In 2017 Pohang Earthquake, a number of residential buildings with pilotis at their first level were severely damaged. In this study, the results of an analytical investigation on the seismic performance and structural damage of two bearing wall buildings with pilotis are presented. The vibration mode and lateral force-resisting mechanism of the buildings with vertical and plan irregularity were investigated through elastic analysis. Then, based on the investigations, methods of nonlinear modeling for walls and columns at the piloti level were proposed. By performing nonlinear static and dynamic analyses, structural damages of the walls and columns at the piloti level under 2017 Pohang Earthquake were predicted. The results show that the area and arrangement of walls in the piloti level significantly affected the seismic safety of the buildings. Initially, the lateral resistance of the piloti story was dominated mainly by the walls resisting in-plane shear. After shear cracking and yielding of the walls, the columns showing double-curvature flexural behavior contributed significantly to the residual strength and ductility.