BATES MOTEL Set in Aldergrove is Spitting Image of Alfred Hitchcock’s Set in Psycho – Updated
The Bates Motel set out in Aldergrove on 272nd Street near the U.S. border is the spitting image of the Bates Motel set in Alfred Hitchcock’s horror classic Psycho, except for the missing top of the Bates house which will be CGIed in post-production. When I arrived mid-afternoon to see A&E’s upcoming series filming, only Mike Vogel’s deputy Sheriff seemed to be inside one of the motel rooms. When he crossed the road from set on his way to craft services I apologized for misidentifying him in yesterday’s blogpost about the Steveston shoot on the fishing boat.
If I’d stayed in Aldergrove I could have seen the Bates house on the hill lit up for a night shoot by a light on a hoist near 272nd Street and a balloon light in the garden It would have looked scary as hell but I had to start heading back to Vancouver. This set is such a long way out that this will have to be my one and only visit unfortunately.
A&E’s contemporary Psycho prequel Bates Motel focuses on a younger version of Psycho movie killer Norman Bates (Freddie Highmore) in present-day Oregon and explores his relationship with his unhinged mother (Vera Farmiga) as he approaches his evil destiny. Lost co-showrunner Carlton Cuse penned most of the 10 episodes which are described as a cross between Twin Peaks and Smallville.
[Update: At the start of filming the motel sign was Seafairer Motel as in the original Psycho but changed to Bates Motel once this reimagined Bates mother and son bought it]
View of Mount Baker in Washington state, taken up the road from the Bates Motel set.
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![](https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-uH8_Cdsv-pU/UTJbylt002I/AAAAAAAAF2w/NQR34ypsKvg/s300/wp_batesmotel.jpg")
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[...] del Set de Bates Motel. Fuente y todas las fotos: yvrshoots [...]
I was wondering why there was no roof…. It was previously called the Seafairer Motel, but they’ve now got up the Bates Motel sign as indicated. It’s a pretty cool looking set, should leave it up when their done…
[...] November 15th – Bates Motel films on its permanent motel and Bates house set in Aldergrove, a replica of the Alfred Hitchcock set from his classic horror film [...]
Dunno how I missed this page earlier… the pictures look familiar, so I must have visited it but not read your intro.
It’s a shame that I didn’t know you were out here for some shots, we could have chatted at the Craft Tent (which gets set up in my front yard). I could have grabbed you a couple of pictures of the house at night, if you needed them.
They are back to shooting tomorrow for 3 days (tentatively, could run longer)… you should see if you can make it out for one of them, since they should be getting close to wrapping the season (they were on episode 7 just prior to Christmas Break). The new bridge makes the trip a lot shorter, so long as it doesn’t rain down ice bombs of vehicular death on you as you cross…
Ice bombs of vehicular death made me laugh ruefully. It’s so true about the Port Mann Bridge of Doom. Thanks for the tip. I’d love to come out to see the set again before Bates Motel wraps its first season. Will see if its possible.
I have over a hundred shots of constrution of the site. I have night as well as day shot of the action on the set. I live very close at 0 Ave. and 272nd. I got Nikon D7000 cameria and another small cameria , I love taking pictures.
Hi Howard,
do you care to share your photos ? you didn’t mention a website where they may be seen,…. also, where exactly is the house located ? my brother lives in Vancouver and wants to whip by and see it in real life. Any real address or can you give a cross street ?
Thanks !
Frosty
272nd Street and around 10th Avenue in Aldergrove. Opposite the public dump. The Bates Motel set is boarded off and fenced offso it won’t look the same but it’s there. I don’t understand about the photos. They’re on a website. yvrshoots.com
272nd Street and around 10th Avenue in Aldergrove. Opposite the public dump. The Bates Motel set is boarded off and fenced off so it won’t look the same but it’s there. I don’t understand about the photos. They’re on a website. yvrshoots.com
I live in Seattle.. wouldn’t mind making the couple hour drive to check it out.. is it someting you can just drive by? .. pull over and take some photos? The show is fantastic and I’m thinking it could run several seasons and would like to see it before it gets a little too popular and even more difficult to visit. Any info on visiting would be great!
Yeah, its right on the West side of 272 Street in Aldergrove, just north of 8th ave. Just make sure that if you *do* decide to pull over and take pictures, that you’re not blocking either of my driveways… we have big trucks coming in and out, and the drivers are not too keen on dodging people (and the mess those people leave on the bumpers is so hard to clean off).
I haven’t been to the Aldergrove set this year but I hear that it is boarded up and fenced off so I’d suggest waiting until Bates Motel starts filming season two. But if you want to have a look sooner it’s right on the road at 272nd Street & 9th?? Avenue. You can’t miss it. It was a local attraction on weekends last fall but the one and only time I visited was during the week when they were filming and I approached on foot, walking for several blocks to set. That’s probably why they let me stroll by during a break.
thanks for the reply guys! You mention “boarded up”.. I really am thinking I might make a little road trip of it on Friday(4-26)… will I see anything? Or did they really block any possible visibility? I really look forward to heading up and checking it out… weather will be in the 70′s on Friday! Plus I’ve been up to my eyes in work since December.. first time to escape.
The house has plywood over the windows. The Motel has poly covering the entire front from the roof to the ground. The stairs have a “tent” erected over them to protect them from the elements (they are not real concrete, so are at risk of damage). The entire site is enclosed inside 2 chain-link fences (one main one, and then a second fence around each building).
The drive is nice, the area is real nice, and if you see a green deck-truck towtruck drive by, feel free to give me a wave (I’ll try and make sure not to aim for you). The best place to park is just South of the hotel, on the West side of the road… there is a pull off that will make sure you are not blocking the road any, and will put you on the same side of the road as the site (no dodging cars). Just make sure to not park in any driveways, and don’t stand in the driveway with the big orange cone (I can’t see people standing there when I leave from that drive). Also don’t go inside the barricades (taped off area) on the site itself, cause 1 of the security on-site is very “by the book” on that and will yell at you.
Other than that David, have a safe drive up.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/poyplb2nsgmx5m6/2013-04-20%2008.46.23.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/411xq91b7wyf4xt/2013-04-20%2008.46.27.jpg
That’s what you can expect to see.
Thanks a ton for the info and the pics, I’m looking forward to it even more now. Just too bad I won’t see Vera! well..maybe next time. Also if you happen to recommend any good local restaurants in the area let me know.. and again thanks for the detailed info!
Yep Bobs Bar & Grill has awesome burgers, located on Fraser Highway (about 2.5 miles North) at the 27000 block, on the North Side, across from the bowling alley. They are very welcoming of film crews there, so we try to send business their way as well (tell them Quirings, pronounced like inquiring without the in, sent you).
There is also a White Spot at the Best Western on 264 and Fraser Highway, and a few dozen pizza places. But I personally say go to Bobs.
So I made it up there.. pretty cool to see.. once they start shooting again I might cruise back up.. although getting through the border wasn’t too easy, after bringing me in for a search and 20 questions and apprehensive looks and as well a thorough search of my car I made it through, barely.. and yeah wow it was literally 3 minutes from the border! Security guard dude was walking the perimeter and gave me a nod.. I took a few pictures and enjoyed the scenery for a few mintues then proceded to Bob’s for a fantastic Mushroom burger and a Coors light! THanks for the recommendation! Then.. It was dusk.. almost dark on the way back through and cool to see the set in the barely visible creepy lighting. I’m assuming they don’t do the interior shots in the house?.. or maybe they do and thats why it’s boarded up so well. Funny they have the Hitchcock profile on the front as well. Anyway.. thanks for all the info!
The original Psycho house on the back lot at Universal Studios was built to two-thirds scale to make it appear much higher and much farther away from the Bates Motel than it really is. Is this new set built to scale or to full scale?
The new set is built full scale not two-thirds scale and it looks so like the movie set that it’s spooky.
The new build across the street is to full scale (1:1 true dimensions). They did a LOT of shots from the front of the house, either on the porch or the walk immediately at the base of the porch stairs, so scaling it down would show up too often…
Does anyone know when they are going to start filming Bates Motel again?
They have not yet announced anything solid for filming, but once the locations people have come by to start removing the fences, I’ll make sure that YVRShoots knows (hopefully I will know the actual start date as well)
Heard from someone who works on Bates Motel that they might start production on the second season earlier. Maybe as soon as July.
When they were wrapping for the season, the asst locations manager was mentioning that we *should* know by mid-April if Season 2 was coming along, and then would begin to see signs of activity by the end of May (prep-work).
Since then, they have been pretty on-par with that scheduling. There have been some trucks parked by the North driveway a few times over the past week, which I am going to take as an indicator that they are going to start getting ready to bring down the fences and poly coverings soon, and clean up the set.
Hoping to see something more going on soon. Really miss the activity around here.
Bates Motel Season 2 is going to begin production as soon as if not later than July 13th of 2013. Same characters, same sets (obviously) but in the office there is talk of building the roof on the house because of some slight inconsistencies with the CGI work (i.e. the size of the attic oval window in the front of the house) and some shots where they try to avoid the roof and you not noticing the roof is not there when clearly you should see it). Also, the interior sets are shot in Universal Studio except the window shots. They are filmed inside the full scale house. More ideas from Hitchcock’s original piece “PSYCHO” (1960) will appear as well, like Marione Crane’s vehicle from the original film and some original (cleaned-up) score as well as camera angles.
that would be great if they added the roof! Also.. must be some serious timing,scheduling and traveling to be shooting this in several locations. Would think it would be cheaper to furnish the house and shoot there rather than renting at Universal studios and flying back and forth.. I’m just a dental technician though .. what would I know! Anyway they do a great job.
Actually, they were using soundstage G at Vancouver Film Studios (identified by the large “Save BC Film” banner hanging on the side facing Hwy 1) for a lot of the interior shots, not Universal Studios. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=O9Ai0G2JJPU#t=87s will show you what the inside of the house actually looks like.
There has been talk of putting a roof on the house for season 2 since before season 1 even started (Abraham and Cofi would often joke that once the show got its second season, I would get a house with a roof to look at).
The people from California came North to BC, not the other way around (they came up to do promo shots for commercials and stills, and complained the whole weekend about the cold and rain).