If you’re headed to Wilmington, North Carolina, chances are your aware of all the beloved shows filmed in that lovely town. Wilmington was home to some of our favorite characters, Lucas and Nathan Scott, Peyton Sawyer, Brooke Davis, Haley James, Mouth, Skillz, and so many more. Recently, we had the chance to go to Wilmington, home of “One Tree Hill”, and visit the filming locations. The two of us decided to do our own tour, that way we had more time at each location, to take pictures, and most of all, take the moment in. For the most part, all the locations are right around each other, and if you have an afternoon in good ol’ Wilmington, I’d highly suggest visiting your favorite film locations. Follow us along on our very own, self guided tour of Tree Hill!
Peyton Sawyers House: 1901 Chestnut Street
Peyton’s house was our first stop. Since the show ended, the owners have since planted bushes and trees outside, but it was still amazing to see where “Crazy Derek” fell out the window, where Lucas would pull up in his truck to go see his love, and where B Davis and P Sawyer had it out on the front lawn (posh spice mug breaking? Anyone?).
Haley James House: 1811 Chestnut Street
Fun fact, Haley’s house is to the left of Peyton’s house, but if you go to Haley’s first, Peyton’s house is to the right. Their both on corners as well. Not much happened at Hails house, I mean except for the epic Nayley first kiss, in the pouring rain moment, and when Nathan decided to throw rocks at Hayley’s parents room. Plus it’s a win, win being right next to Peyton’s house!
Lucas Scott’s House: 1829 Wrightsville Avenue
As a Lucas lover, I have to say, this was on my bucket list for the longest time, and it did not disappoint! I mean THE HOUSE IS STILL YELLOW! THE SIDE BEDROOM DOOR IS REALLY THERE! IT LOOKS EXACTLY THE SAME! I will point out that this is the only location that had PRIVATE PROPERTY listed on the outside of the house, so please respect the owners privacy if you plan on visiting, but the whole time I was standing there I could just picture Luke sneaking in late, Brooke or Peyton outside his door, Karen answering the front door to Keith or Andy! All that was missing was the front porch swing!
Brooke Davis’s House: 2314 Tattersalls Drive
Brooke’s house in real life is breathtaking. It is every bit as beautiful as it is on screen, and THE DOOR IS STILL RED. The owners of the house, the Pattell Family, are such a kind family, and as long as you respect them, they won’t mind you taking pictures! I mean, we went back on two different days to take some in front of this One Tree Hill landmark!
Felix and Anna’s House: To The Left of Brooke’s
Just like Peyton and Haley have their house’s next to each other, so do Brooke and Felix. Felix and Brooke had a short fling back in the beginning seasons of OTH, while Felix’s sister Anna, had a thing for Lucas and then came out as bi. Brooke stormed through the yards the day Mouth threw the brick into Brooke’s windshield, due to Brooke thinking it was Felix.
Nathan Scott’s House: 1621 Country Club Road
Nathan’s house is known to be private property, so we jumped out of the car and took a quick picture to respect the owner’s privacy. It was also down pouring this day, but we braved the rain to see where Nathan and Dan would argue on a daily basis, where all the Ravens Basketball parties were held, and where Peyton kissed Lucas for the first time.
Intro Bridge: North 6th Street and Hanover Street
Risked our lives in traffic to get pictures in front of this, but so worth it! Also, this is a really bad area of town, (we learned that after the fact), so make sure you do go with someone and during the day! **Bring a sharpie or some spray paint to leave a message for the cast of OTH, the bridge is filled with messages from fans!
Karen’s Cafe: Corner of North Front and Grace Street
The amount of times we walked by Karen's before we actually realized it was the original Karen's, is embarrassing. As of now, the outside looks nothing like it did in the show, so pulling up pictures on Google, and asking locals helped a lot! The red overhangs are no longer there, and the store is called “Outdoor Equipped” now. The actual “door” that was used in the show is the 2nd window from the left of the corner, it was hard to grab a picture during the day so we went back at night and pretended to sit on the steps where all our favorite One Tree Hill characters would stop in to grab a coffee before heading to Tree Hill High, and where Dan Scott tried to win Deb back.
Baker Man/Tree Hill Cafe: Left of Karen’s Cafe, Corner of North Front and Grace Street
This spot was another win for us, being so close to Karen’s! Tara opened up Tree Hill Cafe right next to Karen’s and gave Brooke and Haley competition. Eventually Tara ended up saving Brooke from creepy Xavier, and Brooke took over the building and opened up “Baker Man”.
Nathan Thrown Threw the Window: 23 North Front Street
Did Nathan deserve to be pushed through a window? Never! But this is also a spot right in downtown Wilmington that you’ll pass multiple times a day, so it’s a cool OTH tourist spot!
Tree Hill Record Shop: 8 Market Street
This is where Peyton would hang out and go visit Max, and also met Chris Keller for the first time. The store is now called “The Black Cat Shoppe’, and it carries a lot of nic-nac type items. They do however carry Keith Scott Body Shop Hoodies, One Tree Hill postcards and stickers along with some Clothes Over Bros shirts.
Naley Bench: Corner of Water and Market Street, LAST bench behind the Visitors Desk
Unfortunately when we went to see the iconic, “Don’t say I never gave you anything”, Naley bench, it was fenced off for construction. As you can see in the picture above, the bench is the very last one. We ran into a local tour guide who was kind enough to let us know which bench it actually was and that it was NOT the bench with all the signatures all over it. It was amazing to see in person and hopefully next time we’re in Wilmington, the bench will be opened to the public and we can get a picture sitting on it!
River Court: Next to the USS North Carolina Battleship
The only thing that would have made our stop at the River Court better, would have been to see the Scott Brothers shooting some hoops. After filming, the River Court was demolished, but the pavilion still stands, and of course the tree, where the basketball court was built in front of. It’s a beautiful view from all around. The pavilion, and all the picnic tables at the River Court, are filled with messages and love for the cast of One Tree Hill, and writings on how the show changed the lives of many. Take a moment to read some, it’s a truly touching experience! We also left our mark, look for our names, and if you find them, send us a picture on Twitter! (@Samanthaa62696, @ericaizzo and @SamAndErica) Bring a sharpie, or spray paint to leave your mark! We can’t wait to go back here and see all the new messages added!
TRIC: 1121 South Front Street
TRIC was another one of the buildings we drove by about 10 times before we realized the building was actually TRIC. When we pulled up to TRIC, I (Sam), got emotional in a way, but not where I cried. There was something about this location that was special. Every brick has a message from a fan, a quote from the show, and how the show saved so many lives. I connected with the TRIC filming location the most, so much we went back multiple times. We left messages along with the thousands of others on the brick wall, but we later learned this building is private property, so please keep that in mind and do it at your own risk!
Keith Scott Body Shop: 19 Covil Avenue
Unfortunately, Keith and Lucas weren't working, and Peyton’s car was nowhere to be found with her art work in the back, but you can’t go to Wilmington, and not go to Keith's!
Tree Hill High: Cape Fear Community College
We weren't fans of high school. but we’d attend Tree Hill High any day! It was almost as we were walking into a Friday night Ravens Basketball game to cheer on our guys!
Exploring Wilmington and seeing where everything OTH was filmed, was like being in a live episode. If you get the chance, I highly reccomend taking a tour of this wonderful town! Be sure to send us your pictures! We’d love to see! We also vlogged our tour of Tree Hill, it’s not up right now, but will be up shortly on our YouTube, www.youtube.com/samandericaTV. I’ll add it here when it is up!
We’ll Be Seeing ya Tree Hill,
Sam and Erica
Twitter: @SamAndErica @Samanthaa62696 @ericaizzo
Instagram: @samanderica @samanthanagen @ericaizzo