architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

, a folly is a

building A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory (although there's also portable buildings). Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and fun ...

constructed primarily for decoration, but suggesting through its appearance some other purpose, or of such extravagant appearance that it transcends the range of usual garden buildings. Eighteenth-century

English landscape garden The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (french: Jardin à l'anglaise, it, Giardino all'inglese, german: Englischer Landschaftsgarten, pt, Jardim inglês, es, Jardín inglés), is a sty ...

ing and

French landscape garden The French landscape garden (french: jardin anglais, jardin à l'anglaise, jardin paysager, jardin pittoresque, jardin anglo-chinois) is a style of garden inspired by idealized romantic landscapes and the paintings of Hubert Robert, Claude Lorrai ...

ing often featured mock Roman temples, symbolising classical virtues. Other 18th-century garden follies represented

Chinese temples Chinese temple architecture refer to a type of structures used as place of worship of Chinese Buddhism, Taoism or Chinese folk religion, where people revere ethnic Chinese gods and ancestors. They can be classified as: * '' miào'' () or ''di� ...

Egyptian pyramids The Egyptian pyramids are ancient masonry structures located in Egypt. Sources cite at least 118 identified "Egyptian" pyramids. Approximately 80 pyramids were built within the Kingdom of Kush, now located in the modern country of Sudan. Of ...

, ruined

medieval castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

s or

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conce ...

s, or Tatar tents, to represent different continents or historical eras. Sometimes they represented rustic villages, mills, and cottages to symbolise rural virtues. Many follies, particularly during times of famine, such as the Great Famine in Ireland, were built as a form of

poor relief In English and British history, poor relief refers to government and ecclesiastical action to relieve poverty. Over the centuries, various authorities have needed to decide whose poverty deserves relief and also who should bear the cost of hel ...

, to provide employment for peasants and unemployed artisans. In English, the term began as "a popular name for any costly structure considered to have shown folly in the builder", the ''Oxford English Dictionary'''s definition. Follies are often named after the individual who commissioned or designed the project. The connotations of silliness or madness in this definition is in accord with the general meaning of the French word ; however, another older meaning of this word is "delight" or "favourite abode". This sense included conventional, practical buildings that were thought unduly large or expensive, such as

Beckford's Folly Fonthill Abbey—also known as Beckford's Folly—was a large Gothic Revival country house built between 1796 and 1813 at Fonthill Gifford in Wiltshire, England, at the direction of William Thomas Beckford and architect James Wyatt. It wa ...

, an extremely expensive early

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

country house that collapsed under the weight of its tower in 1825, 12 years after completion. As a general term, "folly" is usually applied to a small building that appears to have no practical purpose or the purpose of which appears less important than its striking and unusual design, but the term is ultimately subjective, so a precise definition is not possible.

Characteristics

The concept of the folly is subjective and it has been suggested that the definition of a folly "lies in the eyes of the beholder". Typical characteristics include: * They have no purpose other than as an ornament. Often they have some of the appearance of a building constructed for a particular purpose, such as a castle or tower, but this appearance is a sham. Equally, if they have a purpose, it may be disguised. * They are buildings, or parts of buildings. Thus they are distinguished from other garden

ornaments An ornament is something used for decoration. Ornament may also refer to: Decoration *Ornament (art), any purely decorative element in architecture and the decorative arts *Biological ornament, a characteristic of animals that appear to serve on ...

such as

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

. * They are purpose-built. Follies are deliberately built as ornaments. * They are often eccentric in design or construction. This is not strictly necessary; however, it is common for these structures to call attention to themselves through unusual details or form. * There is often an element of fakery in their construction. The canonical example of this is the sham ruin: a folly which pretends to be the remains of an old building but which was in fact constructed in that state. * They were built or commissioned for pleasure.

History

Follies began as decorative accents on the great estates of the late 16th and early 17th centuries, but they flourished especially in the two centuries which followed. Many estates had ruins of monastic houses and (in Italy) Roman villas; others, lacking such buildings, constructed their own sham versions of these

romantic Romantic may refer to: Genres and eras * The Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries ** Romantic music, of that era ** Romantic poetry, of that era ** Romanticism in science, of that e ...

structures. However, very few follies are completely without a practical purpose. Apart from their decorative aspect, many originally had a use which was lost later, such as hunting towers. Follies are misunderstood structures, according to The Folly Fellowship, a charity that exists to celebrate the history and splendour of these often neglected buildings.

Follies in 18th-century French and English gardens

Follies (french: fabriques) were an important feature of the English garden and

in the 18th century, such as Stowe and

Stourhead Stourhead () is a 1,072-hectare (2,650-acre) estate at the source of the River Stour in the southwest of the English county of Wiltshire, extending into Somerset. The estate is about northwest of the town of Mere and includes a Grade I listed ...

in England and

Ermenonville Ermenonville () is a commune in the Oise department, northern France. Ermenonville is notable for its park named for Jean-Jacques Rousseau by René Louis de Girardin. Rousseau's tomb was designed by the painter Hubert Robert, and sits on the Isl ...

and the

gardens of Versailles The Gardens of Versailles (french: Jardins du château de Versailles ) occupy part of what was once the ''Domaine royal de Versailles'', the royal demesne of the château of Versailles. Situated to the west of the palace, the gardens cover som ...

in France. They were usually in the form of Roman temples, ruined Gothic abbeys, or Egyptian pyramids.

Painshill Park Painshill (also referred to as "Pains Hill" in some 19th-century texts), near Cobham, Surrey, England, is one of the finest remaining examples of an 18th-century English landscape park. It was designed and created between 1738 and 1773 by Charle ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

contained almost a full set, with a large Gothic tower and various other Gothic buildings, a Roman temple, a hermit's retreat with resident hermit, a Turkish tent, a shell-encrusted water grotto and other features. In France they sometimes took the form of romantic farmhouses, mills and cottages, as in

Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child a ...

Hameau de la Reine The Hameau de la Reine (, ''The Queen's Hamlet'') is a rustic retreat in the park of the Château de Versailles built for Marie Antoinette in 1783 near the Petit Trianon in Yvelines, France. It served as a private meeting place for the Queen and h ...

at Versailles. Sometimes they were copied from landscape paintings by painters such as

Claude Lorrain Claude Lorrain (; born Claude Gellée , called ''le Lorrain'' in French; traditionally just Claude in English; c. 1600 – 23 November 1682) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher of the Baroque era. He spent most of his life in It ...

and Hubert Robert. Often, they had symbolic importance, illustrating the virtues of ancient Rome, or the virtues of country life. The temple of philosophy at Ermenonville, left unfinished, symbolised that knowledge would never be complete, while the temple of modern virtues at Stowe was deliberately ruined, to show the decay of contemporary morals. Later in the 18th century, the follies became more exotic, representing other parts of the world, including Chinese pagodas, Japanese bridges, and

Tatar The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

tents.

Famine follies

The Great Famine of Ireland of 1845–1849 led to the building of several follies in order to provide relief to the poor without issuing unconditional handouts. However, to hire the needy for work on useful projects would deprive existing workers of their jobs. Thus, construction projects termed "famine follies" came to be built. These included roads in the middle of nowhere, between two seemingly random points, screen and estate walls, piers in the middle of bogs, etc.

Examples

Roman ruin Schoenbrunn Sept 2007 panoramic

Small Gloriette - Sch%C3%B6nbrunn Palace

Follies are found worldwide, but they are particularly abundant in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

Australia

* Eastlink hotel, in Victoria

Austria

* Roman ruin and

gloriette A gloriette (from the 12th-century French ''gloire'' meaning "little room") is a building in a garden erected on a site that is elevated with respect to the surroundings. The structural execution and shape can vary greatly, often in the form ...

s, in the park of Schönbrunn Palace,

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Canada

Dundurn Castle Dundurn Castle is a historic neoclassical mansion on York Boulevard in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The house took three years and $175,000 to build, and was completed in 1835. The forty-room castle featured the latest conveniences of gas lighti ...

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...

Czech Republic

* Series of buildings in

Lednice–Valtice Cultural Landscape The Lednice–Valtice Cultural Landscape (also Lednice–Valtice Area or Lednice–Valtice Complex, cs, Lednicko-valtický areál) is a cultural-natural landscape complex of in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It comprises the mu ...

(UNESCO

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

) * Chinese Pavilions in chateau gardens in

Vlašim Vlašim (; german: Wlaschim) is a town in Benešov District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 11,000 inhabitants. Vlašim is known for its castle and English style park. Administrative parts Villages of Bolina, D ...

Děčín Děčín (; german: Tetschen, 1942–1945: ''Tetschen–Bodenbach'') is a city in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 47,000 inhabitants. It is the 7th largest municipality in the country by area. Administrative parts D ...

Krásný Dvůr Krásný Dvůr (german: Schönhof) is a municipality and village in Louny District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 600 inhabitants. Administrative parts Villages of Brody, Chotěbudice, Chrašťany, Němčany, Vy ...

France

Chanteloup Pagoda Chanteloup may refer to several communes in France: * Chanteloup, Eure, in the Eure ''département'' *Chanteloup, Ille-et-Vilaine, in the Ille-et-Vilaine ''département'' * Chanteloup, Manche, in the Manche ''département'' *Chanteloup, Deux-Sèv ...

, near

Amboise Amboise (; ) is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France. Today a small market town, it was once home of the French royal court. Geography Amboise lies on the banks of the river Loire, east of Tours. It is also about away f ...

Désert de Retz The Désert de Retz is a garden on the edge of the forêt de Marly in the commune of Chambourcy, in north-central France. It was created at the end of the 18th century by the aristocrat François Racine de Monville on his estate. The architect Bo ...

, folly garden in

Chambourcy Chambourcy () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located west of Saint-Germain-en-Laye and about west of Paris. Its inhabitants are called ''Camboriciens''. "Chambourcy", forme ...

near

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

(18th century) *

Parc de la Villette The Parc de la Villette is the third-largest park in Paris, in area, located at the northeastern edge of the city in the 19th arrondissement. The park houses one of the largest concentrations of cultural venues in Paris, including the Cité de ...

has a number of modern follies by architect

Bernard Tschumi Bernard Tschumi (born 25 January 1944 in Lausanne, Switzerland) is an architect, writer, and educator, commonly associated with deconstructivism. Son of the well-known Swiss architect Jean Tschumi and a French mother, Tschumi is a dual French-S ...

. *

Ferdinand Cheval Ferdinand Cheval (19 April 1836 – 19 August 1924), often nicknamed Facteur Cheval ("Mail Carrier Cheval") was a French mail carrier who spent 33 years building Le Palais idéal (the "Ideal Palace") in Hauterives, in southeastern France.

in Châteauneuf-de-Galaure, built what he called an Ideal Palace, seen as an example of naive architecture. *

, in the park of the Château de Versailles * The

Grottoes of Ferrand The Grottoes of Ferrand ( French: ''Grottes de Ferrand'') are a series of 17th-century artificial grottoes on the estate of the Château de Ferrand in Saint-Hippolyte, Gironde, in southwestern France, near the town of Saint-Émilion. Carved out ...

, in Saint-Hippolyte,

Gironde Gironde ( US usually, , ; oc, Gironda, ) is the largest department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Southwestern France. Named after the Gironde estuary, a major waterway, its prefecture is Bordeaux. In 2019, it had a population of 1,62 ...

Germany

* Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe water features * Lighthouse in the park of

Moritzburg Castle Moritzburg Castle (german: Schloss Moritzburg) or Moritzburg Palace is a Baroque palace in Moritzburg, in the German state of Saxony, about northwest of the Saxon capital, Dresden. The castle has four round towers and lies on a symmetrical art ...

near

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

* Mosque in the

Schwetzingen Castle Schwetzingen Palace is a schloss in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. Schwetzingen was the summer residence of the Electors Palatine Charles III Philip and Charles IV Theodore (of the House of Wittelsbach). It is situated in Schwetzingen, ...

gardens *

Pfaueninsel Pfaueninsel (, "Peafowl, Peacock Island") is an island in the River Havel situated in Berlin-Wannsee, in the district of Steglitz-Zehlendorf in southwestern Berlin, near the border with Potsdam in Brandenburg. The island is part of the Palaces a ...

artificial ruin,

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Ruinenberg The Ruinenberg is a hill in the Bornstedt borough of Potsdam, located north of Sanssouci Park. In 1748, the Prussian king Frederick the Great had a water tank with a capacity of around built on top to supply the Sanssouci water features, and had ...

near

Sanssouci Park Sanssouci Park is a large park surrounding Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam, Germany, built under Frederick the Great in the mid-1700s. Following the terracing of the vineyard and the completion of the palace, the surroundings were included in the stru ...

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

Hungary

* Bory Castle at

Székesfehérvár Székesfehérvár (; german: Stuhlweißenburg ), known colloquially as Fehérvár ("white castle"), is a city in central Hungary, and the country's ninth-largest city. It is the regional capital of Central Transdanubia, and the centre of Fejér ...

* Taródi Castle at Sopron * Vajdahunyad vára in the City Park of

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

India

Overbury's Folly Overbury's Folly is a seaside park with a watch tower. It is located less than a kilometer from Thalassery, a commercial town on the Malabar Coast in the Kannur district, Kerala, India. It is named after its builder, E.N. Overbury, who serv ...

Thalassery Thalassery (), formerly Tellicherry, is a municipality, Commercial City on the Malabar Coast in Kannur district, in the state of Kerala, India, bordered by the districts of Mahé (Pondicherry), Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kasaragod and Kodagu (Karna ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

Rock Garden of Chandigarh The Rock Garden of Chandigarh is a sculpture garden for rock enthusiasts in Chandigarh, India. It is also known as Nek Chand Saini's Rock Garden of Nathupur after its founder Nek Chand Saini, a government official who started building the ga ...

Ireland

Ballysaggartmore Towers Ballysaggartmore Towers are two ornate entrance lodges (one also acts as a bridge) that are situated on the former Ballysaggartmore Demesne approx 2.5 kilometres from the town of Lismore in County Waterford, Ireland. The structures are consider ...

County Waterford County Waterford ( ga, Contae Phort Láirge) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is part of the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region. It is named ...

* Carden's Folly *

Casino at Marino The Casino at Marino is a small summer or pleasure house, located in Marino, Dublin, Ireland. Sometimes erroneously described as a folly, it was designed by Scottish architect William Chambers for James Caulfeild, the 1st Earl of Charlemont ...

Conolly's Folly The Conolly Folly ( ga, Baois Uí Chongaile), a.k.a. The Obelisk, is an obelisk structure located between Celbridge, Leixlip and Maynooth in County Kildare, Ireland. It was built in the mid-18th century by the Conolly family, then owners of the ...

and

The Wonderful Barn The Wonderful Barn is a corkscrew-shaped building on the edge of Castletown House Estate, formerly of the Conolly family, in Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland. The barn itself is formally in neighbouring Leixlip. Structure Flanked by two small ...

on the same estate *

Killiney Hill Killiney Hill ( ga, Cnoc Chill Iníon Léinín) is the southernmost of the two hills which form the southern boundary of Dublin Bay, the other being Dalkey Hill. These two hills form part of Killiney Hill Park. Crowned by a monument, Killiney Hil ...

, with several follies *

Larchill Larchill is the most complete surviving ferme ornée (ornamental farm-style garden) in Europe and the site of multiple follies. The main component of Larchill Demesne, it was created in the mid-18th century, and restored in the mid-1990s. It l ...

County Kildare County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county, ...

, with several follies *

Powerscourt Estate Powerscourt Estate ( ga, Eastát Chúirt an Phaoraigh), located in Enniskerry, County Wicklow, Ireland, is a large country estate which is noted for its country house, house and landscaped gardens, today occupying . The house, originally a 13th ...

, which contains the Pepperpot Tower *

Saint Anne's Park Saint Anne's Park ( ga, Páirc Naomh Áine) is a public park situated between Raheny and Clontarf, suburbs on the northside of Dublin, Ireland. It is owned and managed by Dublin City Council. The park, the second largest municipal park in Dub ...

, which contains a number of follies *

Saint Enda's Park St Enda's Park () is a large public park in Rathfarnham in Ireland. The park, which is approximately in size, contains the Pearse Museum and is managed by the Office of Public Works. History St Enda's was not always a public park. Patrick Pear ...

, former school of

Patrick Pearse Patrick Henry Pearse (also known as Pádraig or Pádraic Pearse; ga, Pádraig Anraí Mac Piarais; 10 November 1879 – 3 May 1916) was an Irish teacher, barrister, poet, writer, nationalist, republican political activist and revolutionary who ...

, contains several follies *

The Jealous Wall The Jealous Wall is a large 18th century Gothic folly made from limestone located in the Belvedere House and Gardens in Mullingar, County Westmeath, Ireland. It is notable for being the largest folly in Ireland. It was constructed by Robert Ro ...

at Belvedere House near Mullingar, Co. Westmeath

Italy

La Scarzuola La Scarzuola is an architectural complex in Umbria, located in Montegiove hamlet in the comune of Montegabbione, Terni Province. It was originally the site of a 13th Century convent associated with St. Francis of Assisi, but was partially abando ...

Montegabbione Montegabbione is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Terni in the Italian region Umbria, located about southwest of Perugia and about northwest of Terni. Montegabbione borders the following municipalities: Fabro, Ficulle, Monteleone ...

* The

Park of the Monsters The Sacro Bosco ("Sacred Grove"), colloquially called Park of the Monsters (Parco dei Mostri in Italian), also named Garden of Bomarzo, is a Mannerist monumental complex located in Bomarzo, in the province of Viterbo, in northern Lazio, Italy. Th ...

(Bomarzo Gardens) * Il Giardino dei Tarocchi near

Capalbio Capalbio is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Grosseto in Tuscany region of Italy, located about south of Florence and about southeast of Grosseto. Capalbio borders the following municipalities: Manciano, Montalto di Castro, Orbete ...

Jamaica

* Three follies were built on Folly Estate, Port Antonio, in 1905. They are now in ruins.Follies Magazine #108, "My Folly Folly Folly: a Jamaican Journey"

Malta

Lija Belvedere Tower The Lija Belvedere Tower, officially Torri Belvedere, is a belvedere in Lija, Malta. It was built in the 19th century as a folly within a private garden, and it is now located on a roundabout. History The belvedere tower was built in 1857 as a f ...

Poland

* Roman aqueduct,

Arkadia, Łowicz County Arkadia () is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Nieborów, within Łowicz County, Łódź Voivodeship, in central Poland. It lies approximately east of Łowicz and north-east of the regional capital Łódź. The village has a ...

Temple of the Sibyl The Temple of the Sibyl (in Polish, ''Świątynia Sybilli'') is a colonnaded round monopteral temple-like structure at Puławy, Poland, built at the turn of the 19th century as a museum by Izabela Czartoryska. History The "Temple of the Siby ...

in Puławy

Romania

Iulia Hasdeu Castle The Iulia Hașdeu Castle is a folly built in the form of small castle by historian and politician Bogdan Petriceicu Hașdeu in the city of Câmpina, Romania. Work on it began in 1893, after Hasdeu's daughter, Iulia Hasdeu, died at the age of 1 ...

Russia

* Ruined towers in Peterhof,

Tsarskoe Selo Tsarskoye Selo ( rus, Ца́рское Село́, p=ˈtsarskəɪ sʲɪˈlo, a=Ru_Tsarskoye_Selo.ogg, "Tsar's Village") was the town containing a former residence of the Russian imperial family and visiting nobility, located south from the cen ...

, Gatchina, and Tsaritsino *

Creaking Pagoda The Creaking Pagoda (Скрипучая беседка), also known as the Chinese Summer House (Китайская беседка), is a small summer house located between two ponds in Tsarskoe Selo, Russia. It stands in on the boundary separat ...

and

Chinese Village The Chinese Village in the Alexander Park of Tsarskoye Selo, Russia was Catherine the Great's attempt to follow the 18th-century fashion for the Chinoiserie. Probably inspired by a similar project in Drottningholm, Catherine ordered Antonio ...

in Tsarskoe Selo *

Dutch Admiralty The Dutch Admiralty is the name applied to three follies designed in the traditional Dutch style and erected in summer 1773 on the bank of the Large Pond in the Catherine Park of Tsarskoe Selo (a former royal residence, now town of Pushkin, a su ...

in Tsarskoe Selo

Spain

El Capricho El Capricho is a villa in Comillas (Cantabria), Spain, designed by Antoni Gaudí. It was built in 1883–1885 for the summer use of a wealthy client, Máximo Díaz de Quijano. Unfortunately the client died a year before the house was completed. ...

Comillas Comillas is a small township and municipality in the northern reaches of Spain, in the autonomous community of Cantabria. The Marquessate of Comillas, a fiefdom of Spanish nobility, holds ceremonial office in the seat of power at a small castle ...

( Cantabria)

Ukraine

* Ruins in

Oleksandriia Oleksandriia () is a city located in Oleksandriia Raion, Kirovohrad Oblast (region) in central Ukraine. Administratively, Oleksandriia serves as the administrative center of Oleksandriia Raion (district). Oleksandriia also hosts the administrat ...

Bila Tserkva Bila Tserkva ( uk, Бі́ла Це́рква ; ) is a city in the center of Ukraine, the largest city in Kyiv Oblast (after Kyiv, which is the administrative center, but not part of the oblast), and part of the Right Bank. It serves as the admi ...

United Kingdom

England

Scotland

* The Caldwell Tower, Lugton, Renfrewshire * Captain Frasers Folly (

Uig Tower The Uig Tower, also known as Captain Fraser's Folly, is a nineteenth century folly located in Uig on the island of Skye in the Highlands of Scotland. It is a category B listed building. Location The Uig Tower stands along the A87, which con ...

) Isle of Skye *

Dunmore Pineapple Dunmore from the ga, Dún Mór, link=no or gd, Dùn Mòr, link=no, meaning "great fort", may refer to: People * Dunmore (surname) * Earl of Dunmore, a title in the Peerage of Scotland, includes a list of earls * Countess of Dunmore (disambiguat ...

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

* Hume Castle,

Berwickshire Berwickshire ( gd, Siorrachd Bhearaig) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in south-eastern Scotland, on the English border. Berwickshire County Council existed from 1890 until 1975, when the area became part of th ...

* Kinnoull Hill Tower,

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

McCaig's Tower McCaig's Tower, also known as McCaig's Folly, is a prominent tower on Battery Hill overlooking the town of Oban in Argyll, Scotland. It is built of Bonawe granite taken from the quarries across Airds Bay, on Loch Etive, from Muckairn, with a ...

, Oban, Argyll and Bute * National Monument, Edinburgh, National Monument, Edinburgh * Shaw Monument, Prestwick * The Temple near Castle Semple Loch, Renfrewshire

Wales

Paxton's Tower - Carmarthenshire (5369178381)

* Clytha Castle, Monmouthshire *Derry Ormond Tower, Ceredigion * Folly Tower, Pontypool, Folly Tower at Pontypool * Paxton's Tower, Carmarthenshire * Portmeirion * Gwrych Castle, Conwy County Borough

United States

* Bancroft Tower, Worcester, Massachusetts * Belvedere Castle, New York City * Bishop Castle, outside of Pueblo, Colorado * Coral Castle, Homestead, Florida * Hofmann Tower in Lyons, Illinois * Kingfisher Tower, Otsego Lake (New York) * Korner's Folly, Körner’s Folly, Kernersville, North Carolina * Lawson Tower, Scituate, Massachusetts * Parthenon (Nashville), The Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee * Summersville Lake Lighthouse, Mount Nebo, Nicholas County, West Virginia, Mount Nebo, West Virginia * Vessel (structure), Vessel, New York, New York * Watts Towers, Watts, Los Angeles

References

Bibliography

*Barlow, Nick et al.
Follies of Europe
', Garden Art Press, 2009, *Barton, Stuart ''Monumental Follies'' Lyle Publications, 1972 *Folly Fellowship, The ''Follies Magazine'', published quarterly *Folly Fellowship, The ''Follies Journal'', published annually *Folly Fellowship, The ''Foll-e'', an electronic bulletin published monthly and available free to all *Hatt, E. M. ''Follies'' National Benzole, London 1963 *Headley, Gwyn ''Architectural Follies in America'', John Wiley & Sons, New York 1996 *Headley, Gwyn & Meulenkamp, Wim, ''Follies — A Guide to Rogue Architecture'', Jonathan Cape, London 1990 *Headley, Gwyn & Meulenkamp, Wim, ''Follies — A National Trust Guide'', Jonathan Cape, London 1986 *Headley, Gwyn & Meulenkamp, Wim, ''Follies Grottoes & Garden Buildings'', Aurum Press, London 1999 *Howley, James ''The Follies and Garden Buildings of Ireland'' Yale University Press, New Haven & London, 1993 *Jackson, Hazelle ''Shellhouses and Grottoes'', Shire Books, England, 2001 *Jones, Barbara ''Follies & Grottoes'' Constable, London 1953 & 1974 *Meulenkamp, Wim ''Follies — Bizarre Bouwwerken in Nederland en België'', Arbeiderpers, Amsterdam, 1995

External links

* {{Authority control Folly buildings, Landscape garden features Landscape design history Building types

Characteristics

History

Follies in 18th-century French and English gardens

Famine follies

Examples

Australia

Austria

Canada

Czech Republic

France

Germany

Hungary

India

Ireland

Italy

Jamaica

Malta

Poland

Romania

Russia

Spain

Ukraine

United Kingdom

England

Scotland

Wales

United States

See also

References

Bibliography

External links