Island Life Magazine Ltd April/May 2008 | Page 73

GARDENING stain finish or from a range of gorgeous “heritage” colour greens, redolent of long summer evenings. We walk into the Porchfield (all the garden rooms are named after Island villages). The walls are four inches thick, the cavity is insulated for warmth and the laminate floor similarly insulated. Depending on the finish, this building costs around £12,000, which is more than you’d pay for a shed. But this isn't no shed. “Sometimes people like the space and finish of the Porchfield, but feel they want something a little prettier,” Paul says. So he points out the Farringford, where a lovely veranda has been added: you can just picture a clematis winding its way round and through. The Alverstone, another variation, has cedar shingles on the roof, which gives it a lovely Hansel and Gretel look. Layer these fine shingles life to create the desired look, and you build up a solid, durable roof, a tried and trusted technique from the American west. Similarly, the cladded walls of the shed interlock by half an inch: you don’t see daylight through these buildings. And security doors and windows are used in garden rooms to the same standard as regular houses. All the buildings, from 4 x 3ft sheds up to multi-roomed 16 x 20ft structures, are made with meticulous attention to detail. “We do any ground work and site clearance. We even put you in touch with a certified electrician who works alongside us – you need to for today’s regulations. We check all the necessary planning considerations too,” says Paul, which, given the increasingly complexity of the regulations, is quite a boon. Lushington Garden Buildings, Lushington Hill, Wootton. Tel 882216 Island Life - www.isleofwight.net 73