The House in the Clouds is a

water tower A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a distribution system for potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. Water towers often operate in conju ...

Thorpeness Thorpeness is a seaside village in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England, which developed in the early 20th century into an exclusive holiday village. It belongs to the parish of Aldringham cum Thorpe and lies within the Suffolk Coast ...

, Suffolk, England. It was built in 1923 to receive water pumped from Thorpeness Windmill 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. The original capacity of the water tank was but during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, 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 . 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. It has been a Grade II

Listed Building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

since 1995. The_House_on_Stilts_-_geograph

The house was featured in the Suffolk programme during Series 3 of the Channel 4 TV Series ''Homes by the Sea'' in 2017. It also featured on BBC's ''

Flog It! ''Flog It!'' is a BBC television series that has been broadcast since 27 May 2002, presented by Paul Martin (although the first five episodes were presented by Mark Harnden). Description The show follows a similar formula to ''Antiques Roadsho ...

'' on 8 May 2018.

References

External links

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Water towers in the United Kingdom Folly buildings in England Infrastructure completed in 1923 Towers completed in 1923 Buildings and structures in Suffolk Grade II listed buildings in Suffolk {{suffolk-struct-stub