Summer Bedroom

I have now moved my sleeping arrangements from the house to 'The Tower' as I do most summers. It's a very friendly little building, with a large sliding glazed double door looking out over tranquil countryside.  

We built it in 2010, with most of the work being done by ourselves. I had a builder put up the original blockwork, then the rest was done by Lady M and myself; including all the exterior rendering and interior plastering. I've still not yet painted the interior.

I had never built a whole roof before. From visiting the sawmill to ordering the hand-made tiles, all was new to me. We needed ceiling timbers (see photo), and we needed the wood for the roof structure itself. Those ceiling timbers are all solid Oak (the main beam had to be lifted into place with a tractor), and the roof structure was Chestnut which we hauled up manually. All design work was done on the back of an envelope, and I only made one mistake which was soon rectified.

My proudest bit of the whole construction is that decorative bit at the top of the wall and the bottom of the roof. It is called a 'Genoise' here, and brings the roof out beyond the wall. Again I simply worked out how to do it by 'thinking' about it.

We have now run a temporary electrical wire into the tower to feed a bedside lamp, otherwise it is still without any mod-cons.

It is one of delights of the Summer, moving into the tower. It's what we built it for, and it serves its purpose beautifully. I lie in bed looking up at those Oak timbers and marvel at how I managed to do it all. 

The roof tiles are all hand-made 'peg tiles'; no nails, they simply rest on the laths.

Being in there at night doesn't make me sleep any better, and of course I don't have my internet radio to listen to (too far from the Router). But it's a lovely place to be, and we shall remain there until Kimbo and Susie come next month. They book it in advance!