The fol of follie

By turns impressive and delightfully eccentric, these quirky structures became a way for the aristocracy to express their individuality away from the practical constraints of the big house

- SIMON SCOTT

WHAT is a folly? At times it seems as though there are as many definitions as there are follies themselves. The Oxford English Dictionary describes it as: A costly ornamental building (considered as) serving no practical purpose. Intriguingly, the word derives from the French folie meaning 'madness' yet can also mean 'delight. Both words are key constituents to our understanding of a folly.

Belvedere, eye-catcher, gazebo, grotto, obelisk, pavilion, pyramid, rotunda, ruin, sham building, temple, tower all can be considered as follies, yet not all are. Architectural styles typically range from battlemented Gothic to the classically inspired Greek and Roman. A true folly probably defies definition as the accolade is in the eye of the beholder, the visitor. Maybe architectural historian Gwyn Headley is correct when he states: "Follies are misunderstood buildings." A good legend also helps.

Golden age

The golden age for folly building started in the 18th century and was largely driven by the aristocracy's penchant for the Grand Tour, bringing back both physical souvenirs such as statuary and paintings as well as ideas. They saw the ruins of the ancient Greek and Roman empires, discovered for themselves the architectural theories of Palladio, Serlio and Vitruvius, and expanded their social circles while also opening their minds to all that surrounded them.