Doubling is a common theme that runs throughout Twin Peaks. There are “two Chalfont trailers” at the Fat Trout Trailer Park, Laura Palmer’s cousin, Madeline Ferguson, looks almost exactly like her. The same thought can be applied to Laura Palmer’s bedroom – there are two versions with one being a set for the 1992 feature film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. Today, I’m focusing on the actual bedroom found on the second floor of a historic Everett, Washington home.
WHERE IS LAURA PALMER’S BEDROOM LOCATED?
There were two houses used for the Palmer family in Twin Peaks. The establishing shot of the house’s exterior seen in the first two seasons is located in Monroe, Washington. The other house used in the pilot episode, feature film and third season 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.
Remember this house is a private residence, so please be respectful if you are in the area. This reminder is especially for anyone who wants to scream at the house while standing on the street – yes, it happens. Don’t be that person.
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 Rucker Hill home.
FILM IN LAURA PALMER’S BEDROOM ON MARCH 7, 1989
The bedroom scenes at the Palmer house from the pilot episode were shot on March 7, 1989. They were some of the last scenes captured that day. The first floor action (the kitchen, Sheriff Truman questioning Sarah, etc.) were shot first before the crew relocated upstairs for two bedroom scenes.
The pilot episode is really the only time we get a look at Laura’s bedroom. Shots are then recycled throughout the shots in only a handful of episodes.
The revised first draft script of the pilot episode dated December 7, 1988 contains slightly different action than what was broadcast.
THE STAIRS TO LAURA PALMER’S BEDROOM
The first glimpse of Laura’s room is found when Sarah Palmer looks for Laura after not getting a response to her calls from the kitchen.
The scripted version makes no mention of the stairs and some of Sarah’s dialogue from the kitchen moved to after she opened Laura’s bedroom door.
INT. PALMER HALLWAY
Sarah opens the door to Laura’s bedroom.
SARAH (annoyed)
Laura, now means now–
It was a surreal feeling to be standing under the fan on the same stairwell with the wonderful Mary Reber (Mrs. Tremond and current owner of the Palmer house) when I visited in September 2019.
This similar scene would be recycled during Agent Cooper’s dream in episode 2.002 in season two.
LAURA PALMER’S BEDROOM FROM THE PILOT
Sarah opens Laura’s bedroom and we get a point-of-view shot of her unmade bed. The script describes additional action of Sarah’s search.
CUT TO:
She stops short. Laura’s bed has apparently been slept in but there’s no one in the room. Sarah walks down the hall to the bathroom and knocks on the door.
SARAH
Laura?
No answer. She tries the door, opens it. No one inside. Sarah goes back into the hall, starting to worry.
SARAH (louder)
Laura! Honey, are you downstairs?
In the broadcast, the camera pans across Laura’s bedroom.
This is one of the only times in the series that we will see this side of Laura’s bedroom.
Before her passing, Marilyn Pettersen took a reporter from K5 in Seattle through the house. The video had some great images of the bedroom sans furniture.
We even got a rare look inside the closet that appears briefly in the pilot episode.
THE WINDOW IN LAURA PALMER’S BEDROOM
The script contains additional action about the window in Laura’s room not seen in the episode.
She goes into Laura’s room. Notices for the
the window is open and the lace curtains are blowing in the breeze.
In Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me we see Laura climbing down the side of the house which is why the window was left open.
When Marilyn gave a tour of the bedroom, they stopped at this window.
She remarked that the window hadn’t been opened in years. The reporter tried opening it with no luck. Another reason why the scene with Bob climbing through the window in the 1992 film was shot on a set.
Returning to the script, Sarah makes the phone call to Betty Briggs from Laura’s bedroom, not the kitchen. Notice Betty’s name is “Bette.”
Sarah picks up the white princess phone beside Laura’s bed, dials and waits for someone to answer.
SARAH (into the phone)
Bette, it’s Sarah, listen, I just came up to wake Laura and she’s not here, is she with Bobby?
LELAND PALMER IN LAURA PALMER’S BEDROOM
The scene with Leland Palmer and Deputy Hawk in Laura’s room remained mostly unchanged from the script, except Hawk was named Bernie Hill and the video camera was found in the closet.
INT. LAURA’S BEDROOM – DAY
CUT TO:
Leland Palmer sits on the unmade bed, his hand absent-mindedly brushing the bedspread. Deputy Bernie Hill is unobtrusively searching the room. He opens a dresser drawer beside the bed and discovers a locked diary, embosses with Laura’s initials.
BERNIE
Do you know where the key for this is, sir?
LELAND (shakes his head)
Do you have to take that?
BERNIE
We’ll return it as soon as possible.
Palmer nods. Bernie places the diary in a cardboard box along with other collected evidence; her schoolbooks, letters, etc.
Bernie moves to and opens the closet door. Turns on an overhead light. The first thing he sees is a video camera sitting on a shelf.
Ah, handheld video cameras. I guess if Twin Peaks was made today, it would have been Laura Palmer’s iPhone that Deputy Hawk found.
THE DOOR KNOB
One thing caught my eye while standing in Laura Palmer’s bedroom – the door knob. This is how it looked in the pilot episode.
I’d like to believe that the same door knob as seen in the pilot episode is still found on the door to Laura’s room in the Everett, Washington house. If so, it’s a cool details more than 30 years later.
I also think this door knob makes a brief appearance in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. I previously mentioned that Laura’s bedroom was shot on a set in California for the feature film. I think the scene where Laura Palmer slowly approaches her bedroom door was shot in Washington state.
In this scene, the camera is supposed to be Laura’s eyes. There is a tiny crack in the door that shows little details of the bedroom as it pans down to the door knob. It looks like there is a standing panel mirror, a planter with a plant and a woven basket with a white extension cord.
As Laura opens the door, the scene cuts to the set. We never get a good look at the right side of her room. So I’m thinking these items were actually what Marilyn Pettersen left in the room. If I could find photos of her house interior from this time, I may be able to confirm my suspicions.
BOB KNEELING IN THE BEDROOM
In episode 1.001, we briefly return to Laura Palmer’s bedroom via a vision from Sarah Palmer. She remembers seeing Killer BOB at the end of Laura’s bed.
The camera quickly zooms into BOB’s face.
The same shot will return in episode 2.002 but with an owl superimposed over Killer BOB’s face.
With the bed positioned in the opposite direction, it was difficult to get an exact matching shot. But we can see part of the closet behind BOB, so this image works for now.
FAN THROUGH THE BEDROOM WINDOW
While we don’t see the inside of Laura’s bedroom in season three, we do get a brief shot of the ceiling fan as seen through the windows of Laura Palmer’s bedroom.
The scene was shot on location around October 9, 2015. The crew illuminated the ceiling fan with a bright white light and captured it spinning through the bedroom windows.
Thank you again to Mary Reber for being so kind in allowing me to photograph the bedroom.
