The National Trust Summerhouses

I was talking about railway carriage outbuildings the other day, but what to do if a train wreck doesn't just happen to be sitting at the end of your garden? The photo above is of an outbuilding on one of the properties we have been ogling recently. It has two rooms and a loft space and sounds absolutely perfect. I would trim back some of those hedges to bring more light in, put some potted plants outside, a table and chair for the summer, and paint the door Oval Room Blue or something greenish by Farrow and Ball. Then one room could be my main studio, and the other my 'wet' room where I can make a mess. See? I've already moved in :-). The property also has a wooden summerhouse, which I would probably turn into a retreat away from work.


I just stumbled across these National Trust Summerhouses, built by Scotts of Thrapston. Each one was inspired by a National trust property - George Bernard Shaw's summerhouse, and Virginia Woolf's converted tool shed. They are perhaps a little too neat for me, too 'finished', but I love the idea of having a place tucked away in the corner of my garden where I don't have the distractions of the internet, telephone and housework.