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Legacies Season 3 is underway. The CW spin-off is set in the Salvatore house from The Vampire Diaries, which was a real mansion. But did you know that Legacies and The Vampire Diaries didn’t actually film there? There once was a time when it did, but that was long before Legacies.

Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder dance in the Salvatore House in 'The Vampire Diaries' | The CW
Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder in ‘The Vampire Diaries’ | The CW

Is the Salvatore Boarding School a real school?

Legacies takes place in the Salvatore Boarding School for the Young and Gifted. Caroline Forbes transformed Stefan and Damon’s home into the academy in the series finale of The Vampire Diaries. And she dedicated the library to Stefan, her husband, who died in the last episode.

The Salvatore Boarding School isn’t a real school, but the house is. The Vampire Diaries used the Glenridge Hall mansion as Damon and Stefan’s family home in season 1 of The Vampire Diaries.

Stars Paul Wesley, Ian Somerhalder, and Nina Dobrev did film scenes in the actual house in season 1, but the show built an exact replica of the massive home for season 2 and on. The interior sets were built on a film lot and are replicas of the mansion’s interior.

Where is the Salvatore house located in real life?

It’s a good thing The Vampire Diaries built a replica of the home: Glenridge Hall was demolished in 2015.

The house was built in 1929 for Thomas K. Glenn, according to Distractify. It was renovated years later by his granddaughter, Frances Mayson, and her husband Joseph. Mayson tragically died in childbirth, and Joseph continued the renovations in her honor. He told the Reporter Newspapers in 2007 about continuing his wife’s legacy:

“I was able to learn in seven years exactly what she wanted to do and how she wanted to do it, so that when she died it was never a question of whether or not I would continue. It was my late wife’s intention that the house serve the community and not just be a home, but also be an asset to the community. I would like to know that if one came back here in 100 years it would look pretty much the same.”

Joseph’s daughter later had it torn down because getting it up to code was too expensive. Funnily enough, her name is Caroline. The land is now houses and retail spaces.

Related

‘The Originals’: Joseph Morgan Says 1 ‘Vampire Diaries’ Scene Inspired the Spinoff

Will Damon Salvatore be in ‘Legacies’ Season 3?

Any footage you see of the house’s exterior in The Vampire Diaries Seasons 2-8, Legacies, and The Originals is stock footage. But the interior sets in Legacies are the same ones used in The Vampire Diaries.

The Salvatore brothers aren’t in Legacies, but Wesley directed season 1 episode 13. In 2019, Somerhalder revealed that Wesley inspired him to direct Legacies rather than make an appearance.

“I actually would love to talk to [show creator Julie Plec]. I would love to go and direct one of [the Legacies episodes],” he told Entertainment Tonight. “Because I know Paul [Wesley] went to do it and he called me and he’s like, ‘Bro, this is f*cking crazy.’ Because it’s all of our old sets, which is a time warp, 10 years ago. He’s just going, ‘Dude!’ He was actually kind of emotional about it, he goes ‘This is crazy!’”

Glenridge Hall’s legacy lives on thanks to The Vampire Diaries, The Originals, and Legacies.

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