If you wanted a colonial period dependency to store your motorized lawn equipment, would you hire a contractor, a builder, or maybe an architect to make sure everything was perfect or would you sketch it out on scrap paper and then go ahead and build it all by yourself?
Me? I’d have to go with the experts. My brother? He is the expert. He’s the talented Richmond VA artist/architect/builder/designer/gardener/expert who can do it all. Sigh.
When I visited my brother and his wife in Richmond VA last spring, he was just thinking about the building and wasn’t sure he’d do it. I asked a little about what he had in mind. He picked a piece of scrap paper and said, “Oh… if I do it, it’ll be something like this.”
Several years ago, he designed and built the perfect colonial garden house, below, that I bragged blogged about years ago. His new garden outbuilding, if he decided to built it, would match the style of the existing garden house, he said.
If you’d like to check out my earlier post about his gardens and the existing garden house, just click HERE.
Once his mind went from ‘thinking about it’ to ‘doing it,’ it didn’t take long for his plan to take shape. In the shadow of the existing garden building, he began the framework of the smaller building. It was nestled on a shaded spit of land overlooking a clear stream that runs through a thicket separating homes.
Up it began and almost overnight the framing was done. Thankfully he supplied me with the updated photos that I pestered and implored him to send on a regular basis. I didn’t want to miss one step.
And it quickly took shape with the roof and siding in place.
The only thing left was the door….
And the door is finished…
And voila! The finished product… a beautiful colonial garden dependency to store the lawnmower and small garden tools. I’m sure that gives him more room in the larger garden building for other projects.
The photo below is taken from the same vantage point as the photo at the top of the post, now with the brand new outbuilding in the foreground and the existing garden house in the distance.
Do they look like they’ve been there since the eighteenth-century? I’d say so. Is my brother gifted? I’d say so! Way to go, bro! Once again, it is another perfect project.
Wow. That is really nice. It gives the yard character. It’s so much better than a cookie cutter shed.
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I agree. Now if he would just come build one for me…
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WOW!! Love the character and charm
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Me too! He adds holiday decor to the larger one for Christmas and I bet he’ll do the same thing for the new outbuilding.
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Now, that is impressive. Love them both, and boy how could I fill them up. 🙂
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I miss my garden house I had in Virginia. My tools are on the wall in the garage now. I can’t complain too much…
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Amazing article! Thank you so much for sharing my dad’s talent along with your talent of writing. XOXO Love, Paige
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Paige, I wish that I could capture his talent with words and pictures, but he is one-of-a-kind… as you well know. Of course, we also know he couldn’t have done all this without your mom’s guidance, yes? 💕
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Hate to be a bit “earthy” but that lovely shed is remarkably like a privy except for the window.
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Yes, it could be a colonial building of convenience. In eighteenth-century Williamsburg, the building was called the “necessary.” It could be an architectural feature in colonial gardens (see Mt. Vernon), may have windows or ‘lights,’ and some were quite sizable. This handsome dependency is larger and would have certainly been a two-holer. 😌
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Absolutely lovely!
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They really have created a little paradise. 😊
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Darling!
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It’s so much fun to visit him and see his newest creative handiwork…. indoors and outdoors.
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With that narrow door, the mower must be tiny…electric or push?
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I’m not sure what he owns but it rolls right up the ramp and inside nicely. I own the push mower!
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