Cottage Folly

Shed Features

The shed was built in a small garden in a conservation zone of a historic market town where most of the surrounding buildings are 17th - 19th century. It was built in the tradition of the folly, loosely inspired by the early 19th century cottage orne. The brief was to provide an amusing all-weather retreat which would have good levels of insulation and at a pinch be large and comfortable enough to take an inflatable Aerobed in an emergency. The other requirement was that it should enhance the garden with its quirky and historically sensitive design.

Other Shed info

The basic structure is of joined softwood with an a outer skin of red cedar tongue-and-groove enclosing Celotex insulation and an inner skin of ash tongue-and groove attached to a marine plywood liner. Insulation was also fixed to the inside roof pitch underneath the tongue-and groove. The wood laminate floor is also insulated and rests on battens above the concrete plinth. An armoured electrical cable was connected from the main house underground, and enters through the concrete pad. Heating is provided by an overhead infra-red heater.

The key architectural features are largely recycled: the three lattice windows are cast-iron and of about 1830; the door window is made from two Victorian oak doors screwed back-to-back in double-glazed format and presumably salvaged from a bookcase; the clay roof tiles are probably 18th century; the teak finial was turned up from an old newel post.

A local artist/craftsman Gordon Everett built it in 2017 to my design.