Summerhouse

architecture, eyecatcher, Folly, garden, Greater London, Summerhouse

Jane’s Folly, Muswell Hill, London.

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Tucked away in the corner of the garden of an Edwardian house in Muswell Hill, north London, is a rather special structure. In 2022 its quirky elegance earned it the coveted title of best ‘Unique/Unexpected’ structure in the Cuprinol Shed of the Year Awards.

Simon Hurst’s design for the NE Elevation of the folly.

This delightful retreat was created by Jane Dorner with the help of her architect friend Simon Hurst. The building has the distinction of being probably the only folly built to solve the problem of where to store cushions in the cooler months (Jane having dismissed the usual plastic receptacles). But, as can be seen, the project became rather more than a storage box and grew to be a gorgeous Gothic Folly. Simon’s design incorporates the all-important cupboard for the cushions, and above it there is a glazed cabinet of curiosities. Jane changes the display as the whim takes her, often selecting items to suit the interests of guests.

Looking into the shed. The glazed cabinet of curiosities can be seen on the back wall above the ‘cushion cupboard’.

When the Flâneuse was lucky enough to visit recently the doors were open and the table was laid with nibbles and home-made vermouth (the red vermouth with a delicious tang of lovage from the garden was a particular treat).

A closer look at Jane’s lovely label designs, showing the interior and exterior of the folly:

The folly is illuminated from above by a lantern filled with what appears to be stained glass, which casts a lovely light. Continuing the sham tradition beloved of folly builders, this is actually a clever use of stick-on lead strips and coloured film.

Below the lantern are Jane’s paintings in grisaille, inspired by the ancient Temple of the Winds in Athens.

Some of Jane’s panels representing the winds.

As the finishing touch Jane designed the weather vane with her Abyssinian cat Khairo as the model. Or perhaps not quite the finishing touch: the project remains a work in progress, with these two handsome green men soon to be installed…

Green men to decorate the folly.

The folly even has its very own doorbell, alerting Jane to the arrival of lucky visitors. It currently plays Für Elise, but Jane is hoping to find someone who can programme it to play a few rousing bars of La Follia by Vivaldi.

One of the cushions that started it all enjoying a moment in the sun.

And as if the summerhouse itself was not enchanting enough, here it is in miniature thanks to Jane’s jeweller and designer friend Vicki Ambery-Smith.

The folly in silver as crafted by Vicki Ambery-Smith.

Thanks to Jane and Simon for their help with this post. You can discover more about Jane’s folly on her website http://www.editor.net/folly/

Simon has now largely retired from his career as an architect, and is enjoying life as an artist. There’s more about his work here https://www.schd.co.uk/#home

And for Vicki Ambery-Smith’s exquisite jewellery and miniatures see http://www.vickiamberysmith.co.uk

Thank you for reading. Don’t you wish you were sitting in Jane’s folly with a glass of vermouth (or perhaps a coffee if it is still early)? Your thoughts are always welcome – scroll down to the comments box to get in touch.

architecture, garden history, Gloucestershire, landscape garden, Sculpture, Summerhouse

Pope’s Seat, Cirencester Park, Gloucestershire

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In the vast park of Cirencester House, adjoining the town of the same name, a pretty rusticated temple sits in an opening called Seven Rides. This is the point where avenues cut through the woodland meet, giving long vistas in each direction. It was named Pope’s Seat after the poet, Alexander, who designed it for his friend Lord Bathurst.

Pope’s Seat as photographed by Henry Taunt in 1883. Courtesy of Oxfordshire History Centre POX0150400

Alexander Pope (1688-1744) was a good friend of Allen Bathurst, 1st Earl of Bathurst (1684-1775), who in the early eighteenth century was laying out pleasure grounds and parkland at his seat on the edge of the town of Cirencester. By 1742 Lord Bathurst’s demesne was described as ‘a fine park […] adornd wth several beautifull buildings’. Pope is said to have offered advice on this landscaping and designed this alcove, which was named in his honour – ‘POPES SEAT’ is engraved on a stone above the entrance.

The Flâneuse is delighted to announce that a diminutive new version of the summerhouse has been added to the Cirencester Park landscape. Bristol based woodcarver Andy O’Neill started his working life as a graphic designer, before a desire to work outdoors led to a new career as a tree surgeon. Then, combining his creative and arboricultural talents, he began to create sculptures with a chainsaw.

Andy O’Neill working on the sculpture. Photo courtesy of the Bathurst Estate.

When a decaying cedar had to be felled in Cirencester Park, Lord Bathurst saw the opportunity to use some of the timber to create a bench on the Broad Avenue, which runs for around six miles through the estate. In consultation with Andy it was decided to decorate it with Pope’s Seat in miniature.

The bench with Hamish Mackie’s Andalusian Stallion in the background. This front looks down the Broad Avenue to the town of Cirencester.
A glimpse of the statue through the alcove’s open arch.
The back of the ‘new’ Pope’s Seat which looks up the Broad Avenue towards where its much older big brother stands.
The seat enjoys a peep to the Queen Anne Monument.

Pope’s Seat is listed at grade II*. It and other fascinating ornaments can be seen when exploring Cirencester Park. For more information visit https://www.bathurstestate.co.uk

For more on Andy’s work see https://wildwoodcarving.co.uk

Sculptor Hamish Mackie has four sculptures on display in Cirencester Park this summer. There’s more on the estate website (link above).

Thank you for reading and do get in touch if you have any thoughts you’d like to share. Scroll down to the foot of the page to find the comments box.

architecture, Fictional Follies, Gazebo, Summerhouse

Murder in the Gazebo

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In 1928 a new detective was introduced to readers. Her name was Maud Silver and she was as fond of knitting and quoting Tennyson as she was of solving crimes. She was the creation of Patricia Wentworth, who would go on to write thirty-two books featuring Miss Silver, including The Gazebo, which was published in the United States in 1956 and in the United Kingdom in 1958. Having called this post ‘Murder in the Gazebo’ it is a little late for a spoiler alert, and as you have no doubt guessed the garden building is the setting for key scenes, including the death at the heart of the novel.

architecture, bath house, Bristol, Folly, garden history, Gwynedd, Summerhouse

The Bristol Colonnade, Portmeirion, Gwynedd

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When Barbara Jones published Follies and Grottoes in 1953, she made no mention of the coastal village that architect Clough Williams-Ellis had been creating at Portmeirion since 1925. Reviewing the book for the Times Literary Supplement, Laurence Whistler thought this was a ‘curious’ omission as he believed the whole conception could be described as folly.

architecture, belvedere, eyecatcher, Fife, Folly, garden history, Rustic shelter, Summerhouse, Tower

Cullaloe Temple and Tower, near Aberdour, Fife

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In the 19th century Cullaloe stone was much in demand as a building material: it was widely used in Scotland and England, and exported to Europe and as far as the Caribbean. But in the shadow of the quarries is an abandoned pleasure ground that is home to this beautifully constructed little temple – a perfect demonstration of the colour and quality of the stone. At the other end of the grand terrace on which it stands is a curious rustic tower.

architecture, Cumbria, garden, garden history, Summerhouse

The Arbour, Dove Nest, Cumbria

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This unassuming little garden arbour has provided shelter for some of the greats of the 19th century – although the name of only one will be widely recognised today. It was built as a retreat in the grounds of a ‘small Gentlemans House’ called Dove Nest, which ‘stands on a sweet Wooded eminence with a fine grass Knoll in front which commanded a noble view of great lake of Windermere and the fells beyond.

Arch, architecture, Banqueting House, country house, eyecatcher, Folly, garden, garden history, Hertfordshire, sham castle, Summerhouse

The Folly, Benington Lordship, Hertfordshire

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In the grounds of Benington Lordship, an early 18th century mansion near Stevenage in Hertfordshire, is a sham ruin on a grand scale. Constructed in the 1830s it combined the roles of eye-catcher, gateway, smoking room and banqueting hall in one rambling structure.

architecture, Borders, eyecatcher, Folly, garden history, landscape garden, Scotland, Summerhouse, Temple

The Temple at The Lees, Coldstream, Borders

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In the border town of Coldstream a footpath leads from a lodge down to the river Tweed. The route passes an ice-house shaded by trees before a stroll along the riverbank brings one to an elegant stone temple. The Temple ornamented the landscape of a grand Georgian mansion called The Lees, which was largely pulled down in the 1970s.

The Lees (sometimes just Lees) was the seat of the interrelated Pringle and Marjoribanks (pronounced Marchbanks) family. In 1760 a traveller noted that ‘Mr Pringle has built a handsome house, and made a beautiful plantation’: ‘Mr Pringle’ was James, who died in 1769 leaving the estate to his cousin Edward Marjoribanks.

The temple was extant by 1769 when a historian noted Mr Pringle’s ‘modern seat’ as well as the ‘octagonal tempiato’ on the banks of the river. It is shown as an existing feature on a ‘Design for the improvement of Lees’ by the Edinburgh based designer Richard Stephens (?-1821) dated 1816. Stephens’ family business was in ‘draining, irrigating and embanking’, but he also drew up improvement plans for a small number of Scottish estates.

The Temple is named as such on the 1st edition Ordnance Survey map of 1858. The map shows the Temple and the Ice House as well as an array of summerhouses and seats that are lost today, and the surveyors preparing the map noted the ‘considerable and well laid out pleasure grounds’. Historic England Scotland incorrectly date the structure to the ‘later 18th century’ and it is listed as Category B.

By the middle of the 20th century the house at The Lees was in a very dilapidated condition and the then owners were only interested in the fishing rights. In 1975, when all attempts to find a buyer or a purpose had been exhausted, permission was granted to demolish. By that date the house was owned by Andrew Douglas-Home, nephew of the former Prime Minister (which information the Flâneuse shares simply so the headline in The Scotsman can be understood: ‘Doom for House of Home’). The paper reported that whilst the Scottish Civic Trust and the Scottish Georgian Society thought the case was ‘one of the saddest ever’, they accepted that there was no alternative to demolition.

The derelict house in the 1970s https://canmore.org.uk/collection/2483132

Douglas-Home had a long term plan to build a new house on the site, and for that reason the circular central section won a reprieve and was left standing.

The central section standing after demolition. The columned section shown in the photo of the mansion above is to the rear. https://canmore.org.uk/file/image/1845697

Towards the end of the 20th century it was incorporated into a new house designed by Nicholas Groves-Raines, which has since been further extended.

The new house incorporating the round section, as seen from the footpath to the Temple.

As briefly mentioned the Tweed is of course famed for salmon, and the wide stretch of river in front of the Temple became known to fishermen as ‘Temple Pool’, as seen in this postcard view (which helpfully points out that in Coldstream the river is the border between Scotland and England).

Looking along the river Tweed from the Temple which is just out of shot bottom right. Card posted in 1921 courtesy of a private collection.

After the Right to Roam was introduced in Scotland Mr Douglas-Home created a footpath through his grounds and down to the river. Walkers are welcome but are requested to keep to the path and to respect the usual rules of the countryside (and to give Mr Douglas-Home a cheery hello if you see him out and about).

Thank you for reading and do please get in touch if you have any thoughts or comments – scroll down to the bottom of the page to make contact.

architecture, garden history, Observatory, Rustic shelter, Summerhouse

The Resiance and The Resianette: two ‘distinctly novel structures’.

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In 1903 William Wood and Son, horticultural specialists to His Majesty the King, placed an advertisement in The Garden magazine announcing two new introductions to their range. These were exotically named summerhouses: the ‘Resiance’ and its little sister the ‘Resianette’. The magazine also ran a feature in the same month (actually lifted from a Wood & Son circular), in which the writer announced that ‘we here present two pictures of distinctly novel structures which appear to be very much in advance of ordinary summer houses’.

architecture, Banqueting House, belvedere, country house, garden history, landscape garden, Observatory, public park, Summerhouse, Temple, West Yorkshire

The Temple, Crow Nest Park, Dewsbury

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When first built the handsome gazebo in the grounds of Crow Nest in Dewsbury would have had views over the estate’s fine gardens and pleasure grounds. At the end of the 19th century Crow Nest was bought for the people of Dewsbury, and has now been a public park for 130 years. The Temple remains an ornament to the park, but sadly today it has a rather forlorn appearance.