Happy Christmas, Harry!

Where are my Harry Potter fans at??? The next time you visit Asheville, or want to have a staycation here, book the Wizards Hollow Airbnb and feel like you are living in Hogwarts! This cozy Airbnb is so uniquely designed and has so many touches throughout the home that bring the books and movies that we all love to life! Plus, it has beautiful mountain sunset views and isn’t far from Downtown Asheville! Wizards Hollow has 4.98 stars out of 440 reviews (as of 12/2024) and is among the Earth and Sky Dwellings which include 15 incredibly and uniquely themed properties available to book! They each sleep 4 and you’re going to be looking at about $450/night. Also, important side note, no pets allowed at any of these properties!

When a family traveling to Asheville from out of state reached out about booking a family photo session while they were visiting I was excited! But when they mentioned they were staying at THE Wizards Hollow, I was SUPER EXCITED!!! The mom shared that her children love Harry Potter and they wanted to embrace the theming on their family vacation and for their family photos!

Take a look at how much fun we had and what we created together!

We started out inside while the lighting was still nice and bright! This rolling bookshelf with a secret passage way behind it was so cool! It actually leads to the first floor guest bedroom and the stairway to get to the upstairs bedroom/loft area. Such a fun and unique touch to the home!

The winding staircase is beautiful as you climb up the western tower! Definitely a tight squeeze though and a tight space upstairs! It was honestly the perfect size for this family, but would be difficult to fit any additional guests!

The loft bedroom and reading nook upstairs also provides a great view of the cozy downstairs living room complete with a fireplace and large windows with a great view of the mountains!

Families who can be silly together, and wear matching Hogwarts outfits with scarves, stay together! And have so much fun during their family photos together! Forget stiff photos with fake smiles, we had a blast!

Next, we explored the exterior of the house! The architecture and stone work is exquisite! It looks like you are almost suspended in mid-air among the tree tops! One detail I love is the stained glass window on the first floor, to the right of the front door. It is a pretty and unique detail with Hedwig the owl and a silhouette of Hogwarts it’s just a super cool addition!

You can tell from the picture above that the sun sets over to the left, on the back side of the house and you can see some mountain ridges not too far in the distance! A view that looks beautiful all year long! There is also a fire pit over to the left along with outdoor seating on the front porch, and back porch.

Next, I photographed the kids on their on since they were the true fans! The family even thought to bring their own wands and Hogwarts themed suitcases that really made this session so much fun!

If you feel like this sibling relationship has to be too good to be true, I’d say I wouldn’t believe it either except I was there! They were so sweet to each other and so agreeable with all of my pose ideas!

You know I had to get mom and dad in on the fun too! I try to always get a few images of just mom and dad at any family photoshoot! It doesn’t always happen depending on how young and dependent the kids are, but I think it’s so important to still get some photos of just the two of you!

I also wanted to make sure we captured the Christmas at Hogwarts vibes, so we snapped a few photos in front of the front door which was decorated with a Christmas wreath!

And now for the finale! The broom photo! We gathered four basic kitchen brooms and created this silly, fun and magical photo right in front of the house! Because, why not?? How cute are they!?

My favorite thing about this session wasn’t actually Wizards Hollow at all. It wasn’t the perfect weather or golden hour lighting either! My favorite part was this family and specifically, the parents’ willingness to have fun, be silly, ditch family photo stereotypes, and embrace something that their children love! I am sure these sweet kids will always remember how fun this holiday vacation was when they got to stay at the Harry Potter house in Asheville and how special their parents made it for them. I just love that.

Happy Christmas Everyone! I hope it’s a magical one!

xoxo, Rachel