Counting sheep: An ancient shepherd's hut just sold for £16000
With £16,000 burning a hole in your back pocket, you could be well on the way to a house deposit. But would you perhaps rather buy yourself a tumbledown, antique shepherd's hut?
In today's market, it doesn't actually sound so ridiculous.
That's just what one anonymous bidder has just done, splashing twenty times more than the estimated £800 sale value on a neglected Victorian shepherd's hut at Charterhouse Auctioneers in Sherborne, Dorset.
What's more, the London bidder outbid a disappointed local farmer, who had hoped to bag the building for himself.
“It hadn’t turned a wheel for 50 years. The roof leaked. It was damp. It had woodworm. Generations of bugs, rabbits and rats had probably lived in it,” the auctioneer Richard Bromwell told the Guardian.
Nevertheless, with trendy bucolic-looking huts costing up to £50K, the hut's new owner might well have nabbed himself a bargain.
The popularity of Shepherd's Huts - essentially small sheds on wheels, which were traditionally used by wandering shepherds as a mobile shelter for keeping warm and dry while out with their flocks - has been soaring in recent years among the rich and wealthy.
Read more: Step inside: £65k shepherd's hut is one of the largest to be built in the UK
These are far more than just sheds on wheels. The Henley Hut Company, for example, offers The Oxfordshire model, featuring a luxurious double bed living space and shower room.
Former Prime Minister David Cameron famously wrote his memoirs in a £25K model with a sofa bed and wood-burning stove, while Prince Charles has even given his grandson Prince George a luxury one for his playground.
But with the pandemic leaving many of us focused on finding creative options for home office spaces, as well as obsessed with pimping out our gardens and outdoor areas, the vogue for Instagram-friendly shepherd's huts looks set to grow and grow.
Plankbridge, for example, the Dorchester company which built Prince George’s hut, has seen business increasing by 50 per cent in the last six to eight months.
And if you can't stretch to buying one, you can still book yourself a shepherd's hut staycation on boutique glamping sites such as Canopy and Stars or Glampingly. After all, if it's good enough for Prince George...
