Nicholas Sparks’s sprawling home in New Bern, N.C., didn’t always look like a museum. For close to 10 years, the three-story, riverfront house was overrun with the author’s five children, who threw footballs in the living room and completed their homework at the now fully dressed dining room table custom-built for 10. “It was an active, busy household for a long time,” Mr. Sparks said. “At one point, there were four dogs and about 13 people living here — myself, my now ex-wife, our five children, an exchange student, and friends.”

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Persons: Nicholas Sparks’s, didn’t, ” Mr, Sparks, “, ” Locations: New Bern, N.C