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Now for sale: the creepy home that belonged to ‘Frankenstein’ writer Mary Shelley

The ghost of the monster could still be lurking in the corridors

Ella Doyle
Written by
Ella Doyle
Guides Editor
Mary Shelley's old home
Photograph: Savills
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We’re nearing the end of 2022, and you might be drawing up some grand plans for the new year ahead. Well, if those grand plans involve buying a house, we might have just the thing for you but it’s a little more left field than your average one bed. 

Mary Shelley’s old home in Buckinghamshire has just hit the market, and it could be yours if you have a spare million lying around. The legendary Gothic novelist who wrote the infamous ‘Frankenstein’ moved out of the property around 200 years ago (to move to Italy – good move Shelley), and now it’s up for sale once again.

The historic property is going for £925,000, which is considerably more than what Shelley would’ve nabbed it for in the 1800s, when it would have sold for around £12,000. If only, eh? Still, it’s a pretty nice place to live. The Grade II listed building features some rather pretty architecture, with a little front porch leading out to a leafy street in the town of Marlow. 

Mary Shelley's old home
Photograph: Savills

Inside, there’s a reception room, inner hall, and a seriously nice kitchen and dining room with a vaulted ceiling – the perfect place to pour yourself a cuppa during the dark night and get to work on your first gothic novel, Wednesday Addams style. There’s three bedrooms in total, so you can move a couple of your novel-writing pals in, too. 

On the outside of the house, you’ll find a plaque that writes: ‘The Poet & Playwright Percy Bysshe Shelley and his wife Mary authoress of “Frankenstein” lived here, 1817-1818.’ The front porch also features a sign over the front door, with the words ‘Shelley Cottage’. 

Check out the property on Savills here

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