History of 12 Grimmauld Place (Home of the Black Family)

Welcome to Harry Potter Theory. Today, we’ll be discussing the entire history, as we know it, of number 12 Grimmauld Place. As the ancestral home of the Black family, number 12 Grimmauld Place is portrayed in both the books and the films as a rather decrepit and dreary townhouse befitting of the dark wizards who called it home for the better part of two centuries. Located in a predominantly Muggle neighbourhood in North West London near King’s Cross Station, the townhouse was originally owned by non-magical folks. While the exact date that number 12 was built is unknown, we can assume that it would’ve been around the same era as the townhouses in Claremont Square that were used to film the Grimmauld Place scenes in the Harry Potter movies. In fact, the Claremont Square townhouses have been rumoured to be the inspiration behind the Black’s family home in the novels. These real-life houses were constructed between 1815 and 1828, so with this assumption that they represent the inspiration for the fictional number 12 Grimmauld Place, I think it’s safe to conclude that the Black’s family home was also built during that same Georgian Era. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices