Architectural Follies & Curiosities

On this gloriously sunny day when I have a date with a book in the garden I am writing a very quick post in homage to grand follies, which I like to think of as the Alice in Wonderland’s of building design. Nothing delights me more than Victorian and Georgian architectural follies and I think one of my favourite British organisations is The Landmark Trust. The Landmark Trust takes on dilapidated old buildings of special note and restores them sympathetically to their original condition. It then rents them out as holiday lets which funds the restoration of future buildings, we have stayed in one before and it was an amazing experience. Landmark has taken on a truly formidable array of buildings from castles to cottages, follies to railway stations and much in between including The Pineapple House (above) in Dunmore, Scotland.

Here are some of my favourites from their portfolio:

Swarkstone Pavillion, Derbyshire.

Culloden Tower - North Yorkshire.

The Gothic Temple -  Buckinghamshire.

Stitched Panorama

Appleton Water Tower - Sandringham, Norfolk.

Clavell Tower - Dorset.

Alton Railway Station - Churnet Valley.

Coop House - Carlisle.

Banqueting House - Newcastle Upon Tyne.

The Pigsty - North Yorkshire:

And finally from our holiday scrapbook, the lovely Prospect Tower in Faversham, Kent.  As you may imagine, it is quite dear to stay in one of these in season, but if the idea of hauling yourself up for country walks and cosy nights by the fire in winter appeals then it really isn’t too costly, we stayed over my birthday during one snowy January and it was truly magnifcent:

Our holiday snaps of Prospect tower, Faversham, Kent.