The venue has a surprising history outside of the hit series.
Daniel ReynoldsThe Schitt's Creek motel will be "up for sale next month," owner Jesse Tipping announced to the Orangeville Banner.
Known as the Rosebud Motel in the popular Canadian series created by Eugene and Dan Levy, the site has become a popular tourist destination in Orangeville, Ontario, an hour's drive west of Toronto. Fans reportedly trek out daily to see it.
“We just kind of let them enjoy it because if they are not bothering anybody, people really get a kick out of it,” Tipping said. “They’re always so happy to see the place.”
Tipping purchased the property in 2011 as a space to house basketball recruits; he is president of the Athlete Institute Basketball Academy and Orangeville Prep, Canada's most competitive prep-school basketball program. Jamal Murray, a player with the NBA's Denver Nuggets, is among the graduates and former inhabitants.
Schitt's Creek, which premiered in 2015, has rented the motel for one month every year for the past six years. “I just got a call out of nowhere from a location scout named Jeff,” Tipping said about the origin story of the deal.
The property was first founded as a resort in the 1960s — there may be a pool buried somewhere on the grounds, Tipping speculated — but he purchased it knowing it was already listed in a database of Hollywood shooting locations. A History of Violence and Netflix's Umbrella Academy have also filmed scenes there.
Tipping praised the time he spent with the crew and cast of Schitt's Creek, including the Levys, Catherine O'Hara, and Annie Murphy, who portrayed a rich family who stays at the motel after losing their fortune. “They didn’t just come in and do their thing. They interacted with the people around them,” Tipping said. “They were just a great bunch to work with.”
Amid filming, rooms in the property were also discretely listed in AirBnB "for people who needed a spot when they were coming in to ski at Hockley [Valley Resort] or worked in the area for weddings or events,” Tipping said.
“We were pretty consistently booked. It wasn’t an expensive rental,” he said. “Each room we have set up has a little mini-apartment. It has its own kitchen and fridge. It is more than just motel rooms. They are all just little apartments.” In total, the structure contains eight mini-apartments and a three-bedroom home.
The property has also been highlighted on Schitt's Creek fan pages as a tourist destination, which attracts fans from all over the world. “They’re always so happy to see the place,” said Tipping, who enjoys his meetings with fans. “Everybody says you need to turn it into the Rosebud Motel.”
Tipping had planned to sell the property earlier, but the pandemic delayed his plans; for the past several months, he has lent it to a local organization in need of a place to quarantine folks. But now that the series swept this year's Emmys, doubts it will stay on the real estate market for long.
“We were able to help out a great organization locally with their need,” Tipping said. “It is an interesting spot. It has been interesting to see how people interact with it.”
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