Made in Britain
In the Devon countryside, Joshua Johansen applies his traditional woodworking skills and uncompromising stance on quality to make beautiful bespoke shepherds’ huts
Devon-based shepherd’s hut maker Joshua Johansen guides us through his creative process
Joshua Johansen patiently files a tenon joint, concentrating intently as its details become increasingly fine and crisp. In his spacious workshop, Josh’s hand tools, polished to a gentle sheen from years of use, are arranged on shelves and hung from walls, among cast-iron wheels, piles of timber, cutting machinery and stacks of windows and doors in varying sizes. Joshua Rose Shepherd Huts, based just outside Axminster in the heart of the beautiful Devon countryside, is a young business, set up by Josh and his wife Elaine Rose Murray just a couple of years ago. Their guiding principle is to hand-build shepherds’ huts that are both beautiful and practical. ‘Every single element is made bespoke,’ says Elaine. ‘We see our huts as becoming part of someone’s family, their memories, their history.’
Once used as basic, mobile accommodation for shepherds minding their flocks in far-off fields, shepherds’ huts have seen a resurgence as garden retreats in recent years. But it was not fashion that attracted Josh – who was born and brought up in Hawaii – to these quirky little spaces. ‘Elaine wanted to buy a yurt, so I did some research and happened to come across a shepherd’s hut. It really struck a chord,’ he says. ‘There’s something about shepherds’ huts that feels happy and right. The proportions are good – your eye knows it when it sees it. And something so small can be really well built. You can put quality into every single component. I fell in love with the idea of them.’
Josh and Elaine had met in Fiji, where Josh was on holiday and Elaine, who had been taking a break from her career in PR and marketing in London, was a volunteer on a sustainable tourism project. They married and lived in Hawaii; Josh ran his family’s logging and sawmill business while also making fine furniture. After their daughter, Isabella, was born, however, they decided to move to the UK and set up their own business.
And the obvious choice was shepherds’ huts.
From Hawaii, the couple spent 18 months researching where to live, eventually settling on a little village near Axminster because it was near the sea (Josh loves surfing and spear fishing) and Elaine’s family, and had an excellent primary school. Josh found, rented and set up his workshop via Skype phone calls and began developing his designs. ‘It was a long process of thinking about the huts and designing one in my style,’ he says. ‘The challenge was to take the original form and modernise it, without sacrificing the heritage, and being mindful of the materials used. I did lots of research, rolled things around in my head for a long time, and then I made detailed drawings from all angles and models to make sure everything worked.’
Josh is an award-winning woodworker who grew up around machinery and worked with a
cabinet-maker part-time all through his degree in English literature. Nevertheless, the process of starting from scratch was tough. ‘We ran a successful business in Hawaii and were very comfortable with our regular income,’ says Elaine. ‘Once we got here we budgeted and we live modestly. But it still took some courage – we had to have faith that we had a beautiful, quality product and that it would work out.’
The hardest part has been gaining visibility. ‘Starting out in a new country has been tough,’ says Josh. ‘Especially as the market includes large-scale, established hut makers with generous marketing budgets. There have been other, little difficulties, like differences in technical terminology, and switching from the American imperial system of measurements to metric. And in Hawaii joiners don’t make windows from wood – it’s either UPVC or aluminium. So I’ve had to learn how to do that from scratch. But at the end of the day, you show up, work hard and hope it will work out.’
The couple’s hard work paid off, however, when the first hut Josh made speculatively (which generated a lot of positive attention) was bought by a therapist to use as a treatment room. Since then, he has made huts that have become holiday lets, a family room, a garden retreat and even a surprise gift from a husband to his wife. Each hut takes between two and a half and three months to make, depending on the size and specification. ‘We don’t want to rush it,’ says Elaine. ‘Our strategic vision isn’t to be a big maker, but to craft a limited number of exceptional quality huts – and this takes time. Our clients come to us because they appreciate our approach and understand that part of this means waiting for the next build slot.’
The process of making a hut starts with fitting together the base, which is Josh’s unique design, combining a welded-steel chassis for durability and strength, oak axles for good looks and castiron wheels made in the traditional way by a local foundry. He then frames up the timber wall skeleton and covers it with structural sheathing material and a moisture barrier. Batons allow the air to flow between the moisture barrier and external cladding, which Josh primes and pre-paints by hand.
Once the walls are up, Josh installs high-quality insulation, which also goes under the floor and roof, and then the electrics and plumbing is installed before the internal cladding goes up. He constructs the roof, using rafters made from laminated birch and a traditional corrugated-steel, barrel-shaped top. Next he fits his hardwood, double-glazed windows and either a stable door or double French doors, all of which have been designed to be slightly larger than usual because, as Josh points out, if you’re buying a shepherd’s hut then you probably have somewhere to put it that has amazing views. Finally, he adds copper guttering and an internal wooden floor, and finishes it all off with a last coat of paint, inside and out.
The interior depends entirely on what the customer wants – it could be as simple as a sofa that converts into a double bed plus shutters and a drop-leaf dining table, or it could include underfloor heating, a kitchen with hand-built solid-wood cabinets and a microwave, a TV in a recessed cupboard and a fully functioning shower room. When necessary, professional trades are called in to do the plumbing and electrics, but the emphasis is always on traditional techniques and the highest quality. ‘It’s so nice to work with clients and find out their requirements,’ says Elaine. ‘A few of them email me from time to time with pictures of their hut, and it’s wonderful to know that the space we created is loved so much.’
Each hut is different to the last, and every time he builds one Josh endeavours to make subtle improvements. He recently designed a retractable deck on rollers – an industry first – for a customer who wanted an outdoor sitting space but also to be able to put the hut away in winter. ‘I’m always trying to make my huts a little more efficient, a little more elegant,’ he says. ‘One thing I’m thinking about at present is echoing the arch of the roof with a pair of double, arched French doors. I am also really excited about crafting smaller, oak-framed, semi-portable structures – like a really beautiful woodcutter’s cabin. My goal is to build to the best of my ability and to creatively expand on what’s on offer at present. If I can do that and support my family I’ll be happy. Doing this ticks all the boxes for me.’
Visit joshuaroseshepherdhuts.co.uk and take a look at his woodwork at joshuarosewoodwork.com
‘I’m always trying to make my huts a little more efficient, a little more elegant. My goal is to build to the best of my ability and to creatively expand on what’s on offer’