Celebrity Style

Stephen King’s Victorian-style Mansion to Become an Archive and Writer’s Retreat

The legendary horror author is opening up his spooky home in Bangor, Maine
a red brick home with a black front gate
Stephen King's home in Bangor, Maine, features a creepy front gate.Photo: Glenn Nagel / Alamy Stock Photo

Stephen King and his wife, Tabitha, recently received approval to turn their home in Bangor, Maine, into a writer's retreat and an archive of the famous horror author's work. The couple submitted the request to have their home rezoned as a nonprofit organization to the Bangor City Council earlier this month, and have now received unanimous approval.

“They did not want the house to become a Dollywood or some kind of tourist attraction,” David Gould, a city of Bangor planning officer, previously told New England Cable News. “That would bring all sorts of people to the neighborhood, and they have other neighbors that live there.” The King's retreat will host no more than five writers at one time.

In true Stephen King fashion, the eye-catching red Victorian-style mansion features bats, spiders, and a web on its front gates. The Shining author has said that upon moving to Bangor, he already had a plan to write “a very long book” set in “a small American city," and that the fictional town of Derry, Maine, in his hit 1986 novel It was inspired by Bangor.

“The King Family has been wonderful to the city of Bangor over time and have donated literally millions of dollars to various causes in the community. Preserving his legacy here in Bangor is important for this community," Bangor city councilor Ben Sprague informed Rolling Stone.

The Kings no longer live in the Bangor home. They spend most of their time at their other residences in Maine and Florida instead.

A previous version of this article stated that tours of the home were available. It has since been updated.