English Garden Designer Builds Mushroom-Shaped Home on His Daughter’s Request—Take a Look Inside

(Courtesy of Cuprinol Shed of the Year)

A garden designer from England built a mushroom-shaped house for his daughter, bringing her imaginary world to life.

“I think she was always a bit away with the fairies and always drawing, and she knew that I could build things,” Ben Swansborough, 53, who owns Swansborough Gardens in Surrey, England, said of his 20-year-old daughter, Elsie Swansborough.

That’s why it likely didn’t surprise him when, in 2015, his daughter, then 11, asked, “Dad, can you build me a house the shape of a mushroom?”

Mr. Swansborough replied, “Of course! I will one day.”

Ms. Swansborough's blueprint of her mushroom house. (Courtesy of Ben Swanborough)

The mushroom house. ( Courtesy of Ben Swanborough)

After a few months had passed, the young girl reminded her daddy of her request. But Mr. Swansborough said he was busy.

Eventually, she told him that she’d saved 500 pounds ($600) and wanted him to use it to build the house. Seeing his daughter longing for her dream house, Mr. Swansborough couldn’t say no.

Ms. Swansborough outside the house. (Courtesy of Ben Swanborough)

Although Mr. Swansborough had done other builds involving fencing and decking, he had never built anything like what his daughter requested. He was motivated by the challenge.

“Once I started, I got carried away,” he said. “I was doing it every single chance I got, on weekends and evenings, and sparing no expense, really, to just get it to be as amazing as I could.”

Mr. Swansborough with his daughter. (Courtesy of Cuprinol Shed of the Year)

(Courtesy of Ben Swanborough)

(Courtesy of Ben Swanborough)

Building the Home

Mr. Swansborough built the home in the shape of a hexagon but started with the mushroom stalk. The inside of the stalk is big enough for an adult to stand in but still quite small.

The building process involved several challenges.

Since England can be rainy, Mr. Swansborough often worked under a tent. Accessing the house was another challenge—Mr. Swansborough had to put up scaffolding so that he could climb to the higher points of the home. Another obstacle was the simple issue of having a large building above a small central building.

“And then the real hard bit was the curved roof,” he said. “[I] had to get special plywood that bends and had to get a few layers of that and sort of force it into shape.”

The house under construction. (Courtesy of Ben Swanborough)

(Courtesy of Ben Swanborough)

Ms. Swansborough helped a bit, as did her dad’s colleagues, but the bulk of the work was done by Mr. Swansborough himself—alongside many wasps. He learned to work alongside the wasps instead of battle them and soon fell into a steady rhythm.

Intending the home to have an old-fashioned, quirky feel, he snagged a beautiful stained glass window from a car boot sale and another vintage window from a reclamation yard.

The home, which cost about 8,000 pounds ($10,000) to build, was completed in 2017 and won the Cuprinol Shed of the Year Award.

(Courtesy of Ben Swanborough)

(Courtesy of Cuprinol Shed of the Year)

(Courtesy of Cuprinol Shed of the Year)

(Courtesy of Cuprinol Shed of the Year)

(Courtesy of Cuprinol Shed of the Year)

“We were completely blown away and weren’t expecting to win,” said Mr. Swansborough.

Today, the house stands proudly in their garden. At the heart of the structure, a central pole rises to the roof. The upper, large part of the mushroom home is around 13 square feet. It has one flat side that sits against a neighbor’s fence—Mr. Swansborough needed at least one flat wall to hang things up on.

There is one main living room upstairs boasting a stained glass window and a trapdoor that goes down to the lower level of the house. It also boasts a glass floor that looks down on a seasonal stream flowing underneath and a roof window through which one can admire the stars.

The roof window. (Courtesy of Ben Swanborough)

The glass floor looks down onto a stream. (Courtesy of Ben Swanborough)

(Courtesy of Ben Swanborough)

The home contains several “suites,” complete with a bench and a desk for Ms. Swansborough to do artwork on. The home does lack a bathroom, but that’s because it wasn’t intended to have one.

“This was purely just for a fun room, a fun place for the children to have sleepovers and things,” Mr. Swansborough said.

The Swansborough family with British television personality George Clarke (C). (Courtesy of Ben Swanborough)

Ms. Swansborough, who is now studying fine art, was thrilled to see the finished product.

“I think it was way beyond her expectations,” her dad said. “I think it was way beyond all of our expectations.”

The Life of the Home

Mr. Swansborough has listed the house on Airbnb, which has proved successful—there has been no shortage of people interested in the mushroom abode.

“Everybody loves it, and everybody who sleeps in it says how relaxing it is to be able to hear the river below and listen to the birds in the morning. So there’s never been a bad response,” he said.

(Courtesy of Ben Swanborough)

Mr. Swansborough’s son, Sebastian, who is now 22 and works in the music industry, has also made good use of the home. The family held parties and sleepovers there for the children when they were younger.

The creative dad’s recent projects include a sensory gym with a meadow roof and some treehouses. Interested garden enthusiasts can follow his journey on Instagram, @swanboroughgardens.

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