5 fantasy homes from our childhood that could actually be real

We’re going to hazard a wild guess that, at some point this week, you will be having a conversation about the UK property market. You can’t avoid it. We in the Housetohome office just did after seeing the map of London Rent, charted out on the London Underground. Our response was pretty much: these prices cannot be real! This must be a work of maginificent fiction… oh wait. No, they appear to be real. It didn’t take much to lead us to thinking about other far-fetched works of fiction (mostly children’s stories) that potentially have some truth in them. And look what we uncovered…

1. The Chronicles of Narnia
You know how it goes: you step inside a wardrobe, the door shuts and BOOM you’re transported to a magical world full of bizarre and mystical beings. For some, that’s an average night in a London bar but we think this project by Maple Seed Renovation is a better bet. A massive armoire leading to a children’s playroom. If only it had forest wallpaper, we might believe that C.S. Lewis wasn’t spinning us a total yarn!

2. The Borrowers
Tiny people living in the walls and floors of your home. That could happen. I mean, look! This blogger found tiny doors in her home and in her garden. Some mean-spirited city folk may say that if you hear tiny footsteps in your walls and under the floors, you have mice. We say, don’t kill the magic!

3. Mary Poppins’ Chimney Sweeps
Pop up onto the rooftops of London (or any city with chimney stacks) and you discover a bunch of all-singing, all-dancing chimney sweeps. Well, maybe back in the day… now you’re more likely to find Parkour practitioners OR if you’re in NYC and have eagle eyes, you could spot some secret rooftop dwellers in hidden homes. See? Fiction has its roots in truth.

4. Harry Potter
How can we discuss magical properties without talking about Harry Potter. At Number 12 Grimmauld Place they magically appeared to squeeze into a terrace out of nowhere… well, there are houses that are built in tiny plots. However, we’re more interested in flipping this one on its head: the house that appears to be there, but isn’t. Yes, you read that right. The only thing behind the curtains at 23-4 Leinster Terrace in Bayswater is a tube line… and you’d never know!

5. The Hobbit / James Bond
A house buried in the earth away from prying eyes? Every child loves the idea of a hobbit house or a Bond villain’s secret lair! Well, this one may come without hair-footed little hobbits or scary guys trying to take over the world, but it’s still pretty cool.