The building itself is two-storeys, a stone cottage with big windows. The lawn in front of the house is overgrown, and although there is a low fence, the gate wide open—Sirius supposes in the daylight it could be pretty and inviting, but in the evening, with only a streetlight a few paces away on the road, the effect is slightly eerie. It reminds Sirius, inexplicably, of the Shack at night, although it does not look anything like the Shrieking Shack—and somehow, the reminder fills him with a strange sort of comfort.