House in the Clouds

The House in the Clouds is a water tower at Thorpeness, Suffolk, England. It was built in 1923 to receive water pumped from Thorpeness Windmill[1] and was designed to improve the looks of the water tower, disguising its tank with the appearance of a weatherboarded building more in keeping with Thorpeness's mock-Tudor and Jacobean style, except seeming to float above the trees.[2] The original capacity of the water tank was 50,000 imperial gallons (230,000 l) but during the Second World War, the House in the Clouds was hit by gunfire from anti-aircraft guns based at Thorpeness. The water tank was repaired using its own steel, which resulted in a reduced capacity of 30,000 imperial gallons (140,000 l).[3] In 1977 the water tower was made redundant by a mains water supply to the village, and additional living space was created. In 1979 the main water tank was removed to fully convert the building into a house. The building currently has five bedrooms and three bathrooms; it contains a total of 85 steps from top to bottom and is around 70 ft high.

View from across the Meare above trees
House in the Clouds

It has been a Grade II Listed Building since 1995.[4]

The house was featured in the Suffolk programme during Series 3 of the Channel 4 TV Series Homes by the Sea in 2017.[5]

It also featured on BBC's Flog It! on 8 May 2018.

References
  1. "houseintheclouds.co.uk". Archived from the original on 2007-08-21. Retrieved 2007-07-24.
  2. Fisher, Adrian (2005). Mazes and Follies. Norwich: Jarrold. p. 49. ISBN 1-84165-142-7.
  3. Regan, Dean (1997). Windmills of Suffolk. Suffolk: Dean Regan. pp. 26–28. ISBN 0-9531562-0-6.
  4. Historic England (1995-01-26). "House In The Clouds (1287261)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 2014-08-04.
  5. "Homes By The Sea". Channel 4 Television. Retrieved 9 July 2017.


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