The real-life ‘101 Dalmatians’ London mansion hits mmarket

A striking pale pink mansion in the exclusive Primrose Hill area of London has just gone on the market for a tad over $11 million (£9 million).

Other than its standout color, the mansion’s claim to fame is that it is purported to be the home that helped inspire the 1956 Dodie Smith novel “101 Dalmatians”, Variety reports.

According to London’s Evening Standard, the eight-bedroom home on Albert Terrace is not far from Smith’s former home on Dorset Square. The children’s novelist would regularly walk past the mansion with her nine — nine! — dalmatians on her way to Regent’s Park. According to literary researchers, the home is thought to be the inspiration behind the fictional house of dalmatian parents Perdita and Pongo and their owners Roger and Anita Dearly — when Smith’s novel was first published, it featured illustrations of a pink manse almost identical to the one on Albert Terrace.

The artwork of the novel’s first edition was done by illustrating sisters Janet and Anne Johnston. Their portrayal of the dogs’ home is strikingly similar to the Albert Square property, down to its pillared portico and glass-paneled front door that opens to a lavish entrance hall, drawing room and study. Constructed in 1847 and last sold in 1987, the four-story home measures in at just under 5,000 square feet. Since the property’s last sale, Primrose Hill, a small village-like area of stately Victorian terraces and eye-catching pastel-colored Regency townhouses surrounding the northern end of the park, has undergone a rapid appreciation with chic restaurants and shops popping up throughout the now-bustling area.