Well I built this house...... but......
It was for fairies!!!
I thought long and hard as to what materials to use. I wanted to recycle where possible, I didn't want to spend more than necessary on materials, the materials had to rest lightly on the earth, the project had to fit several criteria.
Pretty much like any alternative building project.
The form for the house was a cut down 2lt plastic juice bottle, the base was cardboard, the walls, rocks and gardens were papermache, the roof is made of shakes which were glued to the neck of the bottle and its removable to access the inside of the house, they were made of cardboard, some other shapes were made from toilet rolls.
The rock outcrop was made from torn up egg cartons, the house bottom wall part was placed on the outcrop, then all was covered with papermache also made from the egg cartons mixed with pva glue. The house and chimney were then rendered with porcelain 'clay' made from corn flour, vasoline and pva glue. It was all painted with water paints. I used a hot glue gun to join the bits.
The whole project took several days due to necessity for layers to dry. During this time we had an exceptionally dry day at a time when I had applied the gardens across the front. The papermache dried too fast while I was out for the day, causing the base to warp which makes for not a good look. I should have put it in a plastic bag to slow the drying process.
Anyway it is what it is. Naturally, it has little fairy lights inside which glow out through the tiny windows and holes in the shake roof. I wasn't able to find a proportionally sized fairy but they do come in a range of sizes in reality anyway, so I should not be predjudiced towards giant fairies!
The style of chimney, shakes with holes, tiny windows, built on a rocky outcrop, use of sandstone around the pointed arch windows are all architecturally correct for the period, circa 1400's Europe and what is now Britain and Ireland.
As a little aside and because I like factoids, the roof being made of shakes or reed, was home to many small animals in winter such as cats, ferrets, birds, rats, etc. The rains came in winter also and these rooves were prone to collapse when they got too sodden. Often, reed bundles were applied over the shakes, then in summer when the reeds dried out, more shakes were applied over the reeds and so the roof grew in size. The chimney was also a source of concern as it was quite heavy. The smoke from the open fire simply came out through holes under the edge of the plaster. It had to be lime plaster because it got very hot up there in winter and was prone to catch fire! The lime plaster was complements of the Romans.
Anyway the saying "its raining cats and dogs" comes from this era and onwards at least two centuries until they get better at building weather proof rooves and thinner side mounted chimneys. It refers to the fact that as the roof got sodden, the animals would fall out into the main room of the house. Also a continuous stream of debris rained down from inside this roof because there was no ceiling or lining and being made of natural products, it rotted quickly.
Here are some photos of my fairy house. Needing to remain historically accurate, I even put a sign on the front fence 'fairies wanted'.
You'll notice I'm not averse to earning a bit of extra rent on the side and have added a variety of small abodes for elves which seems to have gone down a treat as 4 have moved in!
I don't know if it's quite visible but the front door is ajar. This has been done on pupose because fairies need an open invitation to move in.
It was for fairies!!!
I thought long and hard as to what materials to use. I wanted to recycle where possible, I didn't want to spend more than necessary on materials, the materials had to rest lightly on the earth, the project had to fit several criteria.
Pretty much like any alternative building project.
The form for the house was a cut down 2lt plastic juice bottle, the base was cardboard, the walls, rocks and gardens were papermache, the roof is made of shakes which were glued to the neck of the bottle and its removable to access the inside of the house, they were made of cardboard, some other shapes were made from toilet rolls.
The rock outcrop was made from torn up egg cartons, the house bottom wall part was placed on the outcrop, then all was covered with papermache also made from the egg cartons mixed with pva glue. The house and chimney were then rendered with porcelain 'clay' made from corn flour, vasoline and pva glue. It was all painted with water paints. I used a hot glue gun to join the bits.
The whole project took several days due to necessity for layers to dry. During this time we had an exceptionally dry day at a time when I had applied the gardens across the front. The papermache dried too fast while I was out for the day, causing the base to warp which makes for not a good look. I should have put it in a plastic bag to slow the drying process.
Anyway it is what it is. Naturally, it has little fairy lights inside which glow out through the tiny windows and holes in the shake roof. I wasn't able to find a proportionally sized fairy but they do come in a range of sizes in reality anyway, so I should not be predjudiced towards giant fairies!
The style of chimney, shakes with holes, tiny windows, built on a rocky outcrop, use of sandstone around the pointed arch windows are all architecturally correct for the period, circa 1400's Europe and what is now Britain and Ireland.
As a little aside and because I like factoids, the roof being made of shakes or reed, was home to many small animals in winter such as cats, ferrets, birds, rats, etc. The rains came in winter also and these rooves were prone to collapse when they got too sodden. Often, reed bundles were applied over the shakes, then in summer when the reeds dried out, more shakes were applied over the reeds and so the roof grew in size. The chimney was also a source of concern as it was quite heavy. The smoke from the open fire simply came out through holes under the edge of the plaster. It had to be lime plaster because it got very hot up there in winter and was prone to catch fire! The lime plaster was complements of the Romans.
Anyway the saying "its raining cats and dogs" comes from this era and onwards at least two centuries until they get better at building weather proof rooves and thinner side mounted chimneys. It refers to the fact that as the roof got sodden, the animals would fall out into the main room of the house. Also a continuous stream of debris rained down from inside this roof because there was no ceiling or lining and being made of natural products, it rotted quickly.
Here are some photos of my fairy house. Needing to remain historically accurate, I even put a sign on the front fence 'fairies wanted'.
You'll notice I'm not averse to earning a bit of extra rent on the side and have added a variety of small abodes for elves which seems to have gone down a treat as 4 have moved in!
I don't know if it's quite visible but the front door is ajar. This has been done on pupose because fairies need an open invitation to move in.
Last edited: