‘House in the clouds’ has stood for 100 years

One hundred years ago, a man with a bold plan opened his now-famous “house in the clouds” – but one part of his plan did not take off.

It’s certainly not your average home – but this “house in the clouds” has loomed over the countryside in Suffolk, England, for 100 years.

The unique property was finished in 1923, and was designed to hide the water tower within, which at the time provided storage for the water supply of the coastal village of Thorpeness.

It was completed in 1923, one hundred years ago this year. Picture: Charlotte De Mille/Ogilvie family

The house dwarfs its neighbours in the Suffolk countryside. Picture: BBC

It was designed by Glencairn Stuart Ogilvie and features seven bedrooms, two lounge rooms and a 189,000-litre water tank.

At the time it was constructed, water towers were seen as a hideous but necessary blight on local landscapes.

Mr Ogilvie said he was trying to create something “more practical and more picturesque” than the towers created by authorities at the time.

The unique building has seven bedrooms. Picture: istock

He hoped his design would take off, and be copied through the UK. Unfortunately for him, this did not happen.

The house’s water tank was eventually removed in 1979 after Thorpeness was hooked up to mains water.

The space the tank once occupied is now a large gallery.