Rowling plans Hogwarts-style tree houses for her kids

The tree houses will be built in the back garden of her Edinburgh mansion where her children will relive a Hogwarts-style adventure replete with a secret tunnel, a specially designed trap door and a spiral staircase, all featuring in the Hogwarts castle in the Potter books.

The towers are estimated to cost around USD 2,32,545 and each wooden tree house is to be built on stilts and boasts balconies, carvings and turrets, the 'Daily Mail' reported.

The towers are linked by a rope bridge and can be approached by a secret tunnel hidden underneath a raised wooden walkway.

Plans lodged with the City of Edinburgh Council revealed that the houses are intended for Rowling's two youngest children David, nine, and his sister Mackenzie, seven.

According to the drawings 'David's Tree House' is closest to the secret tunnel and has a specially designed trap door and fireman's pole escape into the garden.

Meanwhile, 'Kenzie's Tree House' has its own spiral staircase and a stainless steel playground slide leading to a double set of swings.

A wooden walkway connected to the giant structure leads to a giant trampoline deck that is shielded from public view by a row of extra tall conifers.

Rowling, 46, bought her 17th century mansion for more than USD 3.1 million in 2009 when she reportedly fell in love with it after viewing just two of its 31 rooms.

She lives there with her husband Dr Neil Murray, their two young children and her 18-year-old daughter Jessica, from her first marriage.

Last year JK Rowling got planning permission to flatten a USD 1.5 million, 1970s style house next door to make her garden larger.

She also got approval to build a summer house that critics said looked like the stone hut inhabited by Hagrid, the giant groundsman from her best-selling novels.

"It would be highly unlikely that JK Rowling will not get permission for these tree houses," a source at Edinburgh Council was quoted by the paper as saying.

Tree houses are generally considered temporary structures and therefore do not need planning permission. However this only applies if they are less than 13 feet high from roof to base.

A spokesman for JK Rowling said she would not be commenting on the tree houses. "It is a private matter," she said.