southern California. The scene took most of the late night, wrapping up about 6:00 a.m.
THE DUTCHMAN’S LODGE IN TWIN PEAKS
We first learn of “The Dutchman’s” from my favorite character from Season 3, Ray Monroe (George Griffith). Just before Mr. C shoots him in the head, Ray explains that Phillip Jeffries was “at a place called The Dutchman’s, but it’s not a real place.”
Thanks to Mark Frost’s book, “Twin Peaks – The Final Dossier” we get some additional information about this mysterious spot on page 126:
“After [Ray] Monroe died, our investigators found a matchbook in his pocket, for a roadside motel called The Dutchman’s Lodge, in rural western Montana. I [Tamara Preston] personally visited the address on the matchbook and there’s nothing there. It’s an empty space on the side of an old two-lane state highway. I then went back and checked historical records for the area and learned that there was such a motel at that exact location dating back to the early 1930s. It was built, owned, and operated by a man name Horace ‘the Dutchman’ Vandersant, and it was known not only as a ‘gateway to a sportsman’s paradise,” but as a mob- and gangster-friendly establishment – rumor has it John Dillinger once spent a week there while on the lam. The lodge was shut down not long after Vandersant died, in 1962m and was demolished in 1967.”
Agent Preston also states the Lodge’s former location “lay directly between Missoula and Twin Peaks.”
We see “Western Montana” (which is actually footage from South Dakota) in Part 13.
But did the Dutchman’s Lodge or Horace Vandersant ever exist?
As far as I can tell, they are creations from Mark Frost’s mind.
I found a postcard for The Lost Dutchman Lodge in Mesa, Arizona. The motel’s name is most likely a reference to the Lost Dutchman Gold Mine, a legendary rich gold mine hidden in the southwestern United States.
This was the only reference to a motel I could find during exhaustive searches (the Arizona one is still there today as a Motel 6). Montana does have Dutchman Mountain in Beaverhead County, and there was a Dutchman Mining Co. once active in the region.
After hearing the “Dutchman’s” name, I immediately thought of The Flying Dutchman, the legendary ghost ship which was said to never be able to make port, doomed to sail the oceans forever. I still wish the motel from Frost’s novel was a real place; it would have been great to add it to the growing list of film location.
ENTERING THE DUTCHMAN’S LODGE
The scene begins with Mr. C being escorted up a flight of stairs to a hallway entrance. This scene was shot on a soundstage at Calvert Studios in Van Nuys, California in early 2016 (that’s a different story for another time).
We then cut to a scene of Mr. C walking past what appears to be flower wallpaper.
He pauses at a brown door. We can see more of the flower-themed decor.
It’s the same wallpaper used in the scene prior on the soundstage set. The coolest part about this scene is that the crew actually built part of the wall with the brown door and placed it in the parking lot of Mt. Si Motel.
Fellow Bookhouse Boy (and Mayor of Twin Peaks) took this image of the set during the night of filming.
There is no computer generated graphics for the shot – Mr. C literally walks down a faux-hall lined with flowered wallpaper and opens a door to the actual parking lot. I love this detail so incredibly much!
The area is being lit by a Condor, which is basically a “cherry picker” that has a lighting rig attached to it. This is why Mr. C and the courtyard are bathed in soft light.
You can read more about Karl’s experience watching this scene being shot in Issue 15 of Blue Rose Magazine.
CROSSING THE PARKING LOT AT THE DUTCHMAN’S LODGE
As Mr. C steps through the open door, he enters a rain-soaked parking lot. In the distance, we see one of two Woodsmen. The one that appears in this shot is most likely played by Christian Calloway who played a Woodsman in several other scenes. The scene appears to have been shot using a Vantablack filter (joking of course) so identifying the exact actor is tough.
Here’s a similar shot from the Mt. Si Motel parking lot on September 18, 2019. The exterior now sports a different color scene than what was seen in Season 3. The building received new paint colors around June 7, 2019. How I wish I could have seen it one last time before the new paint arrived.
The first Woodsman joins Mr. C as he crossing the lot toward Room 8. We see a second Woodsman to the right.
Thanks to an outstanding interview by Martin Hearn for 25YearsLaterSite.com, we learn that this Woodsman was played by Anthony Marcacci.
Martin Hearn: Was the exterior shooting of this Convenience Store scene filmed in the same location as Part 8?
Anthony Marcacci: Yep, shot the scene with me and Kyle directly before the other scene. It was like midnight for the scene with Kyle and then we didn’t finish up until 2am or so for everything. It was a very long day…then the two of us came back the next day/night to film at the motel where we walk ‘Mr C’ toward the door where the giant David Bowie impersonating steam kettle, Phillip Jeffries, lives.
OUTSIDE ROOM 8 AT THE DUTCHMAN’S LODGE
Mr. C slowly approaches Room 8 at the motel.
The remodeled exterior of Room 8 at Mt. Si Motel in September 2019.
The door to Room 8 is locked. Something to Mr. C’s right catches his attention.
The same area (with a different look) at the Mt. Si Motel.
BOSOMY WOMAN AT THE DUTCHMAN’S LODGE
The camera cuts to the Bosomy Woman standing in the shadows watching Mr. C.
Here’s a better a look at the woman before she approached Room 8. This is a publicity shot from Part 15 taken by Suzanne Tenner.
I love seeing the open spot behind the Bosomy Woman as it’s the same area where Leland Palmer “chickens out” at the party with Teresa Banks’ friends in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.
A similar shot with the now-covered garage. Bummers.
UNLOCKING THE DOOR TO ROOM 8
The Bosomy Woman offers to unlock the door for Mr. C. Dialogue was recorded backward similar to dialogue from The Red Room scenes.
The oversized bushes were replaced during the Mt. Si remodel in 2019.
By the way, the Bosomy Woman was played by Irish-born actor based in Seattle, Washington, Malachy Sreenan.
The Bosomy Woman crosses to the door to Room 8.
She unlocks and opens the door for Mr. C.
ENTERING ROOM 8
Mr. C watches as the Bosomy Woman unlocks the door.
They share a glance as she departs back across the parking lot.
Mr. C enters the room and shuts the door.
END CREDITS TO TWIN PEAKS PART 15
During the end credits for Part 15, we get two additional shots of The Dutchman’s Lodge. The first shows the wet parking lot with the light outside Room 8 illuminated.
Here is a similar look across the parking lot / courtyard at Mt. Si Motel. I wish I would have captured a closer shot (just means I have to go back).
The second shot from the end credits shows the Bosomy Woman standing in the now-covered garage opening at the motel. It’s a brief shot but I’m wondering if it’s part of a longer take of her crossing to Room 8.
Most likely it is the starting point before she walked toward Mr. C as her first appearance shows her halfway across the courtyard while the publicity shot by Suzanne Tenner shows her slightly closer to the garage opening.
PART 17 APPEARANCE
We return briefly to The Dutchman’s Lodge in Part 17. This time Philip Gerard is seen escorting Special Agent Dale Cooper through the brown door. But it’s a reversed shot from Part 15, as it was captured on a set (versus at Mt. Si Motel).
There is a quick establishing shot of the Dutchman’s Lodge courtyard which is basically lifted from a scene before the end credits roll in Part 15.
Instead of crossing the courtyard like Mr. C did, Gerard takes Agent Cooper down another hall (on set at Calvert Studios) to get to Phillip Jeffries’s room.
the motel already had that grey paint job when I stayed there in november 2017