The Folly Coffee House

Part of our old home in Settle has taken on a new least of life - as a coffee house.   It opened today and I crept in to take some sneaky pictures of the old place.   It was a thrill to see that almost all of the things we did on that ground floor have been retained.

 Great to see that The Folly is marketing itself boldly at last

 The enormous fireplace, complete with daughter Lorna's blue toy box

 Our downstairs bedroom is now a cosy coffee lounge.   Note the round topped door and unique door frame cut to fit over quite a few days if I remember.

 The three oak posts in the middle of the floor of what was our lounge are vital supports for the floor above, which used to wallow alarmingly when we first bought the place.

 Settle's Timberworks made this external oak door which leads to an alleyway at the rear of the building.   This doorway had been abandoned maybe a century or two ago and the alleyway had accumulated perhaps two feet or more of soil and debris which we removed, installing a land drain instead.   This solved a serious dampness problem at the back of The Folly's north end.   We needed planning permission and Listed Building consent to re-open an obviously ancient doorway.   Settle Town Council objected at the time thinking we were abusing the Folly and knocking it about!

 Thrilled to see that my rustic screen between the main lounge and the then small kitchen area has been retained.   The door leads through to the garage / stable block.   It, and the door below was made by Wonder of Wood Ltd of Stainforth.

 Modern doors do not come much better than this one which now gives access to the south end of the building - see below also.