More photos of the amazing Miss Peregrine house model taherehmafi got me for my birthday, along with some photos of the actual house, an abandoned chateau in the Belgian countryside.
I found photos of this house on the internet while I was writing Miss Peregrine, and it inspired my descriptions of her house. Then, when it came time to make the book trailer, I went to Belgium to find – with the help of the urban explorer photographer whose pictures had inspired me – the actual house. I fell in love with the place, though it’s a dangerous wreck inside and probably unsalvageable and we were trespassing the entire time we were there.
It’s falling down; a wreck inside. I went back last year when I was on book tour in Belgium and spoke to the woman who cares for the estate it sits on. She says they’re letting it fall down. That makes me very sad. One day, the model Tahereh had made for me may be the best evidence this house ever existed.Â
The model itself is so extraordinary, so detailed, I don’t even have words. It was custom made by Michael DelPriore of Ryerson Studios, in upstate New York. He’d built lots of models of nice houses before; never of a broken one. He says he can’t wait to do more.Â
