In order to fulfill his daughter’s fairy-tale dream, a British garden designer personally built a whimsical and adorable mushroom house in his own garden. To his surprise, this uniquely shaped little house won him the “Best Creative Shed of the Year” award in the UK.
Ben Swanborough, 53, from Surrey, England, runs a courtyard design company called “Swanborough Gardens.” “I feel like she is always immersed in a fairy-tale world, always fond of painting, and she knows I can build things,” he said when talking about his 20-year-old daughter, Elsie.
So, when his daughter, Elsie, who was 11 years old in 2015, asked him, “Dad, can you build me a mushroom-shaped house?” he was not surprised.
At the time, however, Swanborough thought his daughter was just casually mentioning it, so he casually replied, “Of course! Someday I will do it.”
Several months later, Elsie brought up her request to her father again. But Swanborough said he was too busy and temporarily unable to attend to it.
Not long after, his daughter, with a serious expression, told him that she had saved up £500 (about $600) to have him build the house. Seeing how eager his daughter was to have her dream house, Swanborough couldn’t bear to refuse anymore.
Although Swanborough had worked on some building projects with fences and terraces before, his experience in constructing an entire house was almost zero. However, this loving father wholeheartedly accepted the challenge.
“Once I decided to start, I devoted myself to it completely,” he said. “I seized any available time, whether on weekends or at night, and I can truly say I spared no effort to make the house as beautiful as possible.”
Swanborough designed the house in a hexagonal shape, starting with building the mushroom stem. The interior space of the mushroom stem is big enough for an adult to stand, but overall, it is quite small.
Throughout the construction process, Swanborough faced many challenges. Due to the rainy weather in England, he often worked under a tent. Getting inside the house was another challenge, as he had to erect scaffolding to reach the higher parts of the house. Another obstacle was how to build a slightly larger structure above a small building.
“Later, it became even more difficult to construct the curved roof,” he said. “I had to find special bendable plywood and cover it with multiple layers, and then forcibly shape it.”
To give the house a vintage and whimsical feel, he specifically picked up a beautiful stained glass window from a flea market and bought another vintage window from a salvage market.
The construction cost of this two-story mushroom house was approximately £8,000 (about $10,000). It was completed in 2017 and won the overall championship of the Cuprinol Shed of the Year Award in the same year.
Today, this house proudly stands in the garden of Swanborough’s home. In the center of the house, there is a pillar reaching up to the roof. The upper floor of the mushroom house is relatively spacious, with a main living room inside, featuring a stained glass window and a folding door, as well as a glass floor that overlooks the flowing stream below. The roof also has a small skylight, allowing those staying inside at night to admire the beautiful starry sky through it.
Additionally, upstairs, there is a bench and a table for Elsie to create artworks on. However, the house does not have a bathroom.
“This is purely an entertainment room, just a fun place for children to spend the night and do other interesting things,” Swanborough said.
Elsie is currently studying art, and when she saw the mushroom house her father built, she was beyond excited.
“I think it far exceeded her expectations,” her father said. “Not only that, I believe it far exceeded the expectations of all of us.”
Later, Swanborough also listed the house on Airbnb for rent, and business quickly boomed as people interested in the mushroom house kept coming.
“Everyone loves it, everyone who stayed overnight inside said that listening to the gurgling of the stream below and the pleasant morning bird songs was very relaxing! So, no one has ever given a negative review,” he said.
This creative father’s recent projects include a children’s gym with a grass roof and some treehouses. Those interested in landscape gardening can visit his Instagram account to enjoy more of his wonderful creations.