Small is beautiful when it comes to Plankbridge’s award-winning Dorset shepherd’s huts. However, their latest creation The Sixpenny Hut House, is a practical and stylish option for minimalist mobile luxury living. A veritable Dorset dream house on wheels.
If you’ve ever driven the Salisbury Road out of Dorset, you might have caught a glimpse of an abandoned Dutch barn standing out in the middle of a field on the outskirts of Sixpenny Handley. Majestic in scale, it looks particularly striking in spring when it’s surrounded by a sea of yellow rapeseed - making it a popular subject for landscape photographers. Whatever the season, however many times you drive past it, one never tires of this view.
‘As an example of Dorset heritage at its bucolic best, it’s hard to beat,’ says Plankbridge co-founder Richard Lee, who has taken this old Dutch barn as the inspiration for his first ever Tiny House design, the Sixpenny Hut House™ (the term ‘Hut House’ has successfully achieved trademark status, a real feather in the cap for Plankbridge).
Brought to the New World by Dutch settlers in the 1600s, Dutch barns arrived in Britain in the late 1800s. They were commonly used to house animals and store grain, hay and straw. With their curved corrugated-iron roofs and side cladding, they share obvious similarities with the traditional Victorian shepherd’s hut.
‘In this respect the Hut House design is nothing new for us,’ he says. ‘After all, we’ve been making structures that sit well in the landscape for more than 20 years.’ Richard set up Plankbridge, along with his partner Jane Dennison, in 2000. Over the years, their talented team of master hutmakers, based at their workshop on a Piddlehinton farm, have built 600 signature Snugs, Wagons and Cabins (various types of shepherd’s hut) for private clients as well as commercial clients such as The Pig Hotel Group. The Pig on the Beach at Studland have accommodation in Harry’s Hut and The Pig Hut, as well as two spa treatment huts.
‘What’s been exciting for us is drawing on the heritage of the old Dutch barns for the Hut House,’ he continues. ‘My brief from the outset was to keep a vernacular architectural eye at the core of the design.’
Crafted by hand from sustainable timbers and with hard-wearing corrugated-iron cladding, the two-storey self-contained Hut House is very much in the tradition of the Tiny House movement. This began in the USA and has been popularised by TV programmes, such as George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces.
‘I’ve had a Tiny House on my radar for a while now. I really like the idea that you can live comfortably with fewer possessions, it plays very much into our sustainable narrative,’ says Richard. ‘There is something very romantic about minimalist living. And because the Hut House is on wheels, as our shepherd’s huts are, there’s always the option that you can take it with you should you ever want to move.’
Equipped with every modern-day comfort, from a fully fitted kitchen with fridge, electric hob and plumbing for a washing machine, to a double loft bedroom and shower room with wash basin and WC, the Hut House is, says Richard, their response to a surge in enquiries they have had for extra living accommodation.
‘Over the last year, we’ve noticed a huge increase in the number of people wanting to explore alternative living solutions. Whether it’s a parent looking for a self-contained living space for adult children returning from university; an elderly customer considering options for a carer; or simply someone looking for a pleasant place to read a book, do some writing, or sit on a warm summer’s evening with a glass of wine.’
They’ve also had lots of interest, nationally as well as from overseas, from people enquiring about accommodation for a glamping business. ‘This Hut House design lends itself very well to holiday lets,’ Richard explains. ‘People love the idea of being able to have a separate living and kitchen space downstairs and then climbing the stairs to bed at night. We’ve even installed a letterbox style window, handcrafted in sweet chestnut, across the width of the hut so you can sit up in bed in the morning with a cup of tea and enjoy the view.’
Plankbridge really know how to get the most out of a smaller space. Keen to incorporate clever storage solution in the design of the Hut House, Plankbridge commissioned Coates English Willow on the Somerset Levels, to create bespoke willow baskets that slot neatly under each stair. ‘Storage is always critical in a compact space,’ says Richard, ‘you can never have too much. So, we’ve made sure that there is plenty of space-saving features inside like a little oak table that drops down from the wall in the living space, which can be neatly folded away. We’ve tried to anticipate what people might need.’
For those worried that the Hut House might get chilly during the winter months, a layer of thick sheep’s wool insulation – and the option of a cast-iron radiator and/or log-burning stove – takes care of that. ‘Last year we sent a couple of Shaun the Sheep wagons to Skånes Djurpark, a Nordic wildlife park in Sweden, who are collaborating with Aardman, and another went to a family in Wisconsin in the USA, where the temperature famously plummets well below zero in winter. We’re reliably informed that both have been beautifully cosy. I can’t help thinking a Dorset winter will seem balmy in comparison.’
For further information about the Plankbridge range of huts, including the Hut House, visit plankbridge.com
Watermill Magic
The mellowed ‘aged magic’ of the White Mill in Sturminster Marshall, an 18th-century corn mill on the banks of the Stour, is the inspiration for another innovation from Plankbridge – the Watermill interior aesthetic.
‘We’ve tried to bottle that sense of calm and restfulness that comes with old watermills and apply it to our range of huts,’ explains Richard. ‘To achieve this, we’ve used random-width sawn spruce timber which we lime-washed. We then spent hours layering and rubbing down to get the effect we wanted. So, you’ll find brushstrokes and lovely little ‘time-worn’ notches and patches in the lime wash as if someone has repeatedly rubbed their arm against the woodwork.’
A Dorset Bothy for Chelsea
Unveiled at last year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show, the RHS Bothy is another first for these innovative Dorset hut makers. Created in collaboration with the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), the RHS Bothy took pride of place in the Great Pavilion where it was the backdrop for a series of interviews about ‘Women in Horticulture’.
The hut has a desk in English ash, inspired by Monty Don’s potting bench, which is laser engraved with sketches from Gertrude Jekyll’s personal notebooks. Many of the Bothy’s other design features came from things spotted during visits to RHS Garden Wisley by Plankbridge owners Richard Lee and Jane Dennison. The desk brackets, forged over Dorset charcoal, are based on the boot scraper outside the Wisley Arts & Crafts Old Laboratory.
The hut itself was inspired by a small brick-built, timber-clad structure that Richard recalls from his Dorset childhood. ‘I grew up in a former keeper’s cottage in bluebell woods near Wimborne. There was a little bothy there that I can still picture to this day,’ he reveals.
Other design cues came from Danny the Champion of the World’s caravan and farm hay wagons. ‘There are a few hints of my 1920’s Bournemouth tram office in there, and even a nod to timber built 1930’s Norfolk Broads cruisers,’ adds Richard.
The hut now sits at the centre of the World Food Garden near the Hilltop laboratory building at RHS Garden Wisley. And the RHS Bothy design (in 12- or 16-feet length) has been added to Plankbridge’s range and is made to order at their Dorset workshop.
Stay in a Plankbridge Shepherd’s Hut
Aller Dorset: Four custom made shepherd’s huts with fully glazed ends, overlooking a lake and rolling hills at Lower Ansty. allerdorset.com
Challow Farmhouse: Two self-contained Lodge shepherd’s huts set in woodland with views to Corfe Castle. challowfarmhouse.co.uk
Farmstead Glamping: Traditional shepherd’s huts set on a family run dairy farm near Sturminster Newton. farmsteadglamping.com
Hodder’s Hut: Shepherd’s hut at Ryall near Bridport, close to the Jurassic Coast. airbnb.co.uk
Knaveswell Farm: Shepherd’s hut on a Purbeck dairy farm near Corfe Castle. airbnb.co.uk
Herdwick Hut: A traditional Snug shepherd’s hut in the woods on a family farm near Bridport. laverstockfarm.co.uk
Loose Reins: There’s a touch of the Wild West to these timber clad Dorset cabins at Shillingstone. loosereins.co.uk
The Gaggle of Geese: Two shepherd’s huts in the grounds of a family friendly pub in Buckland Newton. gaggleofgeese.co.uk
Tokenhill Dorset: Cabin shepherd’s huts, Hurdlemaker’s and Spindleberry, set in the Piddle Valley. tokenhilldorset.co.uk
Toller Hut: Shepherd’s hut surrounded by woodland with private lake for wild swimming, near Beaminster. lakefarmdorset.com
Warmwell House: Two traditional shepherd’s huts, Sika and Fallow, set in the grounds of a Jacobean manor house near Weymouth. warmwell-house.com
The Pig on the Beach: Two bespoke shepherd’s huts with Studland Bay views, each feature two separate huts; one for the bedroom and bathroom, the other is a snug room, with drinks trolley, sofa and sun deck. thepighotel.com
The River Keeper’s Hut: Located by the river’s edge at the award-winning Sculpture by the Lakes, near Dorchester, hire this hut by the day. sculpturebythelakes.co.uk
Find more places across the UK at plankbridge.com/inspiration/
