Just over 20 years have passed since the world fell in love with Buffy Anne Summers, the badass, vampire-slaying teen destined to fight (and slay) evil. Yet for most fans, it feels like no time has passed since Buffy and her mother first arrived in Sunnydale, California. Over the course of Buffy The Vampire Slayer's seven seasons, the seemingly normal town is revealed to be an epicenter of supernatural activity; but what of Buffy's family home?
1630 Revello Drive housed humans, slayers, ex-demons, reformed vampires, witches and watchers alike in its time, so what were they seeing that we missed? Here are 10 Hidden Details About The Summers Home You Never Noticed.
Buffy's Bed Is Almost Always Made
That's right, this full-time highschooler, full-time slayer still manages to make her bed every morning. It's hard to believe that a teenage girl who stays out all night fighting evil can remember to keep her linens in order but a tidy space means a tidy mind!
And Buffy needed a tidy mind with all those restless nights of prophetic dreaming. Fans will also remember Buffy’s bed as being the setting for her and Angel's first kiss - a much-anticipated moment revealing Angel's true vampiric nature.
It Serves As Headquarters For More Than Just The Scooby Gang
The First Evil, whom fans of the series know as "the personification of evil itself" launches a full-blown campaign against Buffy and the Scoobies, with the intention of destroying the beloved group entirely. During this time, the Summers' home is transformed into the group's headquarters.
However, much earlier in the series, the cozy Sunnydale home also serves as headquarters for MOO (Mothers Opposed to the Occult), established by Buffy's mother Joyce.
The Living Room Windows Are Constantly Breaking
Over the series, many evil beings have burst through the Summers' living room windows to try and get at the Scooby Gang, or to the slayer herself, consequently breaking them. Fans will remember one such event of this, in Episode 2 of Season 3, "Dead's Man Party" when zombies smash through the windows and terrorize the party organized to welcome Buffy home to Sunnydale.
Buffy soon realizes that a friend of her mother's, Pat, has put on the mask containing the powers of the zombie demon Ovu Mobani and is consequently demonized. In an attempt to save Willow, Buffy pushes the Pat demon out the window.
The Basement Serves As A Make-Shift "Prison"
Many supernatural beings (good and evil) serve their time imprisoned in the basement of the Summers' home over the course of the series. In Episode 17 of Season 6, "Normal Again", a demon called on by The Trio stabs Buffy in the arm with a needle, triggering a traumatic memory of Buffy's from her childhood.
The demon is inevitably thrown into the Summers' basement by Spike and Xander only for Buffy to, in a state of delusion caused by the trauma, imprison her friends in there with it.
The Greatest Spike/Buffy Moment Happens On Her Back Porch
The on-again, off-again nature of Buffy and Spike's romance is an ongoing source of frustration for most fans throughout the series. Fortunately, the show's creator Joss Whedon gives audiences many satisfying Spike/Buffy moments. Most notably of which occurs in Episode 7 of Season 5, "Fool for Love".
In a particularly tender moment at the end of the episode, Buffy retreats to her back porch in tears, reacting to news of her mother's sickness. Appearing out of nowhere with the intention of killing her, Spike changes his mind and joins her on the porch. It's an intimate moment, certainly a tear-jerker.
Dawn's Arrival Is Hinted At In Buffy's Bedroom
There are multiple hints to the arrival of Buffy's younger sister Dawn in Season 5's premiere episode, which the show's creator Joss Whedon has acknowledged. Many of these take the form of conversations between Buffy and another character, most often the Slayer Faith Lehane.
One such example occurs in the season finale of season four, the episode immediately before Dawn is introduced, where Buffy, Willow, Giles, and Xander are stalked whilst dreaming. Buffy's dream takes place in her bedroom, where she wakes up to find Tara. Together, they make the bed and Tara tells Buffy to, "be back before Dawn."
The Address Is Incorrectly Shown In "As You Were"
In "As You Were", the fifteenth episode of Season 6, audiences sympathize with Buffy, whose grueling job and responsibility as the sole carer of Dawn appear to be taking their toll on the young Slayer. The seemingly despondent Buffy returns home to see that a letter from UC Sunnyvale has arrived - her re-application to the university has been rejected.
However, when the camera pans down to reveal the letter in plain view, the address under Buffy's name reads, "1630 Crestview". Yet in Season 5's iconic episode "The Body," in which Joyce Summers dies, Buffy clearly tells the 911 "1630 Revello" - a clear mistake of continuity.
The Real House Was Used For Some Interior Shots
The house used for exterior shots of the Summers' home is located in Torrence, California. Although most of what we see inside Buffy's beloved home is a set, there are some scenes in Season 1 that were shot inside the real house.
There's a trick to determine whether what you're seeing is on set or the actual house: there's a bend in the stairs. The bend in the set-built staircase is at a 90-degree angle, whereas the bend in the actual house is rounded.
Unwanted Guests Are Very Often Accidentally Invited Inside
There are countless times an unknowing Scooby member or adjacent ally welcomes a vampire into the Summers' home. Fans will know that a vampire cannot enter a building without an invitation. Unfortunately, the vampires of Sunnydale know very well how to manipulate naive humans.
Joyce Summers makes the mistake of inviting a vampire inside the house not once, but two times. In Episode 7 of Season 1, we see the vampire Darla, disguised as Buffy's classmate, welcomed inside by Joyce. Then again in the premiere of Season 5, Dracula enters the home swiftly due to Joyce's earlier invitation.
Buffy's Banishment From The House Mirror's The Desertion of Sunnydale
Towards the end of Season 7, the final season of the series, it is evident that the show is building up to something big. By Episode 19, "Empty Places," Sunnydale is a ghost town. Even the title of the episode gives connotations of displacement and loss.
The moment the Scooby Gang - headed by Dawn - ask Buffy to leave, is a marked moment. It sets a tone of hostility and division that persists between Buffy and her closest friends as they all move closer towards the apocalypse. This division is mirrored in the exodus of Sunnydale's residents. It's a grisly precursor to what's to come.