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YOUR SHOOT: BATES MOTEL’s Gothic House Gets a New Roof

Scott White photo

Photo by Scott White/@NightStormDraco.

Not long after filming of Bates Motel season one wrapped last January, the Aldergrove 12-room motel and gothic house set on 272nd Street near the U.S. border was wrapped in plastic to protect it from the elements and security fences erected around it. Some time later, after A&E renewed the show, there was talk of building a roof on the house for season two, a roof that had been CGIed on in post-production during season one.

Related: Bates Motel Set the Spitting Image of Alfred Hitchcock’s Set in Psycho.

Aldergrove locals kept watch and reported that the motel-and-house set had been unwrapped and one of the security fences taken down in early July. Crew started work on building a new roof that could be hoisted on top of the house once its structure was reinforced. Within a few weeks, the roof was on to the delight of passersby, who tweeted photo after photo.

Filming of season two started on July 24th but the show is not expected to make use of the Aldergrove set until later this month. Locals will be waiting.

Follow Scott White on Twitter. @NightStormDraco

14 thoughts on “YOUR SHOOT: BATES MOTEL’s Gothic House Gets a New Roof”

  1. Sweet!!! I enjoy the show very much, if any locals know when there shooting and don’t mind letting me know that would be great…

    hit me up romeo _ Latino 1981 @ h o t m a i l . com

    thanks..

  2. 8th Avenue is closed tomorrow between 264 and 272 to allow for shooting on the street… only authorized people will be allowed through during that time.
    Shooting at the House will be on Wednesday and Thursday, but there is no stopping allowed during that time… and again, only authorized people are allowed through during road closures (272 will be closed intermittently during shooting between 8th and 16th ave, to allow for safety of the cast and crew, as well as to prevent ‘polluting’ the shots).
    And I really wish I could have given some of the other pictures that were taking during the roof raising… it was an awesome thing to watch, especially when the 5100lb main section went up. The crane operator was amazing, and the crew was so quick in reinforcing everything once it was up… the whole process took under 2 hours.

    1. I knew it I went by yesterday cast cars were outside and fences were dwn I figured shooting would be soon I am so excited its my fav show!!!!! How do u meet the cast or watch them filming if u can’t get close? Some ppl have posted pics of cast and watched filming.I am so jealous!!!

    2. I just went by 272nd and 8th can’t see anything except Norma’s car way in distance : ( I would love to see some of cast or something being filmed!! Gonna check it out tomorrow when they re filming at house except they ll have 8 block radius closed too so idk?

    3. It’s awesome how you know all this information! How did you get it? Update us if you know more, I live in Vancouver so it takes me about an hour to get out to the set. It’s my favorite TV show, and my favorite actor is Max Thieriot, I really want to see him!

      1. Sorry Melissa, I was away in Edmonton for the weekend, still in “recovery” mode… doing the entire drive back in one sitting is not how I would have liked to spend the end of the trip.
        Most of my information comes from being in extremely close proximity to the set. We get notifications of road closures and shoot schedules, as it may inconvenience the locals… though I hardly see it as one, since they also use the property here, and I get to chat with the cast and crew.
        Unfortunately, after the last round of shoots at the Motel with people causing problems while trying to get their pictures, I likely won’t be mentioning much in public about future dates, until those dates have passed. The traffic has gone up drastically on the road, and some of the spectators were full-on paparazzi trying to get “the shot”… getting in the way of the crew, trying to get onto set, and the always-popular 5-time-drive-by-with-the-telephoto-lens-in-the-back-seat… or the “one hand on the wheel, one hand on the cell phone, eyes on the set and not the road, almost running over one of the transport guys”… 2 days had enough activity to last the rest of the season.
        Trust in YVRShoots to get you the picture you need… I mean, at some point they are going to have to cross the bridge, after all. 😉

  3. Scott: Bates Motel occasionally films on this side of the Bridge too ;). Out near UBC yesterday and in Deer Lake Park today. Nothing beats the Aldergrove set though. But after hearing what it was like for crew for the first two-day shoot at the renovated motel/house I now regret tweeting anything at all. Understand your decision not to mention much in public in the future. It’s the price of popularity for Bates Motel. They wrapped the first season before a single episode aired. This summer they’re a returning hit with an Emmy nominee in Vera Farmiga.

    1. Hi, I’m Mr “I broke all my WordPress Notifications and never got told of a reply” guy this month, apparently. *sigh*
      The popularity of this show blows me away. I mean yeah, I really like it personally, and I knew it was going to have fans, but the sheer number of people showing up at the set for pictures, or trying to cross the barriers, or (and this one still gets talked about by the crew) saying that they are here to see me and hoping that I will tour them through the set or something… it’s so amazing.
      We can’t wait for Halloween this year. Last year saw a few visits to the House, but the show was still in it’s early stages, with no one having seen it aired yet… it had not yet developed the cult following. This year though. Oh wow.
      As for your tweets, I really don’t think they cause any harm. Aldergrove is a small enough community that word travels fast when road closures happen and people just kind of gravitate towards the set.
      You know… for every crazy that cruises by, there are dozens of decent people to balance it out. And the crazy makes it all interesting.
      Had to laugh, apparently the ladies at the local credit union got to get their picture taken with Max (who is totally down to earth)… they were on cloud 9 all day. Meanwhile, he’s just glad to have tomorrow off for fantasy football.

  4. Does anyone know if the roads will be blocked today where the set is? Im planning on driving by to see the set and was wondering if they aren’t shooting today. Thanks!

  5. I drove past today and was stopped because of filming in fact when I drove by I saw Norma!!!!!!!
    Last week I also saw Norma AND Norman!! Soo exciting

  6. went by for the first time this morning, today was really foggy and it had such a spooky feel! love it, can’t get enough! this is so much up my alley, like a dream come true to have this set local. 😀

    1. At 6 this morning, the fog was so thick that you could just barely see the Motel and the hill, but the house was gone.
      And then tonight we get the thunder and lightning right overhead… so close that I am pretty sure that the security crapped their pants, since one of the booms actually shook our house.
      But now just rain… typical Bates filming season.

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