Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Google Street View Tour of "Haven"

The SyFy TV show "Haven" was filmed using a variety of real-world locations around what is known as Nova Scotia's "South Shore."  A lot of the street scenes and store-front shots were done in the towns of Chester and Lunenburg, but there were many other locations used as well.  Below are links to Google Street View scenes showing a number of these "real-world" locations which stood in for the fictional town of Haven.

For some background on why I put this together, info on Google Street View, and general random thoughts please check out this post.

Changes since this was first published: Time marches on.  It's hard to wrap my head around it, but Haven ended filming around the end of 2014.  Google has updated many of the Street Views from October 2016 for Lunenberg and Chester.  As expected the Haven Herald signage is gone (you have to use the widget to look at historical views to see it). The 2016 shot of the Pew Arena shows a nearly empty parking lot, no RVs or anything parked there.  Nicki's Inn in Chester is up for sale.  The building next to the Chester Playhouse is painted green now.

Update for May 2018: In addition to the Street View scenes, I have added links to some user-submitted 360 degree panoramas for a few locations.

Update for December 2018: There are new (August 2018) views of the Grey Gull.  Note, I am intentionally leaving my link below to the 2014 version as it still shows the "Grey Gull" signage, but once there you can use the date widget to look at the new images.  As we knew, the signage is removed, the house looks empty and it seems like it will perpetually be up for sale.  Also the shots of the Cape Rouge in Bridgewater are now from August 2018.

Update for June 2022: Google Street View has added a little side road that runs right in front of the house used as The Rev's house in Season 1, Episode 2.  I am replacing the link and part of the description for "Hubbard's House Old Post Road" below.  The Grey Gull house has a chain link fence around it - based on the Street View image date it has been there since last year some time.  Apparently the new owners were having trouble with trespassers.  It's a shame - I've still never made it to Nova Scotia but I had long hoped to visit one day, and part of my plan would be to drive out to the Grey Gull and try to snap a few photos.

Lunenburg

Lunenburg is home to a couple of landmarks which are important to Haven, and has provided street scenes for numerous episodes.  The Lunenburg waterfront is featured prominently and frequently throughout the show as "the" Haven waterfront.  Although waterfront and aerial shots of other towns are sometimes used, Lunenburg is used for more of these than the others - especially as the backdrop for scenes of Audrey standing out on a dock.  The building used as the Haven Police Station is in Lunenburg as well as a church seen in the opening credits.

Lunenburg - Town Hall Blocks

There are city blocks in front of and behind the Lunenburg Town Hall which are pretty interesting and contain a number of locations from Haven, some of which are seen repeatedly:
  • Lunenburg Town Hall Gazebo - This gazebo is seen in various episodes. 
  • Lunenburg Town Hall (Haven Police Station) - Lunenburg's Town Hall served as the exterior for shots of the Haven Police Station.  The interior of the police station was a set located elsewhere.  This building is right next to the gazebo.  In between them is a monument to Lunenburg residents who served during the first world war.  The monument can sometimes be seen on the show but never well enough to read.  Note, in real life the arch over the door is very bright (almost white) and reads Lunenburg Town Hall, while the "Haven Police Station" has a red brick arch and a grey marble slab.  The Haven PD also has flagpoles out front.  At various times, shots of the building with the obvious Lunenburg signage and missing the flagpoles ended up in the show, usually aerial shots of the building.
  • Lunenburg Courthouse (Haven Courthouse) - this is the north entrance to the same building as the Town Hall.  Seen in the episode where Duke is in court and attacked by lady justice, possibly others. 
  • Lunenburg Town Hall Park Panorama - User submitted 360 panorama taken right next to the Town Hall in the park near the Gazebo and memorials.
  • Lunenburg Park East End Panorama - User submitted panorama at the east end of the park.
  • Homework assignment - I'm not providing a link for this, but try to navigate on your own - Use Street View to travel east on Townsend St. a few "clicks".  You should see the back side of the gazebo and a park area with grass and some benches.  This area was featured in the episode with the fireman whose trouble caused him to make other people spontaneously combust.
  • St. John's Anglican Church - a couple of blocks west of the Town Hall, this church shows up in a variety of episodes (it's kind of hard to NOT show it sometimes), easily spotted in aerial shots of the town, but most famously it is the "burning church" in the opening credits.  The church actually did burn some years ago.  It was very hard to find a suitable Google Street View shot of this due to the surrounding foliage, but there are LOTS of nice photos of this church available.
  • St. John's Panorama - User submitted panorama in front of the church.  There's another nice one inside the church...
  • Intersection of Cornwallis and Lincoln - While there are far too many "random" street scenes from places in the area to include them all, I wanted to put this one in because it is featured numerous times during season 1 episode 1 (i.e. the pilot episode).  The view my link brings up is facing north- the scene where Vince and  Dave first introduce themselves to Audrey happens on the right-hand corner while on the left is the antique shop featured in the episode.  Also if you go back and watch the episode you will see a shot of the Bronco driving down Lincoln.
  • King St. Mural - Head east down Lincoln St. until you come to King St. and turn north (back towards the Town Hall) and you will see this mural on the side of a building - it shows up in one or more episodes.  Look north on King St. to the intersection with Cumberland, you will see a TD Canada Trust bank with some green signage on it.  That building was used as the Haven Post Office in at least one episode.

Other Lunenburg Locations

  • Waterfront (Bluenose Drive) - The Lunenburg waterfront is such a key piece of Haven, yet hard to display with Street View.  That's because we usually see it from the water side.  The particular spot I have linked is right where there is a pier used in some scenes.
  • Lunenburg Angled Dock - Duke's dock - this is the dock where Duke's boat (the Cape Rouge) is located during the show.  Several things to note - the boat was not kept here year round, it was only here during filming.  In real life it sank (I think after season 4) and they only used old footage of the exteriors after that - the interiors were a set in Chester.  The linked Street View Image is from August 2012 with a ship that is probably Duke's - there are a number of later shots but they are missing the ship.  NEW LINK: Better View Of Duke's Boat from August 2012 (while filming for season 3 was taking place).  Not sure how I didn't think of this one sooner - it's from just down the street looking back at the dock.
  • Duke's Dock Panorama - If I'm not sorely mistaken this user submitted 360 shot was taken on the dock where the Cape Rouge was moored during the show.
  • Lunenburg Dock - they actually got a Street View camera out at the end of one of the docks looking back toward town, and I think this very dock was used in some scenes.
  • Tannery Road Park - The Street View image may not look like much but zoom in and you will see this little spit of muddy land with the remains of a dock on it - this is where Audrey goes when she needs some alone time, and I think where the Colorado Kid was found.  I was able to verify this is the right location by looking at the buildings you can see behind Audrey and some of the other characters - if you spin the street view around you will see a little house with a red garage or mini-barn next to it.  The red barn is clearly seen in several episodes of the show.  The little house that is currently there is NOT what was there when the show was first filming - it was apparently torn down and rebuilt.
  • Out Past Audrey's Dock Panorama - this is a user submitted shot taken out past the old dock, when the water is low.
  • Lunenburg Academy - This very cool looking building is seen pretty clearly in the background of one episode, and is one of the most easily recognizable landmarks in the frequent aerial shots of Lunenburg used for Haven.
  • Lunenburg Battery Point Lighthouse - NOTE: there are no publicly accessible roads leading to the lighthouse, so there are no Street View scenes.  There are a lot of photos of this lighthouse online, so this link is now a Google Image Search.  There are two lighthouses used in the show - the other being at Peggy's Cove.  This one at Battery Point is the one you see in the main credits, and it was used as the "Heart of Haven", where there was a cave underneath with a magical door leading to the Void...Of course it is destroyed at the end of Season 4, but somehow still shows up in aerial shots of "Haven".
  • Intersection of Cornwallis and Fox - I picked a location for the view just a little south of the intersection.  This is where Jordan and the Guard confronted Nathan, Duke and Jennifer as they returned to Haven in Season 4, Episode 1.  The steeple of the church (Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church) is ripped off by a tornado in the sequence.  This is a lengthy scene in the show offering lots of viewpoints and vantages that you can compare with the Google Street View scene. 
  • Kaulback Block - The "Mermaid Building" - during the opening credits there's a brief shot of the camera panning along a second-story row of windows with almost ghostly images of mermaids reflected in them.  If you have Netflix or some other way to pause it will be easier to confirm.  This is the building.

Chester

As with Lunenburg, various places in Chester were used for Haven scenes, and there are a number of points of interest grouped together around a couple of specific areas.  Chester is home to the Haven Herald offices, a couple of blocks on Pleasant St. were used tons of times in the show, and the local hockey and curling arena was home to a number of indoor sets used throughout the series.

Chester - Queen St.

  • Mecklenburgh Inn - The Mecklenburgh Inn was Audrey's home base early in the show (before she started living above the Grey Gull) and was also used in numerous street scenes.  In season 1 episode 2 when the giant brass ball is rolling down the road, it is shown going by the Mecklenburgh Inn.  Just south of here is Chester's post office which occasionally shows up on screen as well.
  • Queen St. Cluster - Ok, I just didn't know what to call this spot, but it's got a lot going on here.  When you click the link to bring up the Street View you should be looking at the building which served as "The Haven Herald" newspaper office dead-on.  If you go up the street north or south a click and look back you can see the sign hanging from the eaves, and if you zoom in you can still see the logo painted on the glass.  The link currently should bring up a Street View version from 2014 when the show was still being filmed - the signage has since been removed, and there is a 2016 version you can bring up that shows it is gone.  Spin the view 180 degrees - the house on the opposite side of the street shows up in a LOT of episodes due to the proximity to the Herald.  Look at the yellow building just south of and next to the Herald (Street View shows it with a sign that says "ABLE Engineering Services") - that building was used as Haven Joe's Bakery.  But in some episodes you see it with the ABLE signage...Go up the street north of the Herald and look back and you will see it is actually a "L" shaped building with a little parking lot - the entrance to the building buried back there in the corner of the "L" was the exterior of the "Gun & Rose" restaurant where Jordan was a waitress.  Finally - note this building has a red roof.  The L-shape and the red roof make this building really stand out in aerial shots, once you know it's there, you can't miss it!
  • South Queen St. Monument - Go south on Queen St. - WAY south until the road dead-ends at the waterfront and turns into South St. - and you will see a neat little black monument.  Almost this exact shot is used in season 1 episode 2 when the giant ball is rolling along.  

Chester - Pleasant St. 

  • Pleasant St. Cluster - another spot where there is just too much going on!  The view brought up in this link is pointing at a space between two buildings which are frequently seen on the show.  The one on the left - the Chester Playhouse - will be very familiar to the fans.  In the Christmas episode where the town gets stuck in a snow globe this building serves as the Haven movie theater.  During season 5, Mara stabs a woman in the eye with a pencil on the sidewalk right in front of the building.  Spin the Street View 180 degrees and behind you is the Kiwi cafe - which is seen in a number of episodes, but in particular was Big Benjy's Ice Cream in Season 1, Episode 4.   You see all these buildings in the episode with the people in bear suits walking around. 
  • Nicki's Inn - Just west along Pleasant St. is Nicki's Inn, which appeared early in the series as "The Rust Bucket", which was partly destroyed by the giant rolling ball.  It also appeared as the "Black House Coffee" shop in Season 4, Episode 2 (where Jennifer bought coffee and found a number of burned bodies).  If you have trouble visualizing it as the coffee shop, they used the entrance in the alley to the right of the front of the inn.  Fans of the series who have followed Twitter and Instagram posts and interviews with the cast and crew may recognize this as the establishment run by Nicki Butler.  She was apparently loved by many involved with the show as well as being a local icon, and passed away unexpectedly back in 2015.  The establishment is now closed and the building was for sale as of late 2016.  Right across the street is a building that appeared as a restaurant during the show (The Irreverent Oyster).  Go up Pleasant St about a block further west and look back towards Nicki's - this is the scene in the final episode of season 1 when the ground opens up and swallows Max Hansen.

Other Chester Locations

  • Chester Yacht Club Gazebo - that's probably not the right name, but it's the gazebo NEXT TO the Yacht Club.  It is used in a LOT of episodes.  It was the location of the Farmer's Market in Season 1 Episode 4.
  • Chester Yacht Club Gazebo Panorama - User submitted 360 view inside the gazebo.
  • Homework assignment - just west of the gazebo is a funny looking swimming pool (The Lido Pool) - do you recognize it?  To see it you may have to go south down Peninsula Rd. a half-dozen "clicks" and look back towards the northwest.  
  • Church Park / Pew Arena - This is not a terribly interesting picture, yet in it you are seeing a place where the cast and crew spent a LOT of time - inside that building were housed a number of sets used in the series, including the interior of the Haven Police Station, interior of Duke's Boat, and interior of Audrey's apartment over the Grey Gull.  If you switch to the overhead Google Map view and use the "earth" view which shows the satellite photo you will notice this is a complex of buildings and there are tennis courts - these courts are featured in at least one episode, Season 1 Episode 5 where a woman's trouble causes men to age and die rapidly - a man dies right on the tennis courts there.  Just north and a little west is a large expanse with a couple of schools.  The Arena was also recently used for sets for the Lifetime movie "Sea Change".  
  • MAJOR Homework Assignment - if you go west along Pig Loop Road looking at the huge space outside the arena, as you come to the corner, you can see a green Pontiac van shoved in the corner.  It's a little hard to see through the foliage and chain link fence, but it looks kind of beat up.  I'm 95% certain this is the van seen flipping over and tumbling down the road just over 21 minutes into season 5 episode 1.  Hopefully Google will keep this one archived - it's from August 2014.  Now, use the little widget to change to the version from August 2012.  If you look through the fence you will see a "Haven" ambulance.  And if you keep the date set to August 2012 and work your way back east towards the entrance, and keep looking towards that corner, behind the ambulance you will see...THE BRONCO.  BAM!
  • Chester Middle School - It was hard to find a good Street View shot for this, as it's a bit back on the property where the Google car probably couldn't go, but this is the "blue school building" seen in a number of episodes.
  • Chester St. Augustine's Parish - When the "Darkside Seekers" come to Haven, they set up their night shot at the beginning of the episode in front of this church.  Spin the camera 180 degrees and look at the yellow house on the opposite corner - they entered this house and encountered the "Rougarou."  A number of shots were done in that episode taken from various angles up and down the street by the church.
  • East Chester Community Centre - Used as the "Dixie Boy Truck Stop" in multiple episodes. 

Hubbards

  • Hubbards Shore Club - The Shore Club was featured in the episode when Nathan and Duke time traveled to the 1950's.  I believe the interior of the Shore Club was actually used on the show.
  • Hubbards St. Luke's Anglican Church - This is The Reverend Driscoll's church on Haven.  It is featured in a lot of shows.  The giant rolling ball started out as a statue on the lawn here.  One of the things I love about Haven is how they tied together all these locations spread around multiple towns but made them feel like a single town. 
  • Hubbards Bishop's Park Gazebo - Gazebo number 3!  Used in several episodes, just down the street from the Rev's church.  The scene in Season 4, Episode 2 where Duke tells Jennifer the story about a kid who broke his arm sledding when they were younger (the story is about Nathan) takes place here.
  • Hubbards House, Old Post Road - This house was used as The Reverend Driscoll's home.  I am 90% certain they actually used the interior of this house.  The house is up on a hill which, when looking out through the front windows, would have a view of the Rev's church (St. Luke's).  Watch the episode (season 1 episode 2 I think) and you will see what I'm talking about.
  • Hubbards St. Mark's Anglican Church - used as the outskirts of Haven in more than one episode.  Now spin the camera 180 degrees - in the current Street View image at the time I am writing this, which is shown with an image date of August 2014, there are HAVEN POLICE CARS parked across from the church!  COOL!  The blue Chevy Tahoe there is Dwight's vehicle on the show as well.  I *think* these cars were parked here for filming scenes for season 5, episode 14 (first episode of season 5b or season 6 or whatever we're calling it).
  • Hubbards House at Tilley's Cove - The Grey Gull.  There are several decent shots of the building from the road, just walk the camera up and down.  Also, use the little widget (in the upper left on my browser) that lets you view historical images from previous years.  The "current" images right now are from August 2014.  However there are a number of really nice shots from April 2012 when the Grey Gull sign was up, and there was less foliage covering the building.  There are also some shots from 2009 prior to the start of filming the show, when the building doesn't have the sign - or windows or doors apparently.  In photos I've seen elsewhere since these Street View images were done, the signage has been removed.  June 2022 Note: There are new images of the house which has been painted, has perhaps new siding and roof, and is now surrounded by a black chain link fence and clearly marked "Private Property".  I had wondered how long people would be able to continue wandering down to the house to take pictures...
  • The Grey Gull Panorama - User submitted panorama taken at the porch corner by the water, ground floor.

Other Areas Of Interest

  • Peggy's Cove Lighthouse - Another lighthouse used in the series, in Season 1 Episode 5, where a woman's trouble causes men to age rapidly and die.
  • Mahone Bay Centre - This building appears in numerous episodes as the Haven Medical Center.  Note that early in the show the building was doctored up with signage that said Haven Medical Center, a flagpole with a US flag, etc.  But similar to the issue with the Lunenburg town hall, later aerial shots of this building are missing the Haven-related signage.  
  • Mahone Bay Street Scene - This is one of the many street scenes from all over the South Shore area to be featured in Haven - in particular this one is seen in the episode where Audrey relives the same day repeatedly and various people are getting run over ("Audrey Parker's Day Off")...Be sure to zoom the view out all the way and pan around, and you may recognize more scenes.
  • Robinson's Corner Farm - this is the home of "The Barn", the supernatural construct that plays such a big role in the show but which is seen only a few times considering.  It's located pretty far back on the property off the road, and presented a challenge to find a good Street View angle.  In Season 2 Episode 3 when the "real" Audrey Parker finds the barn, it is shown onscreen flipped left-to-right, but definitely still the same building.
  • Halifax Dingle Tower - Dingle Tower in Halifax was used as the Armory in the final episodes of Haven.
  • Halifax Boondocks Diner - The Boondocks Diner is where Nathan and the "copy" of Audrey (created by Croatoan to trick Nathan) were eating at the opening of Season 5B Episode 13.  The diner in the show was also called Boondocks, but they hung a "Cleaves Mills" sign out front - nice Stephen King reference...
  • Bridgeport Cape Rouge - The Cape Rouge belonged to Duke Crocker, serving as both his home and an important part of his business as a smuggler.  During the winter months when the show was not being filmed, the boat was docked here in Bridgeport (during filming it was docked at the "angled dock" in Lunenburg, liste above).  Note - the boat partially sank in March of 2014 but it was apparently raised, since the linked Street View image was captured in September 2014.  If you have any doubt this is the Cape Rouge (that was actually the original name of the boat), check out this article about the sinking.  There's a series of 10 photos - number 7 is a good shot for comparison the the vessel pictured in Street View.  This site featuring the work of Katherine Bickford has a few photos of several ships lined up along the wharf in Bridgeport; the third ship (in the back of the line) is the Ryan Atlantic II, otherwise known as the Cape Rouge.
  • Corner of Montague & Prince - OK, if there is a "Most Obscure Location" on this page, I think this is it.  Take a look at this building.  If you don't recognize it, take a look at these pictures: http://www.farfarawaysite.com/section/haven/gallery1/gallery1/gallery4/gallery.htm, and then come back to the Street View scene.  Spin the camera around.  Those promo shots for the first season were done right in that building in the linked Street View scene.  It used to drive me crazy wondering where they were done.  I was absolutely convinced they were done in Chester, but turns out it was right there in Lunenburg. This building was used for some early promo shots of the three main actors.  Unfortunately the site I used to point to for those shots is gone.

Conclusion...

And that's all I have for now folks.  If you know of a location that was significant to the show and that you'd like me to add, please let me know.  I'd like to give a special thanks to Pauline P. whose Haven Photo Project  got me to thinking I should share these links, and who kindly helped with a few locations that had eluded me.  Also I would like to to thank Michelle Diesbourg for some locations as well as additional detail about how some were used.

15 comments:

  1. This is great! I'm missing the show. I'm coming home for a visit in July (Living in Ontario right now) and plan to check out as many of these locations as possible. Thanks!

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  2. Awesome page. Thanks for all effort you put in. I found it fascinating. Loved the show

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  3. This is fantastic!!! Thank you so much!

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  4. Thanks for this information. Your hard work is appreciated!

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    Replies
    1. You're very welcome, and thanks for the feedback - it's fun to do!

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  5. This is great info - thanks so much for taking the time to put it togetgher. Does anyone know the location of the aerial shots in season 1, episode 9 "As You Were"? The aeiral shot of Carpenter's Knot - the "hotel" that we see when Duke and Audrey arrive on the island? Thanks!

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  6. Hey- as a follow up to the post I make a few minutes ago, I think I found it. Kaulbach Island Indian Point NS - Links to pics:

    https://www.google.com/search?q=kaulbach+island+indian+point+nova+scotia&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS801US801&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjB3MHuurDgAhVI4qwKHaybC50Q_AUIECgD&cshid=1549777474206360&biw=1366&bih=664#imgrc=iopPL_lVlM-pPM:

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  7. any updates on the Cape Rouge? Last update is 2014. Did they refloat it?

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    Replies
    1. Hi, sorry for the late reply. The link above for "Bridgeport Cape Rouge" has been updated to a better angle - it is from 2018, as of then it was floating.

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  8. I'm curious where this stream runs through https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1997768/mediaviewer/rm1842201344

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    1. Hard to find a perfect Google Street View image that aligns with that shot, but I'm 95% that is Mahone Bay and here is a user-submitted shot that includes the location: https://goo.gl/maps/P4KLLQYqSTY2mnJ17

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    2. Found another Google Street View link that lines up more with your photo: https://goo.gl/maps/AKEjtLR7jj29RQas9

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  9. Thank you so much for compiling these locations with such detail !!
    I've been watching Haven in anticipation of my upcoming trip and I can't wait to see all of these in person :D

    I plan to take LOTS of pictures and would love to contribute to this if you'll allow it

    ReplyDelete

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