The wifi password for the Bates Motel is MOTHER.
The exterior of the Bates' house is a faithful reproduction of the design for the characters' house in Psycho (1960), which was in turn modeled by Alfred Hitchcock after Edward Hopper's 1925 painting The House by the Railroad. That painting was the very first one that was acquired by New York's Museum of Modern Art (in 1930).
Even though the series is set in modern day, Vera Farmiga's look, including her hairstyle and costumes, subtly reflect the style of 1959, from when the movie Psycho (1960) was filmed. Most of the other characters are wearing clothes of the present day. (I.E., Keegan Connor Tracy as Miss Watson)
Timothée Chalamet auditioned to play Norman Bates. According to him, he botched his audition after looking up Psycho (1960) on Netflix, finding American Psycho (2000) instead and basing his audition around the personality of Patrick Bateman, played by Christian Bale, and not Norman Bates, played by Anthony Perkins.