LIFESTYLE
Beach Hut Heaven Designer Pearl Lowe reveals why the rows of cherished and much-desired huts in all their hues and forms on Britain’s beaches make her heart sing, and how one in particular chimes with her love of whimsical, eclectic interiors
T
here is something so quintessentially British about a beach hut. These simple single-storey structures are a legacy left to us by our Georgian and Victorian ancestors. Despite relishing the benefits of a restorative dip in the sea, they were quite prudish when it came to changing out of their high-necked, ankle-scuffing attire into their swimwear, so much so that they invented the “bathing machine” in the 1750s. This device, when wheeled down the sands by an attendant, would take bathers
from the shore to the water without compromising their modesty. For more than a century, the machines were very popular among the wealthy and aristocratic – including Queen Victoria herself, who had one of her own on the Isle of Wight. In later years, that concept would evolve into the beach hut, still a place where you could change in comfort, but one that was more accessible to the masses. Not for that generation the struggle of wriggling out of your wet bathing suit behind a strategically placed towel.
ABOVE What makes this beach hut really special is that it is at the end of the row. This means that, unlike the other cabins, it has a dual aspect via windows at the front and on one side of the structure.
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