Famous houses abound in literature. Did your favorite literary house make the list?
221B Baker Street from A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1887). Is this the world's most famous address which belongs to the world's most famous sleuth?
Manderley from Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (1938). One of the most famous lines in literature, “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again," begins this classic novel of romantic suspense, a creepy maid and a dead wife, based loosely on Jane Eyre.
Thornfield Hall from Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (1847). Jane, a governess to the ward of Mr. Rochester, goes to Thornfield Hall, which is described as "a fine old hall, rather neglected of late years perhaps, but still it is a respectable place." Rather like Rochester wishes himself to be?
Castle Dracula from Dracula by Bram Stoker (1897). The castle is described as "on the very edge of a terrible precipice....[and]...doors, doors, doors everywhere, and all locked and bolted." Sounds more like a prison.
Green Gables from Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery (1908). Anne is enchanted by Green Gables, her first real home, and christens the cherry tree outside her bedroom window as The Snow Queen. Sounds idyllic and wholesome.
Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange from Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (1847). Two opposing houses on isolated, desolate moors reflect the contrast of wildness and gentility, and the importance of land ownership, in this famous gothic novel about star-crossed lovers.
Satis House from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (1843). A bleak, dreary decaying home where all the clocks have stopped at twenty to nine as a shrine to a wedding that never happened.
Jay Gatsby's mansion from The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925). Opulent, extravagant and an experience to party there. But the pool? Bad luck, old sport.
Pemberley from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (1813). Owned by Fitzwilliam Darcy, the house is "handsome" with natural beauty that unexpectedly delights Elizabeth. You might recognize the image above from the Pride & Prejudice film starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen.
Hill House from The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson (1959). Strange noises, ghosts and other supernatural events take place at Hill House. If you have Netflix, check out the spooky miniseries.
Tara from Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (1937). Tara, home of the O'Hara's, is named after the Hill of Tara from ancient Ireland, and it's where Scarlet continually feels drawn to and energized throughout the course of the novel.
Misselthwaite Manor from The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (1910). How fancy is this mansion if it has a secret garden? I'd say pretty fancy.
BONUS: Hogwarts. So not a house, per se, but a very famous boarding school where students and teachers live, in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling (1997).
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