How Twin Peaks Fans Saved the Counter from Hap’s Diner

I adore the first 35 minutes of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, particularly the scenes at Hap’s Diner with Special Agents Chet Desmond and Sam Stanley. While I was saddened at hearing the Hap’s Diner building in Fall City, Washington was recently demolished, I’ve got good news. With thanks to some incredible Twin Peaks fans, parts of the former roadside diner lives on at Snoqualmie Valley Eagles #3529 in Snoqualmie, Washington.

THE COUNTER INSIDE HAP’S DINER

Scenes at Hap’s Diner were most likely shot between September 13-15, 1991. At the time of filming, the location was known as the Fall City Grill.

One item constructed for Lynch’s 1992 film was a small counter inside Hap’s Diner.

After speaking with Jack in a back room, Special Agents Chet Desmond and Sam Stanley speak with a waitress Irene while sitting at this counter.

Irene tells the law enforcement team about Teresa Banks.

During the conversation, they are interrupted by an old guy played by the late G. Kenneth Davidson who asked about “that little guy that got murdered.”

The whole scene is mesmerizing and has the complete opposite vibe found at Norma Jennings’ Double R Diner in Twin Peaks. I love every single second!

After filming was completed, the counter stayed behind. My buddy Joe Neff and I sat in the same spot as the FBI Agents in August 1996.

After posing at the counter, we enjoyed lunch in a booth near the back of the restaurant. It was the only time either of us dined at the place before in closed in 2017.

We weren’t the only Twin Peaks fans to visit. Former Twin Peaks Fan Festival organizer Jared Lyon took this photo of the counter in August 2001.

He also grabbed this shot of the booths inside the restaurant.

The restaurant would change owners and names in the years that follows. I found this photo on Yelp when the restaurant was named Fall City Bistro. Notice how the counter was repainted.

FALL CITY BISTRO CLOSES IN APRIL 2017

In April 2017, Fall City Bistro closed operations and moved to Duvall, Washington. The building sat vacant for years until King County demolished the building during the first week of July 2024. The entire area is near the Snoqualmie River, which has a tendency to flood. Demolishing the building was the only viable pathway forward for the land.

SAVING THE COUNTER AND BOOTHS FROM HAP’S DINER

I’ve long believed that Twin Peaks fans are some of the best fans in the entire world. I have never met a more caring, kind, compassionate and fun group of people. To paraphrase David Lynch, Twin Peaks people are party people.

The fandom also has heroes who want to preserve the history of David Lynch and Mark Frost’s wonderful and strange show. Enter Anita Dunning-Rehn who saw a posting in July 2017 about a “U shaped counter” measuring 10-feet by 10-feet, 13-inches by 10-feet 44-inches tall that was for sale. It was the counter from inside the former Fall City Bistro.

It was THE counter created for Hap’s Diner.

“The owner’s daughter was really awesome,” remembers Anita. “She was a little hesitant and skeptical at first. I really don’t think she knew what to make of me wanting to buy the counter while [I was still] living in California. After talking with her so much, she really warmed up and had some great stories to tell about filming.”

The counter was huge!

This was the view Irene (Sandra Kinder) had when speaking with the FBI Special Agents.

Interestingly, Sandra Kinder returned to the diner for the Twin Peaks Fan Festival on July 28, 2007. What an incredibly awesome photo captured by Jared Lyon! Still no specials though.

In July 2017, Twin Peaks: The Return was airing on Showtime. Anita had been in Snoqualmie Valley two years early during filming. She shared some of those stories during the Real Twin Peaks 2024 event. Naturally, it is no surprise that the Evolution of the Arm and Johnny Horne’s “How are you today?” toy made the trek to former diner location that summer.

Anita was very interested in purchasing it but she needed some place to keep it in Washington State. It would have been too big to move to the Golden State.

“Making sure that majestic counter (made specifically for ‘Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me’) and those fantastic booths did not go to the landfill was definitely a group effort,” continued Anita. “It would not have been possible if Mary Hütter and her husband Seth Triezenberg weren’t willing to give up most of their garage [in Washington state] for years.”

With storage identified, the counter was saved!

Disassembling the booth was a family affair. Mary shared these photos of her son Henry helping Seth take apart the booth during the afternoon of July 29, 2017.

SAVING THE BOOTHS AT HAP’S DINER

In addition to the counter, the former Fall City Bistro was removing the red leather benches seen in the film’s background. These were same booths I sat in decades earlier.

Mary and Seth agreed to take the booths to their garage.

The booths were set up against a wall on black and white chevron flooring in the garage.

THE COUNTER IN MARY AND SETH’S GARAGE

Once Mary and Seth agreed to store the items, the whole thing happened rather quickly. The couple along with Anita and Amy King (who was the hero with a truck) transported the counter and booths to their private residence in Snoqualmie.

Fellow Twin Peaks Blog author Vinnie Guidera shared this photo of then newly assembled bar at 12:05 a.m on July 30, 2017. Seth is pictured with Barnabas the cat (who is one of the most amazing cats I’ve ever met!). Seth set it up rather quickly, just in time for karaoke.

“I was on staff for the Twin Peaks Fan Festival in 2017,” continued Anita. “The owner was insistent that the counter needed to be out that week. Once we got it over to Mary’s, we basically just dropped it off and left for movie night. I still have no idea how but by the time the movie was over, Seth had Mary’s garage completely set up. It really was some kind of Twin Peaks magic!”

Mary and Anita soon posed for a photo behind the counter, toasting this newly acquired treasure (note the PABST BLUE RIBBON – Frank Booth would be proud!).

VISITING THE COUNTER AND BOOTHS AT MARY AND SETH’S GARAGE

During my first return trip to Snoqualmie Valley in September 2019, I stopped by Mary and Seth’s garage. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing – the counter from Hap’s Diner! I posed for a photo in nearly the same spot I did 23 years earlier.

Fall City Bistro had painted the countertop gray. Mary was determined to remove the paint to restore how the counter looked in the film.

In two years time, she had got pretty far at removing the paint.

I will never understand why it was painted but I’m glad Mary used some elbow grease to return the counter to its “starting positions.”

The next day, I stopped by Hap’s Diner at night to get a look inside.

It was surreal looking inside the location that had sat vacant for two and a half years.

The outline of where the counter was located is seen in the foreground. The door to the back right is the one where the FBI Agents questioned Jack.

MOVING THE COUNTER AND BOOTHS TO SNOQUALMIE VALLEY EAGLES

Flash forward to summer 2021, the counter and booths found their way to Snoqualmie Valley Eagles #3529 as Mary and Seth were moving out of Washington.

Mary shared the good news in a Facebook post on July 10, 2021:

“If you’re making a visit to the Sno-Valley, you might wanna make a stop at the Sno-Valley Fraternal Order of the Eagles (in downtown Snoqualmie on Railroad Ave). The diner counter and booths from Hap’s in [Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me], saved from destruction by Anita K. Dunning-Rehn, Amy King, my husband and myself, in 2017 is now located there. While it’s a members only club, if you enter and say you’re a Twin Peaks fan, you can have someone sign you in (ask the bartender). You are welcome to take pictures, but please order drinks, leave a fat tip/ donation or better yet BOTH!”

I was beyond happy to see the counter again during the Real Twin Peaks event in February 2023. By this time, Twin Peaks-themed photos were added to the bar under a protective finish.

The booths were also still present in the private club. What a treat!

On behalf of Twin Peaks fans everywhere, I must thank Anita, Mary, Seth, Amy, Karl, Vinnie and those who help preserve elements from my favorite television show. Future generations of fans will benefit from your vision and thoughtfulness, long after we are gone.