If an underground home doesn’t appeal to you, how
about living in the tree tops? Dan Garner, a tree surgeon
from Gloucestershire, certainly thinks that this is the way
to go up in the world.
“When our family became short of space at home our
solution was to build a luxury tree house in the garden.
The tree house is built into a spruce tree six metres
above the ground. It has one main room, a bedroom and
a balcony running around two sides.” Garner is so happy
with this practical extension to his home that he thinks he
can convince more people of the benefits of living in the
trees. He wants to set up his own enterprise making more
of the deluxe tree dwellings, saying, “Tree houses are
airy, secure and comfortable and the only disadvantage
is that they might not be suitable for people who suffer
from hay fever or a fear of heights!”
Even people who live in more ordinary settings
sometimes can’t resist doing something to make them
stand out from the crowd. One extreme example of this
is Bill Heines’ house in Headington, Oxfordshire. Until
one morning in 1986, his house looked much like all the
others in his street, when suddenly overnight a 7.5 m
long fibreglass shark appeared to have crashed through
the roof. The shark was a sculpture by local artist John
Buckley. At first some people complained that it might be
dangerous or that it spoilt the look of the neighbourhood,
but engineers checked that the sculpture was safe and
the ‘Headington shark’ has become a well-known and
popular landmark. It seems that no matter where you live,
you can always do something to make sure your house
says something about who you are.