I used to have so many good memories of this house, and after just one bad one, I burned it down. I just couldn't bear to look at it again. I just can't believe it's gone.
The Gilbert House was a house in Mystic Falls. It was an important location until it was burned down by Elena, after the death of Jeremy, during Season Four.
Grayson Gilbert and Miranda Sommers-Gilbert were the original owners until their death. Miranda's sister Jenna Sommers moved in to take care of Elena and Jeremy, only to later die herself. Alaric Saltzman moved in to be the two's guardian since they had no other family. Unfortunately, he later became a vampire, then has to be killed putting everyone in danger, leaving Elena and Jeremy alone without a guardian. The next day, Jeremy and Elena repaint his room.
In Season Four, Elena briefly moved out the house when Jeremy became a vampire hunter; she had been turned, making it unsafe to stay. Eventually, Jeremy managed to control himself and she moved back in. When Jeremy died, Elena became so distraught she decided to burn down the house with his body in it as a cover and did so after she turned off her humanity.
Layout
Ground Floor
Below is a VERY rough plan of the ground floor. It is not accurate in dimensions, merely a general overview of the layout. The gaps in the outer frame indicate windows/doors.
The main corridor runs from the entrance and through the house to the kitchen, ending in garden doors leading outside in the kitchen. There are two living rooms, connected by sliding doors that are usually open. The kitchen is confusing because it has three entrances.
The ??? room is a room that was never used for any scene. There are only glimpses shown of it, there appears to be a table inside, so presumably it’s a dining room.
Below is a gallery showing a tour of the ground floor, with captions explicating where each scene is located within the house.
This is the entrance – you can see the staircase behind Elena and Jeremy
Same entrance – in the back you can see the kitchen door to the outside
Main corridor – staircase on the right, living room 1 on the left, kitchen door behind Bonnie
A zoom in of the same shot – the same kitchen door in the back, the table is between the kitchen on the right and living room 2 on the left
A 180 – now we’re looking from the kitchen on the front door, so the staircase is now on the left, Mason just came out of living room 1
Same angle, from further away, kitchen is on the left
Same angle, but now we can see the kitchen table. The front door is behind Stefan
Zoom in of the same corridor – living room 1 is on the right
A 180 of the previous shot – living room 1 is now on the left, kitchen ahead
More of living room 1, the doors to living room 2 are closed
More of living room 1, notice the fireplace in the back and the couch in from of it
A different shot of living room 1
And another one
Still living room 1, the couch and the fireplace
A 180 of the previous shot, the front door is to the right of Jeremy
Same angle. The ??? room in the back is open for once
A different view of the staircase from living room 1. Jenna came from the kitchen
Same angle
And again same angle
A different shot of the entry hallway – front door on the right, the double door to the ??? room behind Jenna
Same doors, different angle of the same view. Kol is kicking in the front door
Still same doors, a shot from further away
Same view – from living room 1 onto the entrance. The couch is on the right
Same view, from further away – from living room 2
Same view, now we can see more of living room 1 – the window in the back is the one on the porch next to the swing
An even further away view of the entrance – on the right is the leather couch in living room 2
Living room 1 – same window behind Elena, entrance is on the right
Same window, same living room
Same window behind Caroline, to the right is the side window, the fireplace is behind Elena on the right
Same view, different angle, the fireplace is to the right of Elena
Katherine is fighting Stefan in living room 1, fireplace on her right, the side window behind her
The fireplace is now in the back, you can see another side window to the right of the fireplace. Further right is the entrance to living room 2
Same view, same window, only door to living room 2 is closed
Same window to the right of Damon, living room 2 ahead, view from the front window
Same entrance to living room 2, Jenna is on the leather couch, the TV is in the cabinet behind Elena and Matt (it closes)
Another view of living room 2, the door in the back leads outside, presumably to the backyard
A further away shot of the same view. Behind the leather couch, to the right, is the kitchen
Back to living room 1, view from the couch. Behind Jenna is the white arch between living room 1 and the hallway
Still a view from the couch in living room 1, same staircase as at the beginning
Back to the view of living room 2, the picture on the left is where Damon was drawing the dancing puppy
A 180 of the previous shot. Elena is on the leather couch, the window in the back is the front window
The leather couch in living room 2, the kitchen is behind them, the TV in front of them
Same couch, only with a blanket
Same couch, Jeremy is sitting at the kitchen table
The Gilbert House has been the place where a lot of incidents occurred such as when Katherine is introduced in the present, and when Jeremy sees Anna and Vicki after his resurrection.
In real life, this house and Forbes House are next to each other.
The real address is 2104 Floyd Street NE, Covington, Georgia, USA.
The Gilbert House in Pilot was a different house because Pilot was the only episode filmed in Vancouver.
Kol and Klaus were the originals who were invited into this house.
They were invited into the house in A View To A Kill.
In Stand By Me, Elena Gilbert burns the Gilbert House down in order to be used as a cover story for Jeremy's death. Previously, Klaus threatened to burn down the house.
In real life, few months earlier, the house was put up for sale.
Apparently, Elena was going to ask Bonnie Bennett to use her powers to burn down the house; she inquired where Bonnie was when she came downstairs, and, upon finding she had already left, stated, "I guess I'll have to do this the old-fashioned way."
Elena mentioned burning it down with Jeremy's dead body inside to Elijah in American Gothic.
The Gilbert House didn't make any appearances in Season Five.
The house reappears in I Alone, where Damon tells Elena that he and Bonnie used to come to the house everyday as the only way to connect to her. In this episode Elena says that misses the house.