<P> Cinematographer Lee Garmes began the production , but on March 11 , 1939 -- after a month of shooting footage that Selznick and his associates regarded as `` too dark '' -- was replaced with Ernest Haller , working with Technicolor cinematographer Ray Rennahan . Garmes completed the first third of the film -- mostly everything prior to Melanie having the baby -- but did not receive a credit . Most of the filming was done on `` the back forty '' of Selznick International with all the location scenes being photographed in California , mostly in Los Angeles County or neighboring Ventura County . Tara , the fictional Southern plantation house , existed only as a plywood and papier - mâché facade built on the Selznick studio lot . For the burning of Atlanta , new false facades were built in front of the Selznick backlot 's many old abandoned sets , and Selznick himself operated the controls for the explosives that burned them down . Sources at the time put the estimated production costs at $3.85 million , making it the second most expensive film made up to that point , with only Ben - Hur ( 1925 ) having cost more . </P>
where is the house that gone with the wind was filmed
on the Selznick studio lot