Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much
Has JK Rowling ever explained why she chose the address 4 Privet Drive?
I am curious both as to the street and the number.
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Curiously, there are at least three real homes in the UK with this exact address (Bristol, Keighley, Selby) and one in Rhode Island USA.– CriggieCommented Jan 30 at 22:05
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1 Answer
The street name is a reference to the privet bush, a common feature enclosing suburban English gardens
The name of the street where the Dursleys live is a reference to that most suburban plant, the privet bush, which makes neat hedges around many English gardens. I liked the associations with both suburbia and enclosure, the Dursleys being so smugly middle class, and so determinedly separate from the wizarding world.
The number four is just one that Rowling doesn't like
For no very good reason, I have never been fond of the number four, which has always struck me as a rather hard and unforgiving number, which is why I slapped it on the Dursleys’ front door.
Both of the above quotes come from J.K. Rowling's essay "Number Four, Privet Drive", which was first published on Pottermore.com during its initial launch on August 15th 2011. The essay has moved around a bit online since then, but can currently be read here.
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7Unrelated trivia about the fear of the number 4: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetraphobia Commented Jan 28 at 15:14