A Harry Potter fan from Houston, Texas asked a local woodworker to build her a 9-foot-tall cat house inspired by The Burrow, the Weasley family’s famous home.

Laura Marshall is a big fan of Harry Potter and three months ago she got this crazy idea of building a a real-life Burrow for her cats, right in the backyard. Since she didn’t have the skill and experience to pull off such a tricky job herself, she asked Wil Whitehouse of Whitehouse Wood Works to make it for her. She brought him a series of photos from the Internet for reference and the skillful wodworker got to work. Although in a normal construction setting he would cut all his studs the same size and try to keep everything level, he tried to give this model of The Burrow that out of square and out of level look by cutting pieces at different lengths. He got the fact that the house in the movie was held up by magic and waterd to capture that feel.

After 300 hours of painstaking work, 16,000 hand-cut shingles, 144 roof rafters, 18 windows, 102 window panes and a gallon and a half of glue, Laura Marshall got her fairytale cat house. She praised Whitehouse for his efforts saying “Wil is not only a classically-trained carpenter, but he’s an artist and now this has just been way beyond our expectations. He’s added so much detail that has made it more of the Weasley house and more of the Burrow and just made it so much fun.”

Laura wanted to point out that she’s not some crazy cat lady, and although she’s sure her pets will love their new 9-foot-tall home, her idea was less about the cats and more about having a piece of art in her backyard. “Every time I walk out in the backyard, this is going to make me smile,” she says.

The one-of-a-kind Harry Potter-themed cat house will be on display at Witehouse Woodworks in the Heights, until October 20. If you’re in the area and love Harry Potter, be sure to drop by, this is a must-see.

My Fox Houston via I09