Peek Inside This ‘Wizard’s Den’ for Sale in Maine

updated May 13, 2020
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If your real estate taste leans a little more J.R.R. Tolkien than Chip and Joanna, then you’re in luck: a storybook-style home in Maine known as the Wizard’s Den has hit the market for $375,000. And it’s getting plenty of attention… from hobbits and humans alike.

“We’ve been on Zillow for 5 to 6 days, and we’ve had 15,664 viewers and 401 saves,” owner David Lee told Apartment Therapy over the phone. Tremendously influenced by Tolkien’s iconic fantasy novels like “The Hobbit” and the “Lord of the Rings,” artist/builder Lee has built around 20 storybook-style homes across the country. The unique architectural style, which has fanciful features and cottage-inspired looks that seem straight out of a fairy tale, hit its stride in the 1920s. But it also has plenty of historical context, like Marie Antoinette’s retreat Hameau de la Reine in Versailles. 

But now that the Wizard’s Den is complete, it’s time to put it on the market. The three-bed, two-bath home, which measures 2,200 square feet, is located on a 1.84-acre lot in picturesque Boothbay, Maine. Lee started building the property in 2016.

“Besides building the most incredible homes in the world, I’m upsetting the homebuilding industry because i’m an owner/builder,” Lee told AT. “I build all by myself, and I’ve designed homes that can be built by a do it yourself-er alone.”

The first home he built was a “cute little cottage,” but as he grew in experience, Lee got a little more extreme in his designs. 

“The first one I build was a cute little cottage, and then I did another. Each one got more and more radical, pushing the envelope,” said Lee.

Step inside, and you’ll find unique features like swinging chairs and couches. In the studio room, you’ll even spot a bathtub built into the red wall. 

“I like having bathtubs in rooms that aren’t the bathroom,” said Lee. The studio area leads out to a porch, perfect for sitting out and enjoying the natural beauty of Maine.

And straight out of a fairy tale, the Zillow property description rhymes. 

“Homes such as these are extremely rare and few of them are quite as fair. Most are gone, few remain, but here’s a new one right here in Maine!” it reads. “Out in the woods on beautiful land, yet town and the sea are near at hand. This is your cue, now you’ve been told . . . put it together, gather some gold. Think it all over, change where you’ve been. Come here and live in . . . A Wizard’s Den.”

As for Lee’s next endeavor, he’s working to start a school where he teaches others to build homes. And of course, he’s looking for his next big project. 

“We gotta get onto the next one,” said Lee. “Doing these things is like raising a kid. Once they grow up, you gotta marry them off!”