In my quest to document the many Twin Peaks film locations, some of the more difficult locations to photograph are found at night. It’s easy to capture these locations during the day, but I’m striving for authenticity. I want shots that match how these locations appear on screen. That’s one reason why as soon as I landed in Seattle, Washington, I headed directly to the location used as Calhoun Memorial Hospital to see it at night.
WHERE IS THE EXTERIOR OF CALHOUN MEMORIAL HOSPITAL LOCATED?
The building location is found at 12844 Military Road South in Tukwila, Washington. The approximate coordinates are 47°29’12.8″N 122°17’47.2″W.
The Google Maps image above shows the approximate location where the establishing shot was captured.
The area was once home to the 43-acre Riverton Sanitarium that opened in 1928 to treat tuberculosis . In 1961, th sanitarium was sold and “the cottages, water tower and support buildings were torn down and replaced with a modern hospital.” Ownership changed over the years and the hospital was eventually expanded.
According to a Medium article on August 10, 2023, the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) finalized an agreement to lease and purchase the former Cascade Behavioral Health facility for $29.9 million. The department would take a phased approach of making the 100 additional beds available to patients. DHSH took possession of the building on August 15, 2023.
A year later, I stopped by for a nighttime shot.
CALHOUN MEMORIAL HOSPITAL AT NIGHT
There is only one scene in Twin Peaks that uses a nighttime shot of Calhoun Memorial Hospital. In episode 1.001, the nighttime establishing shot cuts to Deputy Hawk speaking with Ronette Pulaski’s parents. Interestingly, Sheriff Truman’s vehicle and a Twin Peaks squad car are both parked out front.
According to a Daily Mail article from March 23, 2017, the hospital was named after Mark Frost’s grandparents, Douglas and Betty Calhoun.
“Frost, whose family home on Big Bowman Pond in Taborton has since been sold, used other real-life stories from the area in Twin Peaks and called the town’s medical center, where much of the action is set, the Calhoun Memorial Hospital – after his grandparents. His grandfather Douglas Calhoun was a doctor and, in another twist, Frost cast his own actor father Warren Frost as kindly physician Will Hayward and turned him into a star.”
Upon arriving in Seattle around 10:00 p.m. on August 15, I drove to the location about eight minutes north of SeaTac. The last time I visited was October 11, 2019, so things certainly have changed. The building is now known as Olympic Heritage Behavioral Health. Trees have grown and the building no longer has the blue and white paint scheme.
I was sad to the light fixtures along the sidewalk were removed. You can see one of them in this daytime establishing shot from episode 2.001.
The fixtures were still present in October 2019. I wonder what happened to them (hopeful they weren’t just thrown away but they probably were).
I plan on returning in the daylight to take updated photos for this article about the location.
