Hunting for General Alder Part 2
Another filming site at the University of British Columbia was Cecil Green Park House. Address is Cecil Green Park House 6251 Cecil Green Park Road, Vancouver, BC V6T 1X8. Their website is at
Cecil Green Park House | Weddings Events Filming Vancouver (ubc.ca)
I knew the Circe Barracks common room was filmed here. This is from one of the production notes that I managed to get hold of.
We found this room almost as soon as we walked into the building.
The lighting is different and the army symbol is not over the fireplace. This is where it was. The building is often rented out for functions, so the rooms are usually kept empty of furniture.
Once we knew we were in the right room, it was possible to match up some of the iconic scenes with their place in the room.
It was here that we first met Anacostia. The windows haven’t changed, and nor have the curtains.
However, the army sign is not above the fireplace.
The porch that Raelle walked along to get to Anacostia after getting in trouble for meeting Scylla is just outside the window.
I knew the common room was there, but the very next room was very familiar as well.
The cadet dining room, the scene of so many powerful scenes, particularly in season 1. Such as the confrontations between Abigail and Raelle, the Generals stealing the coffee before the pageant, Adil’s breakfast
The cereal dispensers and coffee machines were in an alcove in this room.
Even the original fireplace was on screen at times, like this scene from Motherland episode 1.07.
On returning home, I had another hunt through production notes and came across this, which I had missed earlier. It does say that the dining room is at Cecil Green Park House.
I am sure that the back porch has been used to film something on Motherland, but I can’t immediately identify the scene(s). Any excuse will do for a rewatch!
But there was one puzzle still to solve. According to the production notes I did have with me, General Alder’s Office was filmed at Cecil Green Park House too. But we couldn’t match it up with anything that we were seeing. We talked to the staff and showed them the pictures. They didn’t recognise it either, so they called someone else to come and talk to us about it.
The person who came had been the liaison with the filming crew. He told us that Motherland had filmed there often. He hadn’t met any of the cast, just production people. The University staff are not around during filming, just a safety officer. We showed him the pictures and he recognised them immediately. They were not taken there, but were at Hycroft Manor. So, we went to Hycroft next, in search of General Alder’s Office.
Address: Hycroft Manor. 1489 McRae Ave V6H 1T7. It is the headquarters of the University Women’s Club and is a building with a long and rich history.
Production notes, for General Alder’s Office.
We went to Hycroft and talked to the manager on duty and said why we had come. She recognised immediately where the photos had been taken. She took us on a tour of the building to see the filming locations.
These are the windows seen behind Alder’s desk.
This is the alcove opposite Alder’s desk, seen in the second production photo.
The glass doors at the end of the room are significant. The production set designers coated the door windows, to make the frosted. The idea was that General Alder would have a private office, rather than one where everyone could see in at all times.
When they finished filming, the production department gave the Hycroft management the choice that the set designers could remove the frosting or leave it in place. The Hycroft management decided that they liked the privacy option and said the door frosting could stay. This is another example of changes made for the filming of Motherland, which have become permanent.
Hycroft, we were told, was used quite often as a filming location. We were taken to the main staircase. The carpet on the main staircase had been put in by the makers of the film Catwoman for Halle Berry to walk down. After the scenes were filmed, the film company had no use for the carpet, so that stayed permanently. I couldn’t resist walking down Catwoman’s stair carpet.
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