Images via Berkshire Shepherds Huts, unless otherwise noted.
The most romantic thing about the traditional life of a British shepherd may have been his wooden hut.
Photograph by Kendra Wilson.
The screened-in hut, at the Trade Secrets Fair in Connecticut.
Made in Sheffield, Massachusetts, Berkshire Shepherd Huts come in different degrees of specification, from a sauna to a spare bedroom. In fact, this model is the brainchild of Englishman Robin Berthet, a general contractor living on an old farm in the Berkshires.
Excellent views and fresh air and vitally enclosed in netting.
The land around Robin’s 225-year-old farmhouse was cleared by the earliest settlers. The unadorned frame is cedar, with a floor of oak, ash, cherry, maple, or pine.
A metal bedstead is pushed into the darker, enclosed area.
Photograph by Kendra Wilson.
The hut in which Alan Bates shivered, as shepherd Gabriel Oak in Far from the Madding Crowd, was dark, with one or two tiny windows.
With an insulated corrugated ceiling of galvanized steel, the American shepherd huts keep an authentic atmosphere while being completely modern. This can be a dilemma in itself: who is the hut for, and who gets to make the decisions?
Insulation of floors, wall, and roof comes from recycled denim. A bare frame, with no insulation, may seem like a more relaxed approach to a summer building, but these structures have proved to be more hot when you want to be cool, as well as more cold at the wrong time.
Outside awnings can also be provided, made from recycled cotton boat sails.
The huts are easy to transport and have been scattered around the country, since their inception in 2014.
Authentic-looking wheels are made by a small Amish-run foundry in Pennsylvania; the key component is melted-down brake drums.