For several years now, I have loved playing the game of finding and identifying Twin Peaks locations. Between the thrill of the hunt to researching a location’s history, there is no greater joy than finding a photo that confirms my suspicions about a location. Today, I’m happy to report I am crossing off another location from Season 3 – the warehouse / garage where Red (Balthazar Getty) first meets Richard Horne (Eamon Farren) in Part 6.
RED MEETS RICHARD HORNE – A LOCATION MYSTERY
My search for this Part 6 location began a few years ago with a well-placed clue from a Daily Herald article on October 8, 2015. In reporter Julie Muhlstein’s article titled, “There’s a little mystery and a whole lot of screaming at the Twin Peaks house,” she shared details from an advance notice Rucker Hill residents received about filming taking place on October 9. One sentence caught my eye:
“An Everett press release said filming would take place Wednesday along Pigeon Creek Road and at the 33rd Street house.”
Today, we know the 33rd Street filming took place at the iconic Palmer house, last seen in David Lynch’s 1992 film, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. The Pigeon Creek Road location, however, remained a mystery to me.
On Google Maps, Pigeon Creek Road is a long dirt trail cutting between magnificent green trees that stretches down to the sea. Google Street View was unavailable, so I was unable to discern any additional details about the spot.
At one time, I thought maybe this is where Deputy Andy Brennan waited for the Farmer who never shows. It wasn’t as that location is found in Snoqualmie.
A second clue emerged when The Mauve Zone posted a social media image of Balthazar Getty standing next to a backward Forgotten Creek sign.
When I visited the location on August 27, 2023, I recreated Balthazar’s photo.
A quick search on Google Maps revealed the location of this nature trail is about 1.3 miles from the Palmer House. Again, it didn’t seem familiar and without being able to walk the trail, I was unable to confirm why Balthazar was there.
BEHIND THE CURTAIN ON OCTOBER 7, 2015
Thankfully, the Twin Peaks – From Z to A Collection contained behind the scenes videos from Season 3 called “Behind the Curtain.” In the Part 6 video, an establishing shot for Red and Richard Horne’s scene shows it was captured on October 7, 2015. Cross-referencing the Daily Herald article, this was around the time of when the filmed at the Palmer House.
Since Balthazar Getty didn’t appear at the Palmer House, I assumed this scene with Eamon was shot in Everett.
Further along in the video, there is a shot with the film crew and a reflection of an illuminated Taco Bell sign. Similar to how I found Mr. C’s car crash scene, I searched for all Taco Bell locations in Everett. My initial searches a few years ago did not yield results so I turned my attention elsewhere. Finding this location would have to wait.
SCOUTING REAL TWIN PEAKS
Flash forward to February 25, 2023, Dave Drummond, who served as the Season 3 Location Manager in Washington State, spoke with author Scott Ryan during the Real Twin Peaks event in Snoqualmie Valley.
At one point during his fascinating hour-long conversation, he revealed Red and Richard Horne’s scene was indeed shot in Everett when they were shooting footage at the Palmer house.
“The location itself isn’t really there anymore,” said Dave. “That was an example of one of those half days [of shooting] I mentioned. We recognized we were in Everett [at the Palmer house] and had to stay in Everett.”
He also confirmed that rain washed away plans to use Pigeon Creek Road for the scene.
“[The scene] was initially going to be an outdoor scene,” continued Dave. “It was written to be occurring outside. I had identified a green belt. It was like a forest road – a Twin Peaks road. We had that all lined up and the morning of [the shoot] there was too much rain. So that became an on the day, literally on the day, getting the directive that this isn’t going to work.
David said, ‘We want to shoot this inside. Can you find me a place inside?’ That was at seven o’clock in the morning and we were shooting at three o’clock in the afternoon. So we had to run around in Everett to find a warehouse-ish place in order to do that.”
Armed with details from Dave’s stories, I resumed my search for this spot.
TACO BELL AND A WAREHOUSE
After searching “Taco Bell locations near Everett” again on Google Maps, I selected the restaurant found at 2727 Broadway. I also checked the other three locations but nothing had a “warehouse-ish” building nearby.
I was convinced the brick warehouse located behind the Taco Bell on Broadway was the location until I watched the scene again.
The scene opens with a close up of a 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray C7 parked in a garage. Outside, we can see Richard’s 1973 Ford F-Series truck. The truck was driven from Snoqualmie as it was owned by someone who lived in the town.
The thing I noticed, however, was a red wall with a light and a distant roadside sign peeking above the truck. Nothing surrounding the warehouse near the Taco Bell on Broadway matched.
Then I realized the Taco Bell sign in that behind-the-scene image was backward, meaning it was a reflection. I was looking in the wrong location.
LOCATION WHERE RED MEETS RICHARD HORNE IN TWIN PEAKS
A green building with windows at 2718 Broadway is located across the street. The shot with the backward sign could have been taken through the front windows.
So I virtually navigated around back and found a series of garages. The building looked like it most recently housed a tire shop.
The Behind the Curtain video showed a white roll-up garage door which were found on the back of the green building.
As soon as I turned the Street View camera around, I knew I had found the location! The red wall with an outdoor sconce from the scene’s establishing shot was actually a KFC located in the adjacent lot.
Down the street, I found the sign that was peeking above Richard’s truck – it was an elevated Safelite AutoGlass sign.
Assuming this was the location, I needed to find interior shots to match my almost certain feelings. The coordinates for this building are 47°58’52.40″N 122°12’6.98″W.
INSIDE THE GARAGE WHERE RED MEETS RICHARD HORNE
To confidently confirm I found the spot, I needed interior images. One place I look for interior images is real estate websites. Following a combination of searches, I finally stumbled upon gold.
Rofo.com, a corporate real estate website had two photos from inside the building on Broadway. Unfortunately the photos were undated but it’s easy to see the green wall (sans holes) and roll-up garage door.
You can also see the patched drywall near the garage door which appears in the background of the episode.
As an aside, I’m assuming the uncredited guy holding a gun and leaning against the Corvette is a member of the crew.
Standing next to the uncredited guy is Ime Etuk, who was the second assistant director in Twin Peaks Season 3. He appears to be holding an automatic combat shotgun originally developed in 1972 by Maxwell Atchisso and called the Atchisson Assault Shotgun or AA-12 (Auto Assault-12).
David Lynch is seen holding the same AA-12 seated next to Sabrina Sutherland in the Behind the Curtain footage.
David and Sabrina are seated along one of the green walls in the garage.
In the image from Rofo.com, you can see the drywall square to the far left of the hole-filled green wall. Dave Drummond said the “bullet holes” were already present when they found the place.
So what was this place prior to being the meeting spot for Red and Richard?
HISTORY OF 2718 BROADWAY
It shouldn’t come as a surprise the building was originally the Broadway Garage & Machine shop which opened on April 23, 1921.
By 1926, James Dawson had sold his garage to Harry Allen which became the Allen Motors, Co. Inc.
About a year later, the location was renamed to Harry Allen Motors.
Following 1927, I was unable to locate much history via a number of sources. I’m assuming it remained an automotive shop for decades.
On July 1, 1982, S & M Auto Supply, Inc. appears to have taken over the location until they sold the building on December 1, 2004.
A 2002 image from Google Earth shows a giant building adjacent to the garage. Today it’s the drive thru for the KFC. I’m assuming it was once the automobile showroom for Harry Allen Motors in the 1920s.
It appears Custom Auto Specialities operated in the space for a number of years until closing at end of October 2010 due to the owner having health issues. Then a number of other shops operated in the space including 1st Choice Transmission & Auto Repair.
The building was sold again on May 19, 2016. Two years later EnriquezTires opened in the Broadway garage. From what I can discern, their shop is now closed and the building is vacant once again.
What a journey – from a small clue in a newspaper report to years later hearing from the gentleman who found the location for a last minute shoot. I hope you enjoyed the trip as much as I enjoyed finding it.
