Where was Peggy Sue Got Married filmed?
1986
City Locations
Petaluma, California
Location Types
American, NatureScapes
Location Styles
Anywhere America/Americana, House
About Peggy Sue Got Married
Starring Kathleen Turner and Nicholas Cage, Peggy Sue Got Married is a hilarious, time-traveling comedy that has nostalgia by the bucket load. The titular Peggy Sue (Kathleen Turner) isn’t exactly happy with her life. She’s separated from and about to divorce her high school sweetheart, Charlie (Nicholas Cage) and has to see his face on every discount commercial and they have a daughter together.
So, she goes to her high school reunion – alone – where she passes out and wakes up in her high school in 1960. Peggy Sue has gone back in time and has the chance to change her life forever!
Knowing how her life turns out with the choices she makes the first time, Peggy Sue tries to make all the opposite choices. This starts with trying to break things off with Charlie and instead going after Michael Fitzsimmons (Kevin J O Connor), who was the artsy loner that she wishes she had pursued all those years ago.
Peggy Sue tries to date Michael but something doesn't feel right. Unfortunately, this is the version of Charlie that Peggy Sue fell in love with before life got in the way and everything started to get complicated. Also, she doesn't want to derail Michael's future by changing too much.
With the help of her friend Richard Norvik (Barry Miller), who she lets in on the time traveling secret and eventually becomes a billionaire inventor, and her Masonic grandpa (Leon Ames), Peggy Sue tries to return to her time period – but it's not as easy as it looks!
Along the way, she learns to fall back in love with Charlie and appreciate all the things that made them a great couple. That and the fact that they have a daughter together who obviously won't exist if they don't get together!
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, Peggy Sue Got Married is a fun and nostalgic film that will have you laughing and rooting for the main characters throughout. So, where was Peggy Sue Got Married filmed? Let's dive in and find out.
Peggy Sue Got Married Locations
To bring the beautiful, suburban 1960s town to life, the Peggy Sue Got Married production team headed to Petaluma and Santa Rosa in California. This is a town that still has a distinctly 1960s vibe and has been used for plenty of movies over the years.
If you walk around this charming town, you'll actually feel as if you're in the film itself! Petaluma even has an annual retro car festival, so if you wake up in Petaluma that day, it's almost like you're Peggy Sue, waking up in the 1960s!
The interesting thing is that a lot of the houses and buildings used in the film actually exist, rather than being built solely for the film. The high school, Peggy Sue's House, the main street with all the thriving stores, the Masonic lodge – it's all still there and you can wander around and get the full Peggy Sue Got Married fantasy.
So, where in Petaluma can you find these iconic Peggy Sue Got Married filming locations? Let's find out more.
The reunion scene in Peggy Sue Got Married
Santa Rosa High School
At the start of the film, we see a sad Peggy Sue gearing up for her high school reunion. She's flying solo after she and Charlie have decided to get divorced and obviously not feeling great about it.
As Peggy Sue and Charlie were high school sweethearts, Peggy Sue was getting asked about Charlie a lot, which was starting to get to her.
She says, “Well Charlie won’t be here, we’re getting divorced actually." Reunions are the worst, right?
The reunion takes place in the Buchanan High School gymnasium and the rest of the high school scenes throughout the rest of the movie are filmed at Santa Rosa High School, in Santa Rosa, California.
This is actually still a functioning school so you can’t really go around and take photos while school is in session, but if you’re in Santa Rosa during the school break, you can visit this iconic Peggy Sue Got Married filming location.
You can get to Santa Rosa High School by public bus, with a whole host of routes stopping right outside on Mendocino Avenue.
Coming clean to Richard scene in Peggy Sue Got Married
D Street in Petaluma
Now trapped in 1960, Peggy Sue is rapidly searching for a way to get back to her real timeline. She has to tell someone, so she tells her friend Richard about what’s happened to her and her elaborate plans to change her destiny.
Discussing the implications that changing the past can have on your future, Richard says, “What if you fall into the hands of some mad man who has plans to manipulate your brain?”
Peggy Sue points out that's why she's getting divorced in the first place. Classic.
This is a conversation that takes place while the pair are walking around the streets between the high school and their respective houses. Shot along D Street in Petaluma, it’s a long suburban looking road that cuts right through the center of town, and crosses over the river.
As D Street is so long, it depends where along the road you are visiting when it comes to public transport options. At one end you have the SMART Petaluma Downtown train station and at the other end there is the 501 bus stop. There is a big gap in between, so it depends on your Petaluma plans.
Grandpa tries to send Peggy back scene in Peggy Sue Got Married
DeTurk Round Barn
As it turns out Peggy Sue’s grandpa is a freemason and has a theory of how to send her back to her correct time period. With the assistance of his fellow freemasons, the group begins a ritual to return Peggy Sue home.
However, halfway through the ritual, Charlie kidnaps Peggy Sue, leaving the freemasons thinking that the ritual actually worked.
On the way to the Masonic lodge, Peggy Sue asks, “Has this ever worked before?”, to which grandpa replies, “The last time was 600 years ago”. Very reassuring.
The filming location for the Masonic ritual is the DeTurk Round Barn, located at 819 Donahue Street in Santa Rosa. This space is now an event space.
Located close to the Santa Rosa downtown train station, it’s pretty accessible and there is a bus stop along the number 9 route a couple of streets over.
Charlie confronts Peggy scene in Peggy Sue Got Married
226 Liberty Street, Petaluma
Confused by this new Peggy Sue that constantly rebuffs his advances, Charlie gets desperate and sneaks into her bedroom. Not creepy at all! He doesn’t understand what has changed between them, not knowing that Peggy Sue is actually from the future and not modern-day Charlie’s biggest fan.
As he creeps into her bedroom, Charlie whispers, “Peggy Sue, I have to talk to you”. This is how horror movies start.
This particular scene obviously takes place in Peggy Sue’s childhood home which is featured throughout the movie. It’s a gorgeous house that can be found at 226 Liberty Street, Petaluma, California.
It’s only a short walk from the heart of Petaluma’s downtown area, so you can make a day of it and check out some of the local bars, shops and restaurants while you take in these iconic Peggy Sue Got Married filming locations.
You’ll find a number of bus stops on the streets surrounding Liberty Street, with plenty of routes serving them, so if you don’t want to drive around Petaluma, the public transport is pretty great.
Michael asks Peggy Sue to go to Utah scene in Peggy Sue Got Married
Lena's Restaurant in Santa Rosa
After Michael and Peggy Sue get extra close and personal, they go to a music bar where Michael asks her to go with him to Utah. His master plan is to find another girl and live an artsy existence while he writes the next great American existence. So romantic, right? Yep, Peggy Sue didn’t think so either.
Michael’s response? “Polygamy is legal in Utah!” Just because it’s legal doesn’t mean you have to do it!
This takes place in the music bar where Charlie ends up sleeping, unbeknownst to Peggy Sue. This particular music bar was actually Lena's Restaurant in Santa Rosa. Unfortunately, Lena’s closed down after the eponymous owner died. However, you can still wander around Santa Rosa and get a real feel for the area and check out one or two of the local restaurants and cafes. Many places in Santa Rosa were used as filming locations for Peggy Sue Got Married, so you’ll probably recognize a lot of places.
Get off the train at Santa Rosa Downtown to be closest to the bars, restaurants and shops. This way you don’t need to worry about car parking and can make the most of being in wine country!
Peggy Sue divulges the future to Richard scene in Peggy Sue Got Married
Western Avenue, Petaluma Boulevard, and Kentucky Street
When Peggy Sue figures out what has happened to her, she realizes that she needs allies that are going to help her get back to her timeline. Knowing that her friend Richard becomes a billionaire inventor, she entrusts him with the truth and lets him in on a few tidbits about the future of technology.
They wander around the downtown area as Peggy Sue reels off the different pieces of tech that become big in the 1980s.
Richard writes them down, “Digital watches, miniature television sets.” Peggy: “Oh and huge radios! For some reason everything else gets tiny but portable radios get enormous!”
While they’re having these important, potentially timeline altering conversations, Richard and Peggy Sue are walking around Western Avenue, Petaluma Boulevard, and Kentucky Street, all in the center of Petaluma, California.
These are the main streets in town and where you’ll see the main procession during the classic car festival that they have every year, bringing that 1960s vibe to life. If you can time your Peggy Sue Got Married filming location trip around this festival, it’ll add a whole new level of nostalgia to your vacation.
Here you’ll find plenty of shops, bars, cafes and restaurants to enjoy as you wander around and pretend you’re actually in Peggy Sue Got Married. As this is the main area of Petaluma, there is a large parking garage nearby and you can get on the number 48 bus which stops on Petaluma Boulevard.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for a funny and time-twisting couple of hours, then Peggy Sue Got Married is the film for you. With star turns from Kathleen Turner and Nicholas Cage, and even featuring a very young Jim Carrey, you’ll be laughing at the one-liners and rooting for love to prevail.
It’s a super nostalgic film so if you grew up in the 60s or the 80s, or just love films and TV shows from those eras, you’re going to have a good time. By the end, you’ll be considering what you’d go back and change if you could, if anything at all.
With an ending that gives you all the warm fuzzy feelings, it’s a pleasant film to watch on a Sunday afternoon if you want to while away a few hours without having to think too deeply about anything. With snappy dialogue, great performances, and nostalgia-triggering filmmaking locations, Peggy Sue Got Married is great fun all around.