Jefferson Hotel from ‘Psycho’

The Jefferson Hotel, now known as the Barrister Place Building, at 101 South Central Ave., in downtown Phoenix, was used for the opening establishing shot of Marion Crane and Sam Loomis’s afternoon tryst in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. Built in 1915, at six stories, it was one of the tallest buildings in the state of Arizona at the time, though at the time of the making of Psycho (1960), it was shorter than many other downtown buildings, including the one immediately to its west. (That building can be seen on the far right of the first image and on the left in the fifth photo.) By 2023, when these photos were taken, it was dwarfed by everything around it. At that time, it was under renovation, with an apparent future as condos.

Hitchcock and his actors never filmed at the Jefferson or even went to Phoenix, as the building was used only for the establishing shot. The exterior of the bedroom window was re-created in Hollywood.

The first image shows the aforementioned establishing shot, just after the opening credits. The other photos were taken on March 13, 2023.

(The first image is copyright Universal/Paramount while all other photos are copyright MeierMovies, LLC, and may not be used without written permission and copyright credit.)