Q. What is it supposed to be on the show? A. A house. Q. Where is it supposed to be on the show? A. Somewhere in a northwest logging town. Q. When did we see it on the show? A. At the very end of the show's finale, Episode 12, of the final Season 8, "Remember the Monsters?" After dumping Debra's body in the ocean, and sailing the Slice of Life into a hurricane, Dexter is presumed dead. But at the very end, we see him some time later at a lumber camp, somewhere in the northwest, wearing a beard and dressed like a lumberjack (plaid shirt, heavy vest, jeans & boots). In this final, brief scene, he walks up the steps of a run down rental house, goes inside to a dingy room, takes off his vest, sits down at a table, and stares off into the distance.  He looks tired, bitter, emotionally drained... The camera focuses on his face, filled with sadness, tear stains visible as he closes his eyes.  At the last moment, he opens his eyes and looks directly into the camera. Fade to black. Q. What is it actually in real life? A. A residential house. Q. Where can I find it in real life? A. This is indeed in the Pacific Northwest, at 411 51st Street, in Astoria, Oregon. That's at the northwest corner of 51st St and Birch Street, in the Alberbrook neighborhood, on the banks of the Columbia River (which is the body of water you briefly glimpse in the background as Dexter enters the house). It is just four miles east of logging camp location.

According to what a Google search turns up, it's a 1,496 square foot house, built over a century ago, back in 1900.


The town of Astoria, Oregon, is located at the far northwest tip of Oregon, about 100 miles northwest of Portland, with a bridge crossing the Columbia River that links them to the neighboring state of Washington.


Astoria is the oldest American settlement on the west coast, founded in 1811 and named after a German fur trader who became the richest man in America in his day.


( Still, Dexter fans will appreciate that the nearby school is named "Astor Elementary School", and that a street in the town is named "Harrison Avenue". )


The photos below were shot by Josh Latta:

Q. How the heck did you figure out where it was?

A.  I honestly didn't think I was going to find this one.  And actually, I didn't.


I knew the house was probably in Astoria, since that is where they filmed the lumber camp scene.  And I thought it was probably a real house (rather than a set built by the crew).


But there is virtually no Google StreetView (or Bing StreetSide) in the town of Astoria, once you get away from the main highway.  And even the aerial photos of the town are of relatively poor quality, and can't be rotated for more detail.  So it was impossible for me to check for details such as the diagonal row of three small windows on the front door of the house, or the number of white wood posts on the front porch.


But then, a fan named Josh Latta, from Oregon, emailed me to ask if I had found the house, because he planned to visit Astoria soon, and hoped to see the place in person.


I told him no, I hadn't found it, but I also sent him the two enlarged screencaps from the scene you see below.  And I provided him with the few clues that I was able to glean from freeze-framing the few seconds when Dexter enters the house, and we see the front porch:


1. There appeared to be two green street signs, crossed, on a pole near the house.  That indicated
    that the house was probably at an intersection or corner.  But as you can see, the streets names
    aren't legible in the freeze-frame.

2. There was a telephone pole, with a cable support, near the street sign.

3. A large body of water, most likely the Columbia River, seemed to be very close to to the house,
    with a thin spit of land and trees out in the water, between the house and the distant shore.

4. There was a small boat sitting behind the porch (although I had no way to know if that was real,
    or had been added by the show).

5. There was an unusual wooden structure with what looked like window panes, just behind the house.
    It occurred to me that it might be a bus shelter, but since I didn't know if a street ran there,
    I wasn't sure.  (It might have been some type of private arbor built by the homeowner.)



And that was all I had to go on.

But Josh ran with it, and emailed me later to tell me that he thought he had found the house, using the aerial photos, based on the following criteria:


1.  The steps/porch faced the right direction (east).
2.  The river background to the north matched.
3.  There was a blue boat sitting next to the porch.
4.  Google Maps indicated there was a bus stop at or near the intersection.
5.  There was also a power pole nearby.
6.  The home was built in 1900, which matches the look of the house in the scene.


After checking the aerial photos, I agreed that it was almost certainly the right house, but since he was going there in person, I planned to wait for Josh to verify it before posting about it.


But shortly thereafter, Josh sent me this article from the local newspaper, the Daily Astorian:

And there it was, big as life: the house, the crew filming there, and a mention that it was located right where we expected,
at 51st Street and Birch Ave.


Josh later visited Astoria, and shot the photos of the house that you see above.


He reports: "The house is even more run-down looking in person than as portrayed in the show (or these photos for that matter) - much of the back is sagging and falling apart, and it looks to be unoccupied. I wouldn’t be surprised if it has been condemned. This appeared to be the worst, most depressing structure in the neighborhood, and I suspect it was a natural choice for the location scouts."


(Thanks, Josh!  Great job!)