One film location I couldn’t wait to visit upon my return to Snoqualmie Valley last fall was the Mt. Si Motel. This location served as the spot of the Red Diamond City Motel in Twin Peaks – Fire Walk With Me. It also served as The Dutchman’s in Part 15 from Season 3 on Showtime. As it turns out, this motel has been a part of the North Bend, Washington community for 70 years.
THE LOCATION
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.
Here’s a brief video tour of the location from September 18, 2019:
According to the official shooting diary for Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me by Charlotte Fraisse on Dugpa.com, scenes at this location were shot on September 16, 1991:
“On the ‘Red Diamond Motel’ parking lot. David walks towards me, looking cheerful, rested and ready to go. For the first time, he kisses me. That’s nice, it makes me feel a little bit as part of the family. He is in a great mood and full of humor, joking with everybody on the set.”
HISTORY OF MT. SI MOTEL
On October 13, 1978, the section of Interstate 90 that bypassed North Bend was completed. Prior to this new road, travelers would pass through the small town while on their way to Snoqualmie Pass. In fact, by 1950, an “average of 4,200 cars passed through North Bend every day, with more than 7,000 a day during the tourist and hunting seasons.”
With all of those folks passing though, some needed a place to stay. The North Bend Motel, located closer to the downtown area, opened in 1938. This new place, situated in the shadow of the great Mount Si, would have offered travelers another option for accommodations.
My first visit to the motel was in August 1996 during the Twin Peaks Fan Festival. Our bus tour guide, Travis Blue, made an unscheduled stop at this location. We descended from pure air, snapping photos and recording video. (Travis took a candid photo of me with fishing vest and tripod in hand). For some reason, I did not take photos during our stop. But I have video footage which I’ll have to convert from VHS to DVD and upload (stay tuned).
I was unable to locate details about the individuals who built the motel. Property records indicate the property was sold to Marlo Vistrand on August 5, 1994 as part of an estate settlement. It appears her father was named Stanley S. Woltersdorf who passed away on September 20, 1993. Marlo was named a personal representative to his estate on October 26, 1993.
Long time Twin Peaks fan and former Festival organizer, Jared Lyon, took several photos of the Mt. Si Motel in the early 2000s.
For the image above, he said, “She was a very nice woman with photos from the filming of FWWM, plus some odd trivia about Teresa’s murder; it was filmed here and in the trailer.”
This image by Jared Lyon is Room 6, where Ronette and Laura are seen waiting on the bed in their lingerie.
The room barely changed for nearly 20 years. This image by Lingling shows the room in August 2009. Notice a framed note was added to the wall (more on that in a moment).
Jared also shared a digital copy of a translated “Vanity Fair Italy” article published on August 25, 2010. He translated the original article from Italian to English and then recreated the magazine’s layout with the translated text. That’s amazing!
The article offered some additional details about the motel.
“And even room 6 is about the disappear. ‘Many people still ask about being able to sleep there or even being able to see it,’ says Marlo Vistrand, 63, who inherited the Mt. Si Motel from his parents, ‘but this winter I decided I will have to repaint it. Twenty years have passed. Life goes on.'”
This could mean the motel had been in the Vistrand family for many years.
The motel was sold to Mt Si Motel LLC (Jason Lee) on October 19, 2016. On January 10, 2018, a permit was filed to remodel the motel. That summer on July 16, another permit was filed to replace the roof. The building received new paint colors around June 7, 2019, which completely erased the look of the motel seen in Twin Peaks – Fire Walk With Me.
On March 6, 2019, fellow Bookhouse Gal Erin Craver spotted the motel for sale on Craigslist for $1! This find led to a lively conversation about Mt. Si Motel, which included dreams and plans of what folks would do with it.
The “Mayor of Twin Peaks” Karl Reinsch later determined the actual asking price was around $2.7M. When I visited in September 2019, the place was still functioning as a motel.
MT. SI MOTEL EXTERIOR
After spending a morning at Olallie State Park on September 18, 2019, I stopped by the Mt. Si Motel while on my way back to downtown North Bend. The location had been on my list of places to visit before leaving Washington state later that afternoon.
Upon parking, I immediately noticed the motel was a different color than I recalled.
Charles from the former InTwinPeaks.com website posted several photos of the motel during his trips to Snoqualmie Valley. This one from August 8, 2011 shows a familiar blue, white and red paint scheme.
These photos are how I remember the motel from that first visit.
The bright red and white bricks with the contrasting blue trim really popped.
Even this behind-the-scenes photo shared by Twin Peaks Archive on Twitter shows Pamela Gidley and David Lynch sharing a laugh in front of those red bricks. I would give anything to have the book in Lynch’s lap!
LELAND MEETS TERESA
Leland Palmer meets Teresa Banks in Room 123 at the Red Diamond City Motel. Interestingly, both early draft and August 8, 1991 scripts state this location is the Blue Diamond City Motel. It’s unclear what changed but I wonder if the giant diamond with red neon lights used to cover the “Mt. Si” was a factor. Ultimately, “Red Diamond City Motel” only appears on screen but never in the script.
We can infer that Red Diamond City is a city near the town of Twin Peaks. It seems like it could be a nod to Diamond County, which was referenced several times in the original pilot episode script for “Northwest Passage.”
InTwinPeaks.com shared these two images of the sign taken in the late 2000s. I love the fact that the sign appears to be the original one constructed in the 1950s (though the postcard shows the sign was green, not blue).
After the establishing shot, we see Leland in bed with Teresa who is smoking a cigarette. While they are in the fictional Room 123, the scene was shot in Room 6.
Who am I? I don’t know.
I adore this behind-the-scenes image of David Lynch giving direction to Pamela and Ray. I’d love to know what he was saying, hand gestures and all!
LELAND ARRIVES TO PARTY
The area where Leland goes to the motel looks slightly different today. The top image is from InTwinPeaks.com around April 27, 2010. You’ll notice a door was added and the Coca-Cola machine is gone.
The scene opens with Leland walking down a narrow hallway. There is a home behind the motel which explains the green-yellow van. How I wish Coca-Cola still cost $.60!
The same hallway around 2009/2010 and in September 2019.
As Leland heads for the room, he panics after seeing his daughter Laura sitting on the bed with her friend Ronette. He didn’t expect to find this!
Leland is startled by Teresa Banks, who is holding an ice cube tray. Notice the bricks appear to be the same, even if they are now a different color.
He explains that he “chickened out” from the planned outing. They are standing in front of a garage that is now covered by a wall. The garage was part of the original 1950s hotel design.
There is a fantastic behind-the-scenes photo from The Mauve Zone that shows Pamela Gidley sitting in that garage between takes.
THE BICYCLE
One thing you may notice in the background in a ten-speed bicycle.
When Charles from the former InTwinPeaks.com visited in the late 2000s, he spotted the same bike:
“While photographing the garage that Theresa and Leland stand in front of, I noticed a bicycle hanging from the back wall and thought it looked familiar. I checked my screen captures from the movie and sure enough, it was the very same bike seen in the film! I asked the owner’s daughter, Sonya (who was giving me a tour and is awesome) and she confirmed that it was the same bike.”
On April 27, 2010, Charles reported on his visit to the Mt. Si Motel:
“Went over to the Mt. Si Motel (a.k.a. Blue Diamond Motel) and asked if I could buy the bike that was in the shot behind Theresa Banks in FWWM. It’s been there for nearly 20 years! The awesome owners, Marlo (mom) and Sonya (daughter) agreed to sell me the bike. How awesome is THAT!?”
LELAND LEAVES THE PARTY
Scared at being discovered, Leland quickly leaves the motel after handing Teresa Banks a wad of cash.
Charles took two images of the parking lot in 2009 and 2010.
By 2019, parking was rearranged and moved away from the courtyard that once held flower beds.
As Leland leaves, Teresa heads to the room with Laura and Ronette.
Out of the blue, the grandson wearing a white mask appears. He jumps in a circle as Leland quickly walks away.
PARTY ROOM
The first time we see Ronette and Laura on the bed is during a flashback Leland Palmer has while picking up his daughter from Donna Hayward’s house.
This scene was filmed Room 6 at the motel, which has recently been slightly remodeled.
I’ll admit that it was pretty surreal to stand in this room after all these years.
Laura and Ronette as seen through the doorframe.
LAURA ON THE BED
Close up shots of Laura sitting on the bed laughing and smiling.
She is wearing the same outfit in this promotional photo from the Ronald Grant Archive that I found on The Mauve Zone.
The image appears to be a cropped shot of this photo with Ronette as Teresa enters the room.
The same shot, slightly tilted, is seen on the 2002 DVD cover.
THE MISSING PIECES
Thanks to The Missing Pieces, we get additional and extended scenes with Teresa, Ronette and Laura. The first happens after Leland leaves and Teresa enters the party room.
Here’s the same room from September 2019.
This shot of the three girls is where we get the close up shot of Teresa running her fingers through her hair seen in the theatrical release.
When the room was remodeled, the wall behind the bed and the ceiling was repainted, so we lost the damaged sections added by the crew.
Thankfully, InTwinPeaks.com captured the original wall.
There is a framed wall plaque in the room stating:
“This room was used in the filming of the movie “Fire Walk With Me” from the TV series “Twin Peaks”.
The special effects on the walls were done by the movie studio staff.. David Lynch was the producer of this movie.”
Part of the constructed wall still exists today, though some wood paneling has been added to the lower third. It’s about two feet closer to the bed, and there is most likely a reason for this seen in another deleted scene.
LELAND CALLS TERESA
In another scene from The Missing Pieces, Teresa receives a phone call from Leland Palmer after he spots her photo in “Fleshworld” magazine. Notice the items behind her.
You can see the same wall unit in the room today. It looks like the refrigerator was added to the room in the area that is now the bathroom. Could this closer wall have helped with framing this scene?
For the final deleted scene, we see Teresa Banks in a phone booth placing calls to both Jacques Renault and Leland Palmer.
We get a good look at this incredible 1950s sign through the phone booth glass.
I wonder where the red diamond that topped the sign is today. I’m guessing it’s long gone, like a turkey in the corn.
While we waited years to see this deleted scene, a publicity shot for the film with Teresa on the phone was release. My gut tells the phone booth was added specifically for the shoot. It seems like an odd spot to have a public phone booth, especially since many of the rooms have telephones.
Thank you to Charles from InTwinPeaks, Jared Lyon, The Mauve Zone, Erin Craver, Karl Reinsch, and the staff of the Mt. Si Motel for helping me with this article. While the motel isn’t as notable as other North Bend historic places, it played an important part in my favorite David Lynch film. Definitely worth a stop if you are in the Snoqualmie Valley area.
I visited in early September 2020. The motel is still operating and the sign, parking lot and motel exteriors are the same as they were i September 2019.