Harry Potter author JK Rowling selling former home

By STUART MACDONALD
Published on 21/09/2012 00:00

THE house where JK Rowling wrote much of the material for her Harry Potter novels has been put on the market for more than £2 million.

The multi-millionaire writer has decided to sell the luxury property in Edinburgh’s Merchiston area after moving to a new home in the city.

The house is sure to attract interest from fans of the boy wizard as it includes the study where Rowling wrote many of the books.

The eight-bedroomed home has been put on the market for £2,250,000 by estate agents Rettie. The sale offers an insight into the home life of the reclusive Rowling, who lived there with her husband Dr Neil Murray and her three children.

It features five double bedrooms, a drawing room, a timber-framed summerhouse, landscaped gardens and its own library.

A high-tech security system is in place and a concealed door in the hall of the ground floor leads to the service quarters where Rowling’s staff were based.

The brochure for the house reads: “An exceptional detached family house standing within a large yet discreet landscaped and walled garden in one of Edinburgh’s most exclusive conservation areas.

“The property has been redesigned and extended, utilising the very best in modern fixtures and fittings to complement retained Victorian period features and now provides incredibly bright, beautifully proportioned and flexible accommodation over two floors, while also incorporating a detached split-level office with kitchen and shower room, summerhouse, various outhouses and a double garage accessed from the cobbled lane to the rear.

“Internally, period features such as flagstone floors, elegant plasterwork including detailed cornices, dado and picture rails, period fireplaces and sash and case astragal windows, are complemented by a traditionally styled kitchen, contemporary bathrooms, glass partitions, French doors, under-floor heating and a high level security 
system.”

Rowling bought the top half of the house for £425,000 in 1999 after the success of the early Potter novels. She bought out her downstairs neighbour and reinstated the property into a detached family home.

Neighbours in the area included fellow authors Ian Rankin and Alexander McCall Smith and former chancellor Alastair Darling.

Harry Potter fans from all over the world often made pilgrimages to the house, prompting the author to ramp up security measures.

Rowling, who has an estimated £560m fortune, purchased another home in Edinburgh for £2m in December 2009, and moved into it permanently last year. She recently won planning permission to build two giant tree houses for her children in the garden of the property.

The author also owns an estate in Perthshire and a townhouse in London.

According to the brochure for the Merchiston property, the gardens include a children’s soft matted play area, a pond and a water feature.

There is also a detached office in the grounds of the property, which was built in 1880, with its own bedroom, kitchen, shower room and garden.