Thorpeness 13-5-2004 by Martin Pettitt is licensed under CC BY 2.0
House In The Clouds is located in Thorpeness, England. This type of building is termed a “folly” and is a building made for purely decorative or conversational purpose. Follies were especially prevalent in England in the 18th century.
In the early 1900’s Glencairn Stuart Ogilvie came up with the idea to develop the whole town of Thorpeness into an ideal holiday retreat. The creation of a 50,000-gallon water tower interrupted the natural beauty of the skyline so Ogilvie decided to disguise it as a cottage…a cottage that was 70 feet in the air!
Built in 1923, House In The Clouds has been maintained by various tenants over the years (yes, there are actually rooms inside). One remarkable story occurred in 1943 when a shell actually passed through the corner of the water tank causing considerable damage but not waking up the sleeping residents!
It was originally going to be called “The Gazebo.” The name we know today came from Mrs. Malcolm Mason who was a children’s book writer and close friend of Ogilvie. At dinner one evening she described it as The House In The Clouds to him and he immediately fell in love with the name.
These days it is available for rent year round and offers 5 bedrooms. There are 67 stairs to reach the top. Current price during the summer and holidays is about $3,226 per week.
