221B Baker Street in Pennsylvania

Holmes has just left the chair at Denny Dobry's 221B

My work as a mystery writer has been hugely influenced by Mel Brooks’s comment to Ed McBain that every successful TV show is about a family and a house. Neither of those elements has to be literal. In the various permutations of Star Trek, for example, the house is a spaceship ad the family is the crew.

But in the Canon, the family of Holmes, Watson, and Mrs. Hudson (with occasional evening visits from Inspector Lestrade) hold forth in a real house at one of the most famous addresses in the world – 221B Baker Street.

Last weekend, Ann and I had the joy of visiting two recreations of the famous sitting room at that address. My friends Denny Dobry and Gary Miller, both residents of Pennsylvania, are among a small group of passionate Sherlockians who have recreated 221B in their own homes. To be precise, they are two of 28 reconstructionists in the Baker Street Builders scion society.

I’ve known about Denny’s 221B in Reading for years, and I learned a lot about it last year from the “I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere” podcast. But in the room, with all its authenticity and detail, was something else again. I had the feeling that I was only moments too late, that Holmes and Watson had just run out the door on another adventure.

Gary’s reconstruction at his home in York is perhaps less well known to the general public, but no less impressive.

Whatever most says “221” to you – the Persian slipper, the tantalus and gasogene, the photograph of “Chinese” Gordon, the violin case, the chemical table, Dr. Watsons’s bookshelf, the bust of Napoleon, or whatever – you will find it in these rooms. I stand in awe at the creators’ passion, persistence, and attention to detail.

Well done, gentlemen!

Tantalus, gasogene, and violin case at Gary Miller's 221B