SHOWING guests through to the back garden Ben Swanborough proudly shows off his garden in full bloom. But it’s not the lush garden landscape at the back of the family’s three-bedroom semi that’s getting the most attention but rather the spectacular wooden structure hidden amongst the trees. “I built a two-story wooden house for my teenage daughter,” Ben, 54, explains in this exclusive interview.
“It started out as a playhouse but now the mushroom-shaped home is helping her beat the cost-of-living crisis. “I built it for my daughter Elsie when she was 13, now she’s a 20-year-old student and still uses it. “It’s made of recycled and upcycled wood, doors and stained-glass windows.
“The raw materials cost me £8k but it’s now worth £50k. It’s a labour of love that’s risen in value.” Not only is the mushroom house worth a great deal more now, it has also become a nice little earner for the family.
“People even pay us to stay in the mushroom tree house. Everyone loves it,” Ben says. “No one expects to find fairy tale buildings like this in our backyard.
” Garden designer Ben lives in Guildford Surrey with his drama teacher wife, Samantha, 54 their children music industry staffer, Sebastian, 22- and Elsie, 20, a fine arts student at Loughborough University. “As a child Elsie loved mushrooms and had bugged me to build her a little mushroom playhouse,” says Ben. Then in 2017 Elsie stunned her dad when she came home with a business proposition.
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