J.K. Rowling ’s previous home isn’t made of magic, but it definitely is a pretty swanky set-up.
According to TODAY , the 19th-century mansion that the author lived in while dreaming up Harry Potter’s adventures has just been sold to a Scottish businessman.
How much did he pay?
PEOPLE confirmed that he bought the mansion for well over the asking price of $3.6 million.
Rowling had reportedly worked in a detached office in the back of the 8-bedroom house in Edinburgh, Scotland. This detached office is where she spent her time penning four of the seven Harry Potter novels while she lived there.
James Whitson, the real-estate agent who handled the property’s purchase, told the Scotsman newspaper:
“This was an iconic house in Edinburgh… To be honest, it was a refreshing change to the normal house. There was a bit of magic involved, which was quite fun to deal with.”
The mansion’s literary heritage gives it a rather magical allure, even though there are no secret passages or bewitched furniture inside. The house sold in just three weeks, and Whitson said that 16,000 unique visitors viewed the mansion’s listing online.
The curiosity extended abroad as well. About 65 percent of those page views came from America and Asia.
Rowling purchased the top half of the mansion for $681,000 after the release of her first novel, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone . She eventually bought the downstairs area from her neighbor and remodeled the entire property when her family moved in.
Even though the house has been on the market since September 21, Rowling and her husband have been living in another Edinburgh home with their three children since 2009.
The couple has recently received approval to build two 40-foot tree houses (complete with a secret tunnel) in the garden of their new mansion for about $240,000.
