Man quits job to build a replica of Harry Potter location Diagon Alley in his driveway

A man in the muggle neighbourhood of Ballard in Seattle has taken his holiday-season decorations to the next level by creating a life-size replica of Diagon Alley in the driveway of his family home. 

When Jon Chambers asked his seven and eleven-year-old daughters how they wanted him to decorate their house for Halloween, they asked him to recreate the famous shopping alley from the Harry Potter books, not believing he would actually do it, he told GeekWire.

Having just quit his job as a creative director for a tech company, Chambers decided to put his hunt for a new job on hold for a few weeks to turn his daughters dreams into a reality. 

“I’ve always wanted to do something massive for Halloween or Christmas,” Chambers said. “I was born the day before Halloween, and October is like my power month. So I decided to quit my job and focus on this crazy thing.”

The finished product is a magical alley which is made up of six meticulously recreated store fronts – including Eeylops Owl Emporium, Ollivanders wand shop, Quality Quidditch Supplies, Magical Menagerie, Flourish and Blotts bookshop and Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions – and is entered through “the moving bricks behind The Leaky Cauldron”. 

With the help of dozens of neighbours, who donated wood, paint and their DIY experience, it only took a few weeks for Chambers to turn his dream into a reality.  

The family has been overwhelmed with the support their creation has received from the local community.

“It’s obviously gotten way bigger than I planned, ’cause the community came together [and] donated supplies,” he told KOMO News. “People are here all the time helping out.” 

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The Alley, which was opened to the public on Halloween, has already has over 3000 visitors and has even come to the attention of the author of the Harry Potter series, JK Rowling, who liked a tweet about Chambers creation on Twitter. 

Chambers version of Diagon Alley is open to the public until New Years with all donations going to a cancer charity. 

Now that his Harry Potter-themed project is complete, what’s next for Chambers?

“Really what I love to do is build products in that startup environment, Chambers told GeekWire. “So this is kind of a creative refresh project for me before I start my new thing.”

This story was first published by Stuff.co.nz