Sanctuary's Location & Layout

Background The Sanctuary is Mutant X's secret headquarters, which Adam built inside Stormking Mountain. It is equipped with state-of-the-art security systems designed by Adam and reinforced by Jesse's girlfriend, the expert computer hacker Toni Quintana. In the first season, Sanctuary had all kinds of beautiful amenities, including a reflecting pool, a waterfall, and a dojo for practicing martial arts. These wondrous luxuries vanished after the first season, leaving Sanctuary a darker, starker place in which to live. Thoughts from Adam's Mutant X Lives diary (1 2 3 4): All throughout my youth I heard legends about the caves of Stormking Mountain. Appearing and vanishing in the mists with a seeming will of its own, this stony citadel haunted me for years, somehow tying its mystery to my future. Native American folklore, early surveyor maps used by Raleigh, accounts from miners and prospectors…they all made detailed accounts of the peak. There is even a colorful report that it served as a hidden base for General Washington’s rebel forces in the early days of the American Revolution. I have my doubts about the historical accuracy of this fantastic episode, but a faint juvenile tremor in my heart has always longed for it to be true. Imagine my disappointment as a boy when I learned Stormking could not be climbed to the heights where the caverns supposedly existed. Contrast this with my odd satisfaction today landing the Double Helix in the mountain’s heart and see how prophetic my childhood visions were. If I were more of a Romantic, I would say it was the stuff of epic novels. I take a certain pride that this base was the first all-mutant construction project ever and possibly the most efficient undertaking of its size and scope. The structural engineering alone would have taken a decade with normal state-of-the-art resources. Instead, MUTANT X was able to complete the entire stronghold in just over two years. With the heavy work handled by telekinetics, ursine ferals and a rare combusting Molecular, my blueprints quickly became the reality that surrounds us. And this reality, in turn, bound us together as a team…and a family. The final addition of our holographic entrance keeps Stormking Mountain’s enigmatic tradition alive and masks our whereabouts from the rest of the world. One day we will not have to hide but until then this ancient fortress will be our perfect home. Ironically, there are many veins of caves here we did not have to utilize. The Tom Sawyer in me gets an occasional yen to explore them. Perhaps I’m a slight Romantic after all. I hope these rock walls hold in that little secret. Shalimar would never let me live it down.


Sanctuary's Location

An early magazine article written about Mutant X stated that the show's place and time were never precisely defined, in order to make the action applicable to anytime in the near future. To that end, the official website's FAQ sheet had the following insights to offer about the setting of Mutant X:

Q: Where does Mutant X take place?
A: Earth.

Not particularly helpful. Let's try to narrow the field a bit with some popular fan theories.

Theory #1. Canada The Mutant X series is filmed in Canada with Canadian actors, therefore there are Canadian references, locations, and accents scattered intermittently throughout the show. However, Adam specifies in the first episode that Genomex is a branch of U.S. intelligence, and the cars of the second and third seasons have United States plates. In "Reawakening," the team flies the Helix from Sanctuary to meet Dr. Louise Koby's ship on an ice fissure just off Canada's Palmer Island. Unless Shalimar's just being melodramatic when she complains that this trip is "halfway around the world," it seems less likely that Sanctuary is also located in Canada.

Theory #2. Florida In "Crossroads of the Soul," Brennan tries to call Sanctuary from a telephone in New Hope, getting as far as 754-245- before the operator cuts him off. 754 is an area code in Florida. Since there is snow on the ground in "Inferno" and "Reality Check," it is unlikely (though not impossible) that Sanctuary is that far south. Some fans have also pointed out that in "Once Around," when the team is searching for Vic Collaruso, Emma states that Vic "has a brother in Florida." If Sanctuary was indeed located in Florida, she might have been more likely to say, "Vic has a brother around here."

Theory #3. Colorado A search for U.S. mountain ranges named "Stormking Mountain" turns up two possibilities, the first of which is the 8,520 foot mountain in Colorado. The former Genomex.net faux website listed Genomex headquarters's address as Pueblo, Colorado. If Adam built Sanctuary shortly after narrowly escaping from Genomex, why would he have chosen a site so close to the main headquarters? Maybe to hide his lair in plain sight. When Mason Eckhart finally elicits Sanctuary's location from Brennan's mind in "Into the Moonless Night," he is surprised to find it in "that place which meant so much to both of us. That place you knew I'd never look."

Theory #4. Upstate New York The second Stormking Mountain is in upstate New York, near Cornwall-on-Hudson. Adam mentions in his Mutant X Lives diary that Sanctuary's mountain range might have been a Revolutionary War refuge for General George Washington. Cornwall was the site of Washington's headquarters, and this mountain is perched on the waters of the Hudson River, so this Stormking Mountain is a possible location for Sanctuary. Coincidentally, Professor Xavier's "school for the gifted" in X-Men is also located in upstate New York, in Westchester County. Perhaps Adam was similarly inclined.

Theory #5. Washington State (submitted by karellealisha25) When Emma leaves Sanctuary to meet her friend Michelle Bigelow in "Interface", it takes her 15 minutes to get to an internet cafe, then another 15 minutes to reach their old high school hangout, Jasper's. Because she doesn't take the Double Helix (it's still at Sanctuary 3 hours later when the team discovers her absence), it seems as though Emma's high school is a 30 minute drive away from Sanctuary. Emma later reveals in "Crossroads of the Soul," that "I grew up in Seattle; I can't believe I'm praying for rain!" Unfortunately, she doesn't specify whether she's referring to her early childhood with her biological parents, or to her teenaged years with her adopted family, which may have been in two entirely different locations.

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Sanctuary's Layout

Season One Season one's sets were designed by Rocco Matteo. For more images, check out his official site, MX French Fan Team's floorplans, and Youfie's awesome 3-D rendition.

Exterior: Stormking Mountain, The hangar, The landing bay

Interior: Front entrance, Adam's lab, The back staircase, The main computer, The dojo, The garden, The reflecting pool, The hallway outside the bedrooms, Emma's room, Brennan's room, The dining table, The second floor benches

Seasons 2-3 The sets for Seasons two and three were designed by John Blackie (some photos at Smoke and Mirrors).

Exterior: Stormking Mountain 1 2

Interior: Balcony, Main room, Emma's room, Shalimar's room, Lexa's room, Jesse's room, Brennan's room, Nikki's room, Shower





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