architecture

how to disguise a water tower and confuse the public

by deputydog ⋅ 28 / 02 / 2008 ⋅ post a comment

walking towards the ‘house in the clouds’ in suffolk for the first time can be a confusing experience if you approach from the right angle as the otherwise normal-looking home appears to either float above the trees or perch on a non-existent hill behind the surrounding greenery.

what you’re actually looking at is the top of an old 30′000 gallon water tower, brilliantly designed 85 years ago by architects who were asked to disguise what would have been an ugly 70ft high blot on the landscape of thorpeness - the village who benefited from its water storage capabilities until 1977.


photo: flickr user slim_boydim. click here for larger version

the water tank was removed in 1979 and since then this lanky house has been renovated on a few different occasions, the result being a 5 bedroom, 3 bathroom home containing a total of 68 steps from top to bottom. the interior itself is very nicely done and can be seen at the building’s own website here where it seems you can also book a room and experience the place first-hand. you can also spy on the residence via google maps here.

a search for video of the house took me to the charming little clip below, featuring a song about a train journey which passes the building - at around 45 seconds you can just make it out in the distance. not great but the song’s so pleasant that it just managed to calm me down after a shit day at work.

sources: 1, 2, 3

discussion

26 comments for “how to disguise a water tower and confuse the public”

  1. That is fantastic. You’re site is always filled with truly interesting articles!

    posted by texan in hippieland | 28th of February, 2008, 12:40 pm

  2. I think the song is by “Flanders and Swan”. If you like that you should try “The hippopotamus song”. It’s a classic.

    posted by Ben Ingledew | 28th of February, 2008, 3:43 pm

  3. Something tells me that house has a kick ass in-door swimming pool.

    posted by KirkH | 28th of February, 2008, 4:22 pm

  4. lol that’s awesome. From afar it’s a levitating house.

    posted by Television SPY | 28th of February, 2008, 10:00 pm

  5. Delightful and very nostalgic, including the song by Flanders and Swann on the video. The English place names are wonderful!

    posted by kl | 29th of February, 2008, 12:11 am

  6. nice photos!

    http://www.juzamdjinn.blogspot.com

    posted by duhu | 29th of February, 2008, 1:43 am

  7. hahaha … how cool is that!! what a novel idea. in australia we have a lot of water towers, and they’re all ugly as hell!

    i like the fact that it’s renovated, and is now actually a house.

    very cool.

    david
    http://www.davidsmeaton.com

    posted by david | 29th of February, 2008, 2:13 am

  8. wow… as they say on HGTV “I want that.”

    posted by the constant skeptic | 29th of February, 2008, 4:20 am

  9. Another example

    http://www.catsupbottle.com/images1/catsupintheclouds.jpg

    http://www.catsupbottle.com/

    but a little more advertisy

    posted by Bob Lement | 29th of February, 2008, 5:00 pm

  10. we think it’s fantastic and jay whitlow would love to see some ingenuity applied in our home state of ks. have you ever driven through our small towns and seen all the ugly, boring, drab, depressing water tower? sammie has and told whitlow to do something about it now!

    posted by eric y | 29th of February, 2008, 5:23 pm

  11. cool i guess except that they wasted tons of wood..

    posted by Kaleb | 29th of February, 2008, 6:15 pm

  12. pleasant song? i needed to slay entire families after hearing just a few seconds of that song. Chablis intervened however and now it’s off to bed instead.

    posted by Eno | 29th of February, 2008, 9:23 pm

  13. thanks for giving your sources and credit. not enough bloggers do that.

    posted by bugsy | 1st of March, 2008, 9:26 pm

  14. as always an amazing article, anyway speaking about water check this http://elasticzone.com/cleaner-water.html or this http://alokate.com/purificadores-de-agua-para-su-proxima-viaje-aventura.html

    posted by Alberto | 2nd of March, 2008, 12:49 pm

  15. wow..how cool is that..
    hope one day in m’sia will develop something like dat as well..haha

    posted by public nuisance | 2nd of March, 2008, 2:34 pm

  16. Yes the song is from Flanders and Swann Live. “The slow train”.

    Aldeburgh station and surrounds is now a pleasant and interestingly designed housing estate. a definate “how to build a new estate in an interesting style.” no two houses the same and all reflect styles in the area.

    back to the film. My personal favourite bit is thorpe halt station at 1.00 min with the old railway carriages as the station buildings. another guise rather than disguise.

    posted by chris | 4th of March, 2008, 2:01 am

  17. Thorpeness was built at the turn of the 20th century as an edwardian theme park based around peter pan.
    more: http://www.suffolkcam.co.uk/thorpeness11082001.htm

    posted by chris "bridgelangley" | 4th of March, 2008, 2:59 pm

  18. There is another old water tower down the road in Aldeburgh now redundant and sold in 2007. It just goes to show that the victorians were great designers…

    http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/buying_and_selling/article1584928.ece

    posted by chris "bridgelangley" | 13th of March, 2008, 2:49 pm

  19. Thorpeness had a segment of the lovely “Suggs’ Survivors” a few weeks back - I’ve not yet found it on YouTube, but I’m afraid I didn’t record it. I’ll see if I can get it somewhere…

    posted by Simon | 20th of March, 2008, 4:57 am

  20. TOM, GET BACK TO WORK.

    posted by OI TOM | 6th of May, 2008, 6:12 am


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