You might not have $549,950 locked away in your safety deposit box —because that’s a lot of Girl Scout cookies!— but you can still save the Palmer house!
When a few weeks ago I wrote about Laura Palmer’s house being up for sale, I included my wish for a Twin Peaks fan to buy the place and turn at least one room into a museum. Guess what? Stephen Lange, a Seattle-based actor and director, is now heading a team that wants to purchase the house in Everett, WA where both the pilot and Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me was filmed*, and turn it into a museum, event space and bed & breakfast for all Twin Peaks fans to enjoy for years to come.
“Obviously, this is a huge undertaking”, Stephen told Welcome to Twin Peaks, “but you gotta dream big.” Talking about dreams: they plan to turn the basement into a Red Room movie theater fully stocked with all things Twin Peaks and David Lynch!
To raise money, Stephen launched a Kickstarter campaign with perks such as “I Saved The Palmer House” posters, “The Palmer House” t-shirts, guided tours with complimentary coffee and donuts, overnight stays for up to 8 guests (though you might want to sleep in Laura’s bedroom all alone for the ultimate “Fire Walk with Me” experience), permanent name plaques in the living room, movie night at the Palmer house, and year- or lifelong access to all Lynchian events at the house.
Evidently, time is limited to as long as the house is on the market**, so pledge today if you want to save the Palmer house as seen in the pilot and the prequel movie. And start planning your visit for when they open its doors in 2015.
The Palmer House – Twin Peaks Museum and Tourist Destination
Serving as home to Leland, Sarah, and Laura, it was witness to some of the most climactic moments in the series and stands as an iconic landmark for the show. We discovered its market status when we happened upon this article on the foremost website for all things Twin Peaks, https://welcometotwinpeaks.com/locations/laura-palmer-house-for-sale/. When I read the quote, “I always hope a fan ends up buying it and turns at least one room into a museum or a shrine“, I figured someone had to do it. Why not us? Adopting the model used by the Christmas Story house, we began to run with the idea that we could purchase “The Palmer House” and convert it into not only a shrine for the show, but also a Twin Peaks-themed event space, as well as a bed and breakfast.
*The exterior of the Palmer residence we see in the establishing shots was filmed in Monroe, WA. The interiors we see in the series were based on the Everett house, but built on a sound stage in L.A.
**Don’t worry: if the home is sold while the campaign is still live, they will cancel fundraising and your pledge will not be deducted from your account.
UPDATE: The Kickstarter campaign failed to reach its goal. Let’s just hope the house is in good hands with its new owner.
Fire walk with 
Well, my name’s going on that wall…
The video shot inside the home was done without the owners permission and should be taken down IMMEDIATELY!
Permission to shoot in the home was granted by the listing agent, as well as the Kickstarter campaign. Unfortunately, they neglected to even ask the owners for permission.
Listing agent approval sounds like all due diligence was taken to me. Hope this is able to go through, this would be FANTASTIC!
Yes, your real estate agent asked for permission view the property and to shoot video to facilitate a PRIVATE buying decision AND THAT WAS ALL THAT CONSENT WAS GIVEN FOR. NOT to produce a video to mount a purchase bid that will never come to fruition, will never gain proper zoning, IS NOT CONDONED BY THE OWNER OF THE PROPERTY, PERIOD.
Hello Concerned,
I am sorry that you seem to be so angered by this campaign. Please understand that this situation is born out of nothing but love for Twin Peaks and a desire to preserve that history, as well as give fans a place they can visit for a time and celebrate a show that has come to mean quite a bit to the folks who care about it.
The scope of this project was outlined by myself with the listing agent. I was quite straightforward with the intent of the video and the intent to launch a Kickstarter campaign in order to secure the funds to purchase the house. It was made quite clear what was going on, and permission was, in fact, granted. We did not shoot this video, nor launch this campaign against the wishes of anyone involved. We were told, “Yes” and moved forward under the assumption that this permission was bond.
The video, in my mind, does not harm anyone, nor does our desire to preserve cultural history harm anyone. I assume that you, or someone close to you is the homeowner, and would like to take this discussion off-line if at all possible.
Again, please understand that there was no disrespect or harm intended with this venture. I am nothing but a fan who has an idea that seemed plausible operating under given permission.
We all love Twin Peaks. We’re just not all greedy assholes using other people’s money to find our own personal for profit business. What are you 11 years old?
*fund
Yes, Twin Peaks is not a work ever intended to become a campy 3 for a dollar freak show tour and also not a parlor trick investment proposal. It’s disappointing someone who can’t decide if they are fan, a scam artist or a complete unprofessional investor should be calling the shots on this. You also have to get realistic about zoning.
I would love a Bed & Breakfast! As much as I love the red room though, I’d rather keep that for stumbling upon in the woods or my dreams. It would be delightfully nostalgic and surreal enough just being at the house, and memorabilia would ruin the illusion. Like the Cheers bar in Boston, you know? Anyway, I wish the house I’m in now had history enough to be preserved as a desirable destination! I hate driving by old houses and seeing them completely changed, or beloved trees cut down.
600,000 in barely over a month? You are out of your mind dude. How much money is dude putting down if he requires over half a million dollars just go get the house up and running?
Ridiculous.
I love the idea, but what it comes down to is: why should this random guy be the one to head it? Why not me? Or you? Or that other guy? I don’t think this will ultimately succeed, because people would be more willing to fund a person—or even better, a group—that can better show why they’re the ones to do it.
If David Lynch wanted to preserve it, or a film society, or a historical group, or ANYONE who seems like they really know what they’re doing, I’d be all in.
I’m sure this guy is perfectly nice, and maybe he’s qualified, but if so, he has neglected to show us exactly how.
I know this reply is two and a half years later and I’m fairly certain this didn’t end up happening, but I don’t know why so many people were upset with why this dude was trying to do. Some people incinuated he was doing it for his own person gain and questioned why he should be the one to run it. Perhaps because he was the one with initiative. He reached out to the realtor, he make up this site and organized everything. It didn’t seem to me like he was shutting anyone out who wanted to be involved, who could have contacted him personally and said “hey I’m a huge fan I would like to help with logistics, etc.”. I’ll be sad if I find out that nothing came of this I would have loved to visit. I would have gone to WA for that specific reason. Perhaps someone will make something similar with a different location in the future.