Does form always follow function? Not if the British have anything to say about it.

Broadway Tower is a folly located on a hill in Worcestershire, England, where beacons were lit on special occasions. Lady Coventry had it built in 1799, merely to confirm whether she could see a beacon at her home twenty two miles away. Once built, Lady Coventry found she could see the light from the tower very clearly.

In true British humor, a “folly” is a building whose purpose is purely for decoration or amusement. There are many follies across the UK, with a handful of others scattered around Europe and a few in the US. Originally a folly was an expensive and foolishly designed building, but over time it turned into the name for a humorously elaborate structure. These towers and buildings became popular in the 18th and 19th centuries as a way for the rich and noble to name extravagant buildings after themselves.

An American Folly

Loveland Castle, is a folly of a historical European castle that Harry D. Andrews began constructing in 1929. Andrews was a Boy Scout troop leader, World War I veteran, and medievalist. Château Laroche (Rock Castle) as it is also known, is on the banks of the Little Miami River in Loveland, Ohio and Andrews worked on it for over 50 years. When he died in 1981, he willed the castle to his Boy Scout troop the Knights of the Golden Trail.