Happy holiday!
This partly fictitious advert applies to a holiday cottage close to the village of Fylingthorpe near Robin Hoods Bay. The building, once a pigsty, actually exists and may be hired for holiday accommodation through The Landmark Trust.

The eccentric squire
A palatial pigsty was built to the order of Squire John Warren Barry in the late 19th or early 20th century, like the building itself, there is some confusion over detail. Squire Barry was a ship owner who lived in nearby Fyling Hall and seemed to delight in constructing eccentric buildings. This must surely be the only pigsty in the country to be built in the style of a Grecian temple! At a nearby farm the squire built a cow shed which looked more like a small church than a simple shed.

Any style will do
The squire was either not a scholar of Classical antiquity or just didn’t care, as the final design included elements of Doric, Tuscan and Ionic architecture. In any event, records shown that he continually changed the design as building progressed, no doubt to the exasperation of the builders! On final completion, one of the builders, Mr Hart, was so delighted that he danced on the roof but unfortunately fell off and broke his nose!

Extensive alterations
Squire Barry died in 1920 and the pigsty entered a long period of deterioration before it was acquired by The Landmark Trust in 1988. Four of the six columns on the facade, all made from wood, were in a serious state of rot and needed renovation. The whole building was found to be slowly slipping downhill necessitating the installation of retaining walls and drainage. Finally, facilities were installed to meet the requirements of
a more discerning clientele!

The Landmark Trust
The Landmark Trust, founded by Sir John Smith in 1965, is a charity that acquires historic, often unusual buildings and then restores them before renting them out as holiday accommodation. It now has early 200 buildings in its care scattered throughout
the country, these include follies, towers, castles, forts, mills and gatehouses.