O.k. So I have been pondering this for quite some time. I don't think that Voldemort owns the house. It is said that he "rich" owner lives in town. Tom Riddle grew up in an orphinage, right? So who really owns this house and will it have any signifigance at all? My theory is that maybe it is owned by the Malfoy family?
But if it is, why? Any theories, guesses, or clues?

Ok well since ive been trying to re read GoF over and over I will try and answer...
I keep reading the first chapter than stopping for a week, then starting over again so yeah... lol anywho

I think that house is just abandoned now, since the old man who was the 'caretaker' for the house was killed I guess no one owns it now. Tom did live in that house when he wasnt at hogwarts im almost sure of it. Almost. And then he killed his parents got away with it changed his name and blah blah. So to answer, the Riddles owned the house while Frank was the gardener guy. Then the Riddles were killed and Tom is not in the picture anymore.... so I think that left Frank in charge... well since he took care of it no matter what, he lived in the other house right there the gardener house place. And so now he is killed and his wife dies later on... and now no one has it. Its right in a muggle neighborhood so i doubt the Malfoys would own it. And if they did, what use would it be to them. Grrr im so sorry if that was hard to understand I need to get off soon my eyes are all gittery lol.

I don't think the house has an owner now, most likely it was torn down when Frank died because a house where multiple murders occured would be a tough sell. If it still exsists, it's in the hands of someone non-important to the plot because once Frank died the town would take it over and auction it off. At least, that's how things are run in America... I don't know about the UK.

Both of your comments are very interesting to me. I only ponder this question of who really owns this house becaue of the way the owner is described, but not named in the first chapter of GOF.
It states:

"The wealthy man who owned the Riddle House these days neither lived there nor put it to any use; they said in the village that he kept it for "tax reasons," though nobody was very clear what these might be. The wealthy owner continued to pay Frank to do the gardening, however."

this indicates to me that someone very wealthy (like the Malfoys) owns that house and not Frank. Could it be where Voldemort hides out or where the DE meet up at? These are thoughts that go through my mind. Is there a reason that the owner wasn't named? Is the owner or the house any signifigance to the rest of the series?

I find you'll theories most interesting. When I read the book, I always figured Voldemort had bought it after he murdered his father and grandparents. After all it was aparently abandoned after Voldemort failed in his attempt to kill Harry. By the way where I live in the United States, as long as the taxes are paid, the city cannot take over an individual's property. They can tear a building down if it is deemed a hazard to the community. Considering the house had a large yard and was pretty much by itself, I doubt the village would bother tearing it down.

i started typing stuff on how i believed the malfoys own the house, but i remembered that none of the death eaters really knew about voldemort being a half-blood. if the malfoys owned the house, then they would most likely know the history of the house, wouldn't they? now i think that it's some random person that doesn't really care to visit anymore, and therefore wouldn't ever find out that it was being occupied by voldemort (?).

Are you all talking about the present owner, when Frank Bryce was killed? My theory is that the present owner of the Riddle house is a Muggle. There are really some people who would want to buy an old house, mainly because of its value, and they don't care who lived there before.

I don't think that the DE's would want to meet there, because if they do, they would find out that Voldemort/Tom Riddle is half-blood.

oooooh good point...missed that fact even though i though of the malfoy thing.

I had completely overlooked the fact that the DE did not know that Voldemort was half-blood. So that may put a spear through my Malfoy owning the house theory. I wonder if Voldemort knows who owns the house, if he was aware that the owner of the house never came there(he was aware that Frank had no wife) and if he hangs out there a lot? Is this where he spends his time in passing?

-- I never really thought anyone 'important' owned that house. I always figured it was a Muggle, it just didn't seem very important to me.

To me, the way it was worded, it sounded like a Muggle from that village owned the house. Otherwise, why would they bother explaining away why they owned it?

However, now that you mention it-- maybe it WAS something important... I never really thought about it before. Nice that you noticed it....

J.K. has said that in the next books we will find out more about Riddle's birth and how he became so Evil. Will the Riddle House play an important role in any of that?

^^umm maybe, maybe not... I dont think so but who knows!
I think that newly pinned topic about the Riddle house is on target.

i dont think the person who owns the riddle house will play any part in the book. jk rowling probably just put him (or her, i dont know...) because if no one owned the house, it would probably just be demolished. someone needed to own the house so it could stay in the story.

Maybe things that happened to him in that house will come into play, but I don't think the house itself will be important. It served its purpose in Book 4, and I don't really think we'll hear more about it in the future.

I absolutely agree with this. JK said we'll learn more about Riddle's past. And the house itself may be important, but not the person who owns it. It most likely is a muggle. In the book they weren't really given that much relevance.

^ I agree....It's the house that matters...not who owns it...the house is there so people will know more about Voldermort...I do think that the owner is just a muggle that doesn't know anything 'bout the Riddles

The Death Eaters know now. Harry tells them in the Department of Mysteries. All his top DE's know... Bellatrix, Lucius, etc.

So do you think since they already know they'd want to meet there?

I think that it would be the perfect place..it's abandoned and run down. No one pays much attention to it. So maybe they would.

No, I actually don't. I just wanted to point out that the DE's now know that Voldemort is a Half-Blood. I don't think he's quite ready to acknowledge that fact though, and I don't think anybody is going to ask him about it. Also, we're supposed to be learning more about Tom - and there is probably some very bad memories for him in that place, he most likely won't want to go back there. If he can get over both of those things, I think it's the perfect place to meet.

They mentioned in the beginning of the 4th book that it was owned by some rich man who kept it for tax reasons. I don't have the exact quote as my friend has my copy of the 4th...

If this rich person is of any importance, I have no clue....

Here is the text from GOF from one of my earlier post...



Why did he continue to pay a gardener to keep up the house if it was to be put to no use?

out of pity? beats me, really.

There is no real reason that he would be paying Frank to garden. Atleast, none that I can think of...

This makes you wonder, if this "person" is important doesn't it?

Yes, it really has set my mind to wondering. Why would you continue to pay a gardener, especially one that could hardly get around?