Mendocino as Cabot Cove in “Joshua Peabody Died Here… Possibly”

To follow up on my post from last month, I wanted to continue my profile of Cabot Cove filming locations by delving into another Season 2 episode filmed in Mendocino, California: “Joshua Peabody Died Here…Possibly”.

There weren’t as many different locations used in this episode as there were for the other Season 2 episode “Sticks and Stones”. However, the locations did get lots of use. So without further ado, here are the locations I’ve been able to identify:

Excavation site

First up, we have the excavation site where a new condo is being built, and where the skeleton of Joshua Peabody (possibly) is found. This location is used a lot throughout the episode, and we can see it in the top two screenshots below.

A location secondary to the excavation site is one where the trailer of Leo Kowalski, the construction foreman, is parked. We can see in the bottom right picture in the collage above, that the actual excavation site is visible in the distance.

In terms of the real life locations, we can see based on things visible in the background that the excavation site it located at the tip of Heeser Drive, right where it leads to the Point Mendocino Trail. Whereas the trailer is parked near where Little Lake St turns into Heeser Dr nearby.

Antique store

The next location we see a lot of in the episode is the antique store belonging to the protester, David Marsh. The episode includes several scenes that take place on the street in front of the store (pictured below).

The real life location of this building is 45130 Main Street in Mendocino, California.

Cabot Cove Courthouse and street scene

At one point in the episode, we get a nice extended scene showing Jessica Fletcher walking out of the Cabot Cove Courthouse and going for a brief walk down the street with the journalist, Del Scott.

In real life, the building standing in for the courthouse is an old Masonic Lodge standing at the northwest corner of Lansing and Ukiah. In the scene, Jessica walks across to the east side of Lansing and then proceeds to walk north. This particular intersection will go on to be used again in Season 4’s “If It’s Thursday, It Must Be Beverly“.

Hill House Hotel

The exterior of the Hill House Hotel is shown in many episodes. The hotel is actually called the Hill House Inn and it’s located at 10701 Palette Dr in Mendocino. However, what makes its appearance in this episode special is that in one of the scenes we actually get to see the interior of the hotel lobby.

For fans interested in a behind-the-scenes look at the Mendocino filming locations, I recommend you check out the recently published photo book Memories of Cabot Cove: On Location in Mendocino with Murder, She Wrote. This book is a compilation of personal photos taken by Barbara Reed, then owner of the Hill House Inn. Many of the photos feature guest stars posing in front of the lobby fireplace that is visible in the screenshots above. I recommend checking out the book for the great photos, although I did notice a few inaccuracies in the text of the review copy that I received, so be aware of that when using the book as an information source. (E.g. At one point the book says that Claude Akins played Sheriff Lobo on the Dukes of Hazzard, when in actuality he never appeared in that show and instead played that character on BJ and the Bear and on The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo.)

Mystery location?

One action scene was filmed in yet another Mendocino location. At one point in the episode, Sheriff Tupper is approached by a Cabot Cove named Austin somewhere that appears to be near a building close to the outskirts of town.

However, I will admit that there is one filming location that I haven’t been able to identify. Although I can guess at its general location, I can’t be 100% certain, so I am listing this location as a mystery.

Stock footage locations: Seth’s house and the Cabot Cove Library

And finally, there are two Mendocino locations that appear in the episode but only as stock footage (i.e. we don’t see any actors out front). As this is the episode that introduces us to Seth Hazlitt, one stock scene shows the location of Seth Hazlitt’s house and surgery. The house is actually Spencer Hills historic home located at 44900 Little Lake Street.

The other stock scene shows the exterior of the Cabot Cove Library — which makes another appearance in an actual action scene in “Sticks and Stones“. This building is actually known as the Crown Hall, and is located on Ukiah Street at Woodward.

Map of locations

As I’ve done for other/similar posts, I’ve summarized the locations on the following map: