A mini ‘Schitt’s Creek’ Rosebud Motel springs up in Seattle’s Queen Anne neighborhood

Drive or walk down 10th Avenue West near West Bothwell Street on Queen Anne and you will be surprised to see Richard Knowles’ home. He’s built a miniature rosebud motel along its retaining wall, with tiny windows and doors and even a crow on the roof.

In case you weren’t up to date, “Schitt’s Creek” (all six seasons currently streamed on Netflix) is a comedy series about the Rose family losing their fortune and being forced into a motel in a podunk -Town draw called (you guessed it) Schitt’s Creek. The show won nine record-breaking awards at this year’s Emmys.

Knowles loves the show; he’s just seen the series for the third time. Favorite episode? “Open Mic”, middle of the 4th season. “It’s a really good episode,” he said. “Weird as Hell.”

For the past three or four Halloween, Knowles has designed his front yard like the Bates Motel from the original “Psycho”, all in a shade of gray. Everyone loved it. Being home because of the pandemic, he made the decision to outdo himself and do something new this year.

Knowles started building his miniature Rosebud Motel right after Halloween.

“When did I finish? I’m still there, ”he said with a laugh. He is currently building a small newspaper rack.

The tiny chairs and the little mailbox were from Target, but Knowles made everything else himself. He spent a week getting the measurements right. The roof is made of Goodwill foam sheets. The “brick” half-wall is made of painted plywood, an exact copy, brick by brick, from the show. For the little ledge halfway up, Knowles used large pieces of packing foam, sanded them down, and painted them to look like cement.

“I was just bored with the whole COVID thing,” Knowles said. “There really is something to be done. I’ve always been a bit artistic. It just worked. “

Starr Traynor, left, a fan of Schitt’s Creek, brought her two children and dog to visit the mini-replica of the show’s Rosebud Motel on Queen Anne. It was built by his fan colleague Richard Knowles, who decorated the concrete retaining wall in front of his house. (Ken Lambert / The Seattle Times)

For the week or so that the Rosebud Motel has been up, Knowles has said he got about 200 groups of people to see it every day, even a couple of Christmas singers last night. “You wouldn’t believe the positive result it brought,” he said. “It’s a good ending to a bad year; a lot of people put it that way. “

Knowles plans to leave the Rosebud Motel for a week or two through January. “I’m sure I’ll be persuaded to put it back up next year,” he said.

Laura Short from Magnolia in Red Flannel dresses up together with (left to right) her daughter Kate, her son Jack and her parents Jackie and Glen Grissom as “Schitt’s Creek” characters as they take a family picture in front of the miniature Rosebud Motel- Replica that Richard Knowles built in his home on Queen Anne. (Courtesy Laura Short)

“Schitt’s Creek” fan Laura Short drove over from Magnolia to take socially distant family photos – dressed in character. She put her mother in lots of jewelry and bright lipstick (à la “Schitt’s Creek” figure Moira), a black and white outfit for her son (like David), a dress with baby Uggs for her daughter (Alexis) and a Flannel shirt for yourself (Stevie).

Her father? He was born with these eyebrows from Eugene Levy (Johnny) even though she highlighted them with black eyeliner.

“The three of us kids used to joke about Dad’s eyebrows,” said Short. “They have finally come in handy.”

JiaYing Grygiel
is the mother of two boys and is a freelance writer and photographer. She blogs on photoj.net.