Folly Builder.

Can you think of a better business card title?  I wonder if anyone in the US has that title?   Folly’s are much more common in the UK where Paul Taylor runs Alchemy Gardens– a specialist folly building company.

I’m updating this post as I just came across this new project by Alchemy Gardens.  Built for the 2013 Malvern Spring Garden Show, this staircase really caught my eye.   We have a treehouse and everytime I climb into it to look down on my garden I see some revelatory new thing.  There is nothing like changing your perspective and a circular staircase folly seems like a perfect fit for a quirky garden. 

According to Wikipedia, “In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but either suggesting by its appearance some other purpose, or merely so extravagant that it transcends the normal range of garden ornaments or other class of building to which it belongs.”

Right, because how else can you justify an elaborate rock cave built for the mere purpose of housing a stone devil that looks like he is emerging from the shadowy underworld?  And justify you should.  Why not?

Follys in my mind, while arguably a bit Disneyland, are the ultimate in garden escapism and personal expression.   I love a good folly, I hope someday I can find a client brave enough to request one.

All these images are from the portfolio of  Alchemy Gardens, and many are in the permanent show gardens that they have built at their headquarters in Worcestershire, England,  where they showcase their work.