Beyond the Hogwarts House

Two blocks from our home in the Minneapolis Mill District, on a dead-end side-street, there's a single-family home that is decidedly different. Some people call it the Hogwarts House; others call it the Arundel House.

I love to stand outside the house and spot fantastical architectural elements, including the wizardly dormer in the photo at the top of this post.

Usually I can continue my walk up the street, beyond the Hogwarts House, and slip through a gap in a barrier. Today, my way is blocked by a chain-link fence and a guard post.

Beyond the house, and beyond that chain-link fence and the barrier with a gap, is a place that will be front and center of the popular culture next Sunday (February 4, 2018). Over 110 million sets of eyes will be focused on the place beyond the chain-link fence. Consumers will spend about $15 billion as they prepare for the big day. By comparison, Black Friday spending is roughly $5 billion.

On Monday mornings I usually head up the road to Open Book for coffee and calories. I've posted about this ritual in Monday Morning Coffees. Once I'm sated, I sometimes head out the back door into the alley behind Open Book to be presented with this unpromising view of the rear of the Hogwarts House.

I have to turn left at the end of the alley to get a full view of the house.

The structure was originally built in 1910 as a blacksmith shop. Hennepin County property records show the current owner is Jeff Arundel, a musician. 

According to Minnesota Public Radio, Arundel "put metalworker Paul Tierney to work converting the space into a home for wizards."

This single-family home seems a little out of place. The area is primarily commercial and multi-family buildings. And if you turn your gaze, up the street, past the chain-link fence and the barrier with a gap, you get to see US Bank Stadium, the home of Super Bowl 2018.

Location of the Arundel/Hogwarts House.

Note. The house is currently on the market. Maybe this slideshow will appeal to that special buyer who will snap up the house. A 2017 plan to turn the house into a brewery with a taproom did not pan out.