You’d be forgiven for thinking Rose Red was filmed inside a single cursed Seattle mansion where the walls swallow guests whole, but sadly that sort of establishment isn’t what we cover here at Highway to Horror. Ahem. While the miniseries takes place almost entirely within one sprawling estate, the production actually stitched together several real-life Washington State locations to bring the haunted house to life.
If you’ve ever tried to map it all out, and then started to tear your hair out zooming in on Google Maps, you’re not alone. That’s why we’ve tracked down every known filming spot, from tudor manors in Lakewood to blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Seattle street corners used for historic flashbacks.
So whether you’re a filming location junkie, a Stephen King completist, or just dying to know if the mirror library still exists (it does, sorta!), here’s your guide to the real-world places behind Rose Red. A big thank you to Paul Dorpat, whose HistoryLink essay on the locations was incredibly helpful.
Heads up: This guide includes places we’ve personally visited (✓) and others we’ve verified through production research (★). Some links in this post may be affiliate links — if you book or buy through them, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Why Washington Was Chosen for Rose Red
When he sat down to write Rose Red, Stephen King’s goal was clear: to create “something that’s big and scary and stays in people’s minds as the haunted house movie.”
While King’s aspirations seem wild considering he penned arguably the best haunted house horror ever, The Shining, he nevertheless wanted to push himself. And so he did. And in the process turned to an existing property for inspiration– the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California.
Early on in production, the crew visited this historic homestead but realized quickly it was a production nightmare. It was wedged between a freeway and a busy street, and as producer Thomas Brodek put it in the behind-the-scenes documentary Bad House: The Making of Rose Red, “the noise [was] deafening.”
Director Craig Baxley also described it as “claustrophobic… everything about it was small.” What they needed was the opposite: a grand, spacious, strange-but-beautiful place that could feel alive on camera.
Enter Washington State. Its moody skies, gothic architecture, and actual Tudor mansions hiding just south of Seattle hit the spot. As executive producer Mark Carliner explained, King didn’t want something that looked like a haunted house at first glance. “’It should not look haunted’,” he said. ‘It should look warm and inviting.’”
After months of scouting across the U.S. and Canada, the production team landed on Thornewood Castle in Lakewood, Washington, a 27,000-square-foot estate built in the early 1900s with bricks shipped over from England. It was made available thanks to Cathy Sander of the Seattle Film Office who “sweet talked” the owners and hustled the listing over to Carliner’s crew.
Once production landed on the gothic beauty, King rewrote the script to match the Pacific Northwest setting.
Key Locations
Rose Red Mansion Exterior ★
Thornewood Castle, 8601 N Thorne Ln SW, Lakewood, WA 98498
On Screen: The exteriors of Rose Red appear throughout the three-part series, particularly in episode one as Joyce Reardon (Nancy Travis)’s motley crew of psychics arrive at the mansion.
Production History: Built in the 1900s by a lumber baron with a flair for importing bricks from England (as you do), Thornewood Castle is the crown jewel of Rose Red’s exteriors. It gave the crew the grandeur they wanted but it didn’t come without complications.
By the time production arrived, parts of the estate had been converted into apartments. “The main ballroom and entry room were cut up into three and four apartments with plywood between the rooms and lowered ceilings,” Brodek said. “It was an abomination.”
With the owner’s permission, the crew restored the rooms to their original layout by refinishing floors, lifting ceilings, and returning the mansion to its full haunted glory. But that didn’t come cheap; production shelled out $500,000 to restore it.
Still, it wasn’t all smooth sailing. A replica stable house had been sold off and turned into a residential complex, with 23 families living right next door. The production had to carefully frame every shot to avoid glimpses of modern suburbia, while also not totally disturbing the neighbors.
Despite filming during Seattle’s infamous rainy season, the weather held. “We were blessed,” Brodek said. “We never got rained out.” You can still see those homes in the reverse shots of the gang as they arrive.
Rose Red Gate and Entrance ✓
7th Avenue & Spring Street, Seattle, WA
On Screen: This location can be clearly spotted as Professor Miller (David Dukes) drops off Bollinger (Jimmi Simpson) at the Mansion to snoop around for him.
Production History: The biggest misdirect of the series is convincing audiences not that ghouls await you at Rose Red, but that the house sits in downtown Seattle. In the world of the series, we’re told it lives at 7th Avenue and Spring Street. While production did film at that intersection, there’s no home of any description that lives there– just a hustling city street at the top of First Hill.
“[King] wanted people trapped in a house right in the middle of the city,” production designer Craig Stearns told the LA Times. “The idea that you look out the windows and see the freeways, but you’re still trapped in the house and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Crew did build Rose Red’s gate at this spot, however. Around 25 yards east of 7th, the ominous structure was fixed to the street, causing enough damage to require additional blacktop to be smoothed over (you can still juuuuust see it).
My Experience: Years ago I worked on Capitol Hill, so when I revisited Rose Red I immediately recognised this exact locale and knew that the fictional address for the mansion was indeed located in the right spot. Oft-times, that’s not the case.
Beaumont University – Wimser Psychology Building ✓
2012 NE Skagit Lane, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98105
On Screen: The University of Washington’s gothic architecture stood in for parts of the fictitious Beaumont University where Joyce works alongside Professor Miller. During episode one, the group gather outside the hall as Joyce and Steve pack up the van for the expedition.
In particular, the recognizable red-brick Collegiate Gothic building of Miller Hall (did King perhaps rename him after this locale?) stands in for the fictional university’s Wimser Psychology building.
My Experience: I visited on a sunny spring day while I was at the University scouting out a field trip with work friends. I have to say, 23 years later the specific area where production shot Rose Red appears unchanged from the series. I naturally nerded out fully and spent about 15 minutes securing as many angle-match shots as possible.
The bulk of filming took place in a small section of the quad between Miller Hall and the School of Music. Prior to heading out, I spent time on Google Maps perusing the various buildings in the Quad area until I finally spotted the recognisable exteriors. Once I double checked the windows, I easily located the spots where they park the van, where the gang congregate, the road Emery drives up and the doorway from which Professor Miller chases Joyce, making mention of “The House on Haunted Hill”.
Beaumont University – Joyce’s Lecture Auditorium ★
Henry Art Gallery Auditorium, UW Campus
On Screen: The establishing shot in the show doesn’t use the Henry exterior but instead opts for a nighttime view of the Miller Hall doorway. We then see this sequence during episode one for quite a while.
Production History: The crew filmed inside the new – at the time – auditorium at the Henry Art Gallery for the university lecture where Joyce introduces the Rose Red expedition. It’s here that much of the historical flashbacks are interspersed.
Rose Red Bedroom Interiors And Staircase ★
The Episcopal Diocese of Olympia, 1551 10th Ave E, Seattle, WA 98102
On Screen: When Joyce is giving the expedition a tour, they travel down the staircase in the Leary Mansion – I’ll include a comparison shot. It actually creates more of the overall vibe of Rose Red that I expected.
Production History: While most of the interiors lensed on a soundstage in Seattle (more on that below), production needed a certain authenticity when it came to the Rose Red bedrooms and found that in the Leary Mansion on Capitol Hill.
Now home to the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia, the building’s rooms required almost no set dressing to pass for the haunted homestead.
Location director Dan Dusek showed the production team photos of the interiors, and, in his words, “they were cheered and enchanted.” When he and producer Brodek visited in person, Brodek reportedly leaned over and whispered, “Are you sure they know what we want to do here?”
The Diocese staff were away at a regional conference the weekend of filming, and the crew was able to shoot without concerning any staff. Part of their deal was that the crew had to retune the church’s piano after it returned from storage.
Travel Tip: The Diocese welcomes members of the public to tour the building during business hours and they also offer tours. Contact Diocese Archive Manager Erik Bauer for more information.
Rose Red Mirror Library ★
Northern Lights Dome Room, Arctic Club, 700 3rd Ave, Seattle, 98104
On Screen: The Mirror Library features in several sequences throughout. The entire group ventures inside once they begin to explore the mansion, which is when we learn of Steve’s fear of the library; Annie encounters a spirit; Bollinger is hanged from the ceiling, and Cathy, sort of, melts into the mirror?
Production History: Rose Red’s mirror library is one of the few interiors still standing that you can visit. In real life, it’s the Northern Lights Dome Room inside Seattle’s Arctic Club Hotel and has never looked better after receiving a renovation in 2006. But prior to that glow-up, the producers had to transform the carpeted floor into a mirror.
To prep the Dome Room for its screen debut, the crew laid down masking, cardboard, plywood, and a polished Mylar top layer that, as Dan Dusek put it, “beautifully reflected the dome.” When he first showed the space to the producers, “they just flipped out.” It took a week to prep the room, four days to film, and another three to return it to normal.
It’s weird as hell and sadly as the crew restored the floor and the melting floor is the product of CGI, impossible to recreate.
Period Street Scenes (Early 1900s Flashback Sequences)
These quick but detailed scenes appear as flashbacks in the first episode, showing a period version of Seattle around the time Rose Red was built. What’s wild is that these three sequences were all filmed on the same day.
Spring Street & 5th Avenue, Seattle
“We did this shot first, looking up Spring, because it was the most difficult. And there were problems,” recalls location manager Dan Dusek. Horses and wagons looped through traffic as the production recreated Seattle circa-1910.
The Federal Courthouse was replaced and you can see a digitally inserted trolley in the opening frame. For a split second, you also see the Rose Red mansion gate in the distance, digitally imposed at the top of the hill.
117 S. Main Street, Seattle
The Union Trust Building at the corner of S. Main Street and Occidental Ave appears in another brief sequence, as we see the waterfront trolley turn off Alaskan Way onto Main Street. The trolley service was canceled in 2005 by the city of Seattle and as such, the trolley stop was removed too.
This seconds-long shot required a week’s worth of prep as the crew painted over modern signage. This scene was digitally enhanced to blend with the 5th & Spring footage and create the illusion of one continuous old-world Seattle.
Merchant’s Café, 109 Yesler Way, Seattle
Seattle’s oldest restaurant appears briefly in a flashback shot from 1906 as we see a construction worker murdered by a colleague.
The Wheaton House
927 21st Avenue E, Seattle
On Screen: We see the Wheaton home in the first episode and once more in the second when Rachel recaps Steve on her sister’s past.
Production History: After a scattering of establishing shots of Seattle, we journey to the home of Annie Wheaton, the youngest in the team of psychics. This private home last sold in 2019 and as per the property listing, it went for $1.5 million.
Location manager Dusek explored Capitol Hill over a weekend but struggled to find the perfect Victorian until he roped in Craig Stearns. The pair immediately discovered this gem and secured the owners approval the same day. The location served double duty as exteriors and interiors, and can be seen in the opening episode extensively.
Map of Rose Red Filming Locations
Tip: Tap ‘View Larger Map’ for easy navigation on your phone while hunting down filming locations, just watch out for any weird hallways to nowhere…
If You’re In The Area…
Pioneer Square offers the legendary Seattle Underground Tour, a guided walking tour that takes you below the streets to learn all about how the Emerald City came to be. It pairs perfectly with Rose Red’s chequered history.
MoPop in Seattle is a local pop culture museum and has plenty of memorabilia inside their Scared to Death: The Thrill of Horror Film exhibit.
Should You Visit?
Look, not everyone is a die-hard King completionist so I understand that some of these places might seem a bit too deep-dive. So, unless you’re obsessed with tracking down every single filming location, you can skip most of the minor stops.
If you want the highlights, focus on the big three: Thornewood Castle, the Mirror Library (Arctic Club Dome Room), and the University of Washington Quad. Those alone will give you the real flavour of Rose Red without having to trek all over Seattle for every single shot.
How We Verified These Locations
We’ve visited many of the locations featured in this post. For the rest, we rely on trusted sources like news reports, production archives, and behind-the-scenes interviews. Our research is led by a full-time librarian and horror writer with 13+ years of experience.
What To Read Next
The Ring (2002) – Shot across Seattle, Whidbey Island, Port Townsend, and Fidalgo Island, where you’ll likely experience rain that perfectly matches the film’s vibe.
→ Explore The Ring filming locations
Twin Peaks (Pilot) – Head into Washington where you can visit the real Great Northern and the diner where Agent Cooper gets his damn fine coffee.
→ Read our firsthand guide to Twin Peaks locations
The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992) – Filmed around Tacoma and Seattle, this early-‘90s thriller has some unexpectedly scenic stops.
→ Check out the filming locations here
Twilight in Forks – Not horror, but the gloom is on-brand. Forks is drenched in pop culture and mist, and a super creepy doll.
→ Our full Forks trip breakdown
