“Frankenstein” Author Mary Shelley’s Former London Home Is on the Market for $1.3M

Literary lovers can now own a piece of history in the form of English novelist Mary Shelley’s London home—that’s if you have a spare £1,025,000 ($1,360,000).

The Shelley family resided in the charming apartment building on London’s Marchmont Street, which is now on the market. The home features a brick facade and a blue plaque commemorating their time spent living in the home.

Located on the first floor of a Victorian building, the property has two bedrooms, one bathroom, and a spacious reception room. Outside, there’s a quaint private terrace. The apartment features some of its original characteristics, including the light wood flooring throughout.

The author first fell in love with the famed romantic poet, Percy Bysshe, when she was 16 years old. Shelley courted her future husband in the suitably gothic location of the graveyard at St Pancras Old Church. It was here that she fell for his “wild, intellectual, unearthly” looks.

Shelley’s father disapproved of the relationship, resulting in the pair running away with her stepsister, Claire Clairmont, where they crossed war-ravaged France and journey into Switzerland by mule, donkey, and foot. However, due to a lack of money, the trio was forced to return to England.

Shelley was pregnant when she arrived back in London, and along with her husband, took up residence in Marchmont Street in Bloomsbury.

At 18, she began writing the most famous Gothic novel of all time, “Frankenstein“, a story about a scientist named Victor Frankenstein who finds a way of animating life in non-living matter and creates a monster that ultimately kills him.

“This bright first-floor flat offers buyers the opportunity to purchase a piece of history in one of London’s most historic neighborhoods,” says Michael Keating, Director of Dexters Bloomsbury, in a press release announcing the listing. “Close to Russell Square tube station and King’s Cross, Marchmont Street has a wide array of pubs, cafes, and second-hand bookstores. For the literary inclined, St. Pancras Old Church and its graveyard are still just a 15-minute walk down the road.”