Stephen King Is Turning His Iconic Maine Home into a Writers’ Retreat and Archive
Fans of scary stories, this one’s for you. Master of horror Stephen King and his wife, author Tabitha King, are turning their home into a writers’ retreat and archive. If you’re one of the lucky writers accepted for a residency, you just might be able to tap into the home’s creative magic while working on a book of your own.
The Victorian house where the Kings raised their kids is located in Bangor, Maine, which inspired the fictional town of Derry, home to many of Stephen King’s stories, including “It.” Recently, the Kings have been spending more time at their other homes in Florida and elsewhere in Maine, where they have more privacy, according to their lawyer, Warren Silver.
They filed a request to turn their Bangor property (including the white Victorian next door) into a nonprofit, and this week, according to Rolling Stone, the Bangor City Council unanimously approved it.
“We are in the very beginning of planning the writers’ retreat at the house next door, providing housing for up to five writers in residence at a time,” King wrote on Facebook yesterday.
“The zoning change getting press coverage was the first step. We are one to two years away from an operating retreat. The archives formerly held at the University of Maine will be accessible for restricted visits by appointment only. There will not be a museum and nothing will be open to the public, but the archives will be available to researchers and scholars.”
The plan at this point is to turn the Kings’ former home into an archive and the white house next door into housing for up to five writers-in-residence at a time, according to The Columbian.
As for why access will be restricted rather than open to the public, Bangor planning officer David Gould told New England Cable News, “They [the Kings] did not want the house to become a Dollywood or some kind of tourist attraction. That would bring all sorts of people to the neighborhood, and they have other neighbors that live there.”