The Bakers and their two children went to their country house for a short spring break and ended up isolated there for six months. Let’s see how they found a place for everyone.
In March of this year, John and Julie Baker, along with their schoolchildren, planned a two-week vacation at their country house near Toronto, but because of the pandemic, they stayed there for six months.
There were few private rooms in the house, and distance learning and online work meetings took place simultaneously. A month later, the couple realized that they couldn’t do without a separate room on wheels near their home.
When the pandemic started, we were in isolation baking, gardening and cycling. But then school started for the children, and we had work. There wasn’t enough space.

The idea for the room on wheels was the image of a shepherd’s hut. Such huts were used in Great Britain during the lambing season of sheep.
The family was especially inspired by Thomas Hardy’s novel Far from the Madding Crowd, where one of the main characters owned a farm in the wilderness of Northern England.
We dreamed of an escape from reality, of a room where everyone could be alone with themselves.
But to make such an extension not only beautiful, but also mobile, John combined the romantic image of a hut and the practical mechanism of a buggy (passenger car for off-road driving). This is how a cozy English and at the same time practical mini-house on wheels appeared.
It took the family four months to implement their plan. In April, John approached the owner of a local sawmill with a plan for a future building, who makes chicken coops and gazebos throughout the area. And in July everything was ready.
The exterior decoration of the building reflects traditional English aesthetics. For example, the facade is made of blackened pine, which has long been used in England for fishing huts.
The beauty of the room’s interior is in the details: there is an antique wood-burning stove at the entrance, and vintage decor: an egg scoop, brass utensils and an old typewriter.

Now John and Julie use the extra space for video meetings for work, and the children come here to draw.