Massive playable Hogwarts built entirely of Lego

An enormous — and incredible — replica of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry may just be the biggest Lego creation ever built by a single person: mother-of-two, Alice Finch.

We've seen some pretty breathtaking Lego MOCs ("My Own Creation") from some very inventive builders, but rarely anything as jaw-dropping as this massive model of Hogwarts.

It was built by Alice Finch, a mother-of-two who rediscovered her love of bricks after helping her small son with his play. After feeling intense dissatisfaction with the official Harry Potter Lego playsets, Finch decided to take matters into her own hands. A solid 12 months of building and 400,000 Lego bricks later (give or take a few), and Finch has scooped up both the Best in Show and People's Choice awards from last year's BrickCon.

Most impressively, the structure is unbelievably detailed inside and out, with rooms, hallways and hidden chambers all sourced from the books and films.

Speaking to The Brothers Brick, Finch said, "I did quite a bit of research in the books and movies, looking for the smallest of details, things like the old fashioned slide projector in Lupin's Defense Against the Dark Arts class, the location of the potions class and the wood panelling in the charms classroom. Much of the time, the book and movie don't align, so I had to choose what worked best."

Finch also attended the Harry Potter studio tour in London to get a first-hand experience of the film sets and to examine them in great detail, taking photographs for reference.

The result is intricately stunning, one that we'd possibly spend hours poring over in awe. But it's not just for decoration. Finch's oldest son, a Harry Potter fan, plays out the young wizard's adventures all over the giant castle.

All we can say is: wow.

You can read the rest of Finch's interview with The Brothers Brick here and click through the gallery below for a sample of her fantastic work.

For the full gallery, head on over to Finch's Flickr page.

Alice Finch standing next to the model of Hogwarts that took her 12 months to build, though it was over an 18-month period as she was out of the country for 6 of those months. She told The Brothers Brick that she had no idea how much it all cost — nor did she want to know.

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Lit from within, it glows like a fairy castle.

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The students of Beauxbatons Academy of Magic arriving at Hogwarts during mealtime.

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We love the coloured vials, phials, bell-jars and samples lining the shelves.

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There are 3500 conical Lego pieces adorning this section of the building's roof.

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The construction isn't limited to just the building, but includes its grounds as well. Here you can see the Whomping Willow (car included); and in the top right corner, Hagrid's hut.

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