When it comes to holiday accommodation I’ll always shun bland international hotel chains in favour of somewhere more memorable. And what could be more memorable than a house in the clouds. Okay, the clouds have to be pretty low hanging, 21 metres to be precise, but still, how often do you get the chance to stay in a converted water tower?

Cottage in the trees

Located on the coast in Thorpeness, Suffolk, England, this sky house was originally constructed in 1923 to hold 50 000 gallons of water. But once it was finished, it was considered such a hideous eyesore that the owner, Scotsman Glencairne Stuart Ogilvie, decided to disguise it as a cottage lodged in trees.

If you think this sounds like a somewhat over dramatic response, you won’t be surprised to hear that Stuart Ogilvie was a passionate romanticist who had a thing for Peter Pan. In fact, the Scot had just finished building Thorpeness, his fantasy village, “for people who want to experience life as it was when England was Merrie England.” Clearly a dirty great water tower looming on the horizon didn’t complement his vision.

Room at the top

One man’s eccentricity is another man’s gain. And today, the water tower is no longer disguised as a cottage: it is a cottage. The water tank has been ripped out and made into the originally named “room at the top”, which boasts the finest views in Suffolk. As the county is one of the flattest in England, you can literally see for dozens of miles. No matter where you are in the tower, you won’t be far from one of the many tiny windows, or a staircase. There are five bedrooms and three bathrooms linked by a 68-step stairway to heaven.

Coast with the most

It might be hard to drag yourself away from your tower of fun, but you should, because the surrounding coastline is some of the most beautiful in East Anglia. And the resort of Thorpeness hasn’t changed much since it was built either. This might be why the children’s author Mrs M. Manson chose to live in the tower. In fact, it was she who named the building, which apparently inspired her to write this little ditty:

“The fairies really own this house
or so the children say,
In fact, they all of them moved in
upon the self same day.”

If you’ve always wanted to spend a weekend away with the fairies and sleep with your head in the clouds, your dream is no longer just pie in the sky.