Sometimes, the houses you dream of buying cannot be found in your local real estate listings but in movies, TV shows or books you loved. We’ve all experience the fascination of homes that seem so familiar, even though we’ve never been there in real life. In fact, they might even have been places to escape when your own life or home didn’t seem that great.
To give you just a good preview of some of the famous fictional homes, here’s a short list with features and amenities, plus a price approximation. You’d be delighted to know that some of these are actually on sale. Perhaps you might be able to purchase on or at least visit it to fulfill your passionate fandom:
Harry Potter’s House
The childhood home of the world’s most famous wizard is located at Number 4, Privet Drive. That’s right; the place where Harry was forced to live in a cupboard under the stairs was actually up for sale at one point. Potterheads might have gone crazy to buy that house as the ultimate Harry Potter memorabilia when it was listed for £475,000 ($798,615) last year by a U.K. real estate firm.
In the books and film, the three-bedroom semi-detached home stands on the fictional Surrey village of Little Whinging. In reality, it is based in Bracknell. Nonetheless, it still holds great value for any Harry Potter fan. In fact, it’s probably a solid bit of investment as well, as the value will only climb higher in the future.
The funny part is that the house in question was only shown from the outside. The indoor scenes were almost like a set on the studio. Still, it’s fascinating how a modest home can become such a coveted piece of property.
The ‘Friends’ Apartment
The main cast of the beloved NBC sitcom Friends all lived in Monica Geller’s apartment at one point in their lives during the series. Located in the heart of Manhattan in Greenwich Village, the classic flat is worth about $4 million dollars in today’s currency.
As expected, the overall aura of the apartment looks like a throwback to the 1990s. It has two bedrooms, one bathroom, and a spacious living room – perfect for young professionals in their 20s. It also has a sizable, private exterior balcony and a huge street-facing window that gives you a good view of the “ugly naked guy” living across the building. Plus, who can ever forget its purple walls and the gold picture frame around the peephole?
The Simpsons’ home
The long-running animated sitcom featuring the adventures of a working-class family features a modest suburban home. The Simpsons have lived in a two-story, single-detached home in 742 Evergreen Terrace, Springfield since 1989. While the house might not exist in reality, it’s still interesting for fans of the long-running show to find out what an actual version might be worth.
The Simpsons house that we know and love includes a basement, an attached garage, four bedrooms, and two bathrooms. The large bay windows allow plenty of natural light to enter its spacious dining and living rooms. Their backyard also has a home-made treehouse that is large enough to tie up an African elephant. If the Simpson’s house were to be real, it would be valued at around $195,000 – a bargain for middle-class families.
Tony Stark’s mansion
Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, lived in a custom mansion he built himself at the sea-side cliff along the coast of Malibu, California. This is the ultimate bachelor pad that is sure to charm the ladies, along with having several cool gadgets to make your life easier.
One of the most attractive features of these homes is the stunning 270-degree panoramic view of the Pacific. This 11,000 square foot mansion is highly technology-integrated, running with a personal AI assistant named J.A.R.V.I.S., which stands for “Just a Rather Very Intelligent System.” In addition to all this, Tony Stark’s home has an integrated underground workshop and garage with classic car collection, 4 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, private access to the beach and ample storage for his Iron Man suit (later suits). A real estate blog valued this fictional mansion at around $117.25 million.
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Mansion
In a 90s sitcom where Will Smith effortlessly played a character similar to himself, he lived in his Uncle Phil and Aunt Vivian’s Bel Air mansion. The spacious house is a 1-acre estate, which has a total of 17 rooms to accommodate street-smart nephews from Philadelphia as well as sarcastic and cynical butlers. It also has a large swimming pool, a garage and plenty of Greek revival architecture. You might need around $20 million to purchase this 6,400 square foot property.
Pemberley from Pride and Prejudice
Pemberley is the country estate owned by the wealthy gentleman Fitzwilliam Darcy, one of the main characters in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. The fictitious property is located near the fictional town of Lambton and was believed to be based on Chatsworth House and the Kedleston Hall. The latter were both true-to-life locations in Derbyshire.
The fictional property has more than 28,000 square feet of space with four kitchens and a dining room space for 40 people. This romantic country estate is approximately $110 million in real life value.
Gatsby’s Mansion
The fame of the book and its movies has given rise to a large fandom. Literature and Hollywood enthusiasts would certainly love to live in the opulent mansion that Gatsby built in a hope to win back his former lover. The mansion is in a colonial style and located in the West Egg, with amazing views of the East Egg on the other side of the bay. The general area is New York, and a place of the same size and magnificence would probably cost upwards of £77.5 million today. You’d get about 50,000 square feet of space, a load of neoclassical furniture, and huge private grounds for throwing the most extravagant parties ever! If you want to travel, you’re just a half hour’s drive from the Manhattan Penn Station.
Conclusion
Whether we can afford to buy something like the fictional homes listed above or are content with the picture of a layout, it’s evident that they’re all great settings. While many of them might have been just sets, they still hold a definite place in our hearts.
Bringing these fictional homes to life might not always be possible, but we can still dream! In any case, it’s interesting to know how much they’ll cost if one has the means and willingness to try out such a project.