Stephen King House
47 West Broadway
Bangor, ME
A rambling red Victorian behind a wrought-iron gate of bats and spiderwebs, the longtime home of Stephen King and the shadow behind his fictional town of Derry.
Few houses are as recognizable to readers as the rambling red Victorian on West Broadway in Bangor, the longtime home of the author Stephen King and his wife, the novelist Tabitha King. Its signature is the wrought-iron fence out front, crawling with cast bats, spiders, and a three-headed creature, a gate as gothic and playful as the stories written behind it. For fans, it is one of Maine's great literary landmarks.
King has set much of his fiction in a version of Maine drawn from places like this, and Bangor is widely understood to be the model for his cursed fictional town of Derry. In recent years the Kings have converted the house and a neighboring property into an archive of his papers and a retreat for writers, giving the landmark a new life while keeping its unmistakable face turned to the street.
What Guests Love
- The famous wrought-iron gate wound with bats, spiders, and a three-headed creature
- A pilgrimage stop for readers of one of the world's best-selling authors
- A grand West Broadway Victorian on a street of historic mansions
- The link between real Bangor and King's fictional town of Derry
Worth Knowing
- The house is a private archive and writers' retreat, not open for tours; view and photograph it only from the public sidewalk
- Respect the neighbors and the quiet residential street
- The gate is the main draw and is visible from the street
- Pair it with Bangor's Paul Bunyan statue and waterfront for a short literary loop
Details
Bangor, ME
Learn about Stephen King House
The house and its gate
The King residence is a large Italianate Victorian, painted a deep red, on Bangor's grand West Broadway, a street lined with the mansions of the city's lumber-era wealth. The Kings bought it in the early 1980s as his career soared, and it became both their family home and a magnet for readers.
The fence is the star. Fashioned in black iron, it winds with bats, a spider and its web, and a three-headed serpent or dragon, a witty nod to the author's imagination. It is the most photographed spot in Bangor for visitors, who stop on the public sidewalk to take it in.
Bangor as Derry
Stephen King grew up in Maine and has spent much of his life here, and the state saturates his fiction. Bangor in particular is widely read as the inspiration for Derry, the haunted town at the center of It and other works, its real streets, standpipe, and canal reworked into the geography of his nightmares.
Even the Paul Bunyan statue downtown makes a memorable, menacing cameo in It. For readers, walking Bangor is a way of touring the imaginative landscape of one of the most successful authors of the age, with the King house as its emotional center.
A new life as an archive and retreat
As the Kings shifted toward spending more time elsewhere, they announced plans to turn the West Broadway house and the property beside it into a lasting institution: an archive to preserve Stephen King's manuscripts and papers, and a retreat where writers can come to work. The move keeps the landmark in the family's hands and dedicated to the craft that made it famous.
This new purpose means the house is a working, private place rather than a museum. There are no public tours inside, and the way to enjoy it is exactly as generations of fans have: from the sidewalk, admiring the gate and imagining the stories that took shape behind those red walls.
Visiting respectfully
The King house sits in a quiet, lived-in residential neighborhood, and the surrounding homes belong to ordinary Bangor residents. The considerate way to visit is to view and photograph the house and gate from the public sidewalk, keep voices down, and avoid trespassing or blocking driveways.
A stop here fits neatly into a short tour of Bangor's oddities and history, alongside the towering Paul Bunyan statue, the wooden Thomas Hill Standpipe, and the revived Penobscot River waterfront. Together they make the case that Bangor, for all its everyday grit, is one of the most story-haunted cities in New England.
Closest Boutels
The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.
Things to Do Near Bangor
Thomas Hill Standpipe
About 1 mile, a 4 minute drive
An 1897 wooden water tower on a hill above downtown, said to have inspired a scene in King's fiction, opened for public climbs a few times a year.
Paul Bunyan Statue
About 1 mile, a 5 minute drive
Bangor's 31-foot lumberjack, a beloved landmark that turns sinister in the pages of It.
Bangor Waterfront
About 1 mile, a 5 minute drive
A revived stretch of the Penobscot River with a walking path and concerts, at the heart of the city's lumber-era story.