A dazzling den for kids’ parties and sleepovers

LEE WILSON, 38, lives in Linlithgow, West Lothian, with husband, Jim, 39, a farmer, and children Abbie, 11, Claire, nine, and twins Robert and Thomas, seven.

I suspect that friends thought we had lost our minds when we bought our £4,500 hut complete with charcoal barbecue. After all, neither of us had barbecued as much as a sausage our entire lives. But when we saw our 11-metre square hexagonal hut at the Royal Highland show near edinburgh last summer, we instantly saw the potential.

It’s a wonderful space for us to hang out as a family and enjoy eating outdoors. And, yes, I have been very slowly learning how to barbecue although Jim is yet to even try!

He’s a typical old-fashioned farmer and doesn’t think cooking — even on an outdoor grill — is for him.

I insisted on getting an extractor fan which means all the fumes escape, but it also halves the normal 30-40 minutes it takes for the charcoal to heat, ready to cook. that’s essential with four hungry children to feed.

But the biggest attraction for us is as a space for the kids to escape with their friends — particularly as they grow older.

We held Abbie’s 11th birthday party there last month. It was snowing outside but we

toasted marshmallows, played games and had an impromptu karaoke.

My kids’ friends all tell them how lucky they are, and I know we’ll be having backto-back parties and sleepovers in the hut all summer.

The shingle-roofed pod — which we simply call The Hut — can sleep five (the benches transform into two double beds and a single). We ordered it from Logspan in Dumbartonshire and it arrived on the worst day of the year just before Christmas.

It took the team six hours to erect in torrential rain, and we linked it up to the electricity supply in the house.

As soon as they left, we all piled in, snuggled up under the sheepskin rugs on the benches and drank hot chocolate!