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In architecture, a folly is an extravagant, useless, or fanciful building, or a building that appears to be something other than what it is.

The term comes from the fact that such structures have often been dubbed "[name of architect or builder]'s Folly", in the sense of foolishness or madness. Particularly because some follies were built by one individual alone, such as the massive complex by Ferdinand Cheval.

Although ostensibly useless, very few follies were completely without purpose. Apart from their decorative aspect, many had a contemporary function which lost its validity in later years, such as hunting towers. Headley & Meulenkamp in Follies Grottoes & Garden Buildings defined a folly as a misunderstood building.

Follies are often found in parks or large grounds of houses and stately homes; some were deliberately built to look partially ruined. They were especially popular from the end of the 16th century to the 18th century.

Contents 1 Famine Follies 2 Examples 2.1 Australia 2.2 Britain 2.3 Canada 2.4 France 2.5 Germany 2.6 India 2.7 Ireland 2.8 Italy 2.9 Russia 2.10 Ukraine 2.11 United States 3 See also 4 External links 5 Bibliography

The Irish Potato Famine of 1845-49 led to the building of several follies. The society of the day held that laissez faire, not a welfare state, was the appropriate form of civil management. The concept of a welfare state was a century away, and at that time reward without labor, even to those in need, was seen as misguided. However, to hire the needy for work on useful projects would deprive existing workers of their jobs. Thus, construction projects termed "famine follies" came to be built. These include: roads in the middle of nowhere, between two seemingly random points; screen and estate walls; piers in the middle of bogs; etc. [Howley, James. 1993. The Follies and Garden Buildings of Ireland. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-05577-3]

• The Big Pineapple, Nambour, Queensland.
• Kryal Castle, Ballarat, Victoria

• Fonthill Abbey, Wiltshire, England
• The Folly Tower at Pontypool, Wales
• Freston Tower, near Ipswich, Suffolk
• Severndroog Castle, Shooter's Hill, south-east London
• Rushton Triangular Lodge, Northamptonshire (16th century)
• Stowe School, several follies in the grounds
• The Ashton Memorial, Lancaster, England
• Broadway Tower, The Cotswolds, England
• Hawkstone Park, follies and gardens in Shropshire, England
• King Alfred's Tower, Stourhead, Wiltshire, England
• Williamson's tunnels, probably the largest underground folly in the world, Liverpool, England
• Flounder's Folly, Shropshire, England
• Beckford's Tower, Somerset, England
• National Monument, Edinburgh, Scotland
• The Dunmore Pineapple, Falkirk, Scotland
• McCaig's Tower, Oban, Scotland
• Penshaw Monument, Penshaw, Sunderland
• Portmeirion, Wales
• Watkins' Tower, London
• Bettisons Folly, Hornsea, England
• Sway Tower, New Forest, England
• Old John, Bradgate Park, Leicestershire, England
• Faringdon Folly, Faringdon, Oxfordshire
• Wentworth Follies, Wentworth, South Yorkshire
• "The Cage" at Lyme Park
• Peckforton Castle
• Perrott's Folly, Birmingham, England
• Black Castle Public House, Bristol
• Gothic Tower at Goldney Hall, Bristol

• Casa Loma, Toronto, Ontario

• Désert de Retz, folly garden in Chambourcy near Paris, France (18th century)
• Parc de la Villette in Paris has a number of modern follies by architect Bernard Tschumi.

• Neuschwanstein Castle in Hohenschwangau, Bavaria
• The mosque-like pumping station at Sanssouci Park in Potsdam.

• Overbury's Folly, Thalassery, Kerala

• Casino at Marino
• Conolly's Folly

• The Bomarzo Gardens

• Ruined towers in Peterhof, Tsarskoe Selo, Gatchina, and Tsaritsino
• La Chapelle, Peterhof
• Creaking Pagoda and Chinese Village in Tsarskoe Selo
• Dutch Admiralty in Tsarskoe Selo

• Swallow's Nest near Yalta.

Nested in the small suburbs

• Belvedere Castle, Central Park, New York
• Lawson Tower, Scituate, Massachusetts
• Ypsilanti Water Tower, Ypsilanti, Michigan
• Big Duck, Flanders, New York
• Lucy the Elephant, Margate City, New Jersey
• The Longaberger Company Headquarters, Newark, Ohio
• Peachoid Water Tower, Gaffney, South Carolina
• Shell Service Station, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
• Winchester Mystery House, San Jose, California
• Bishop Castle, outside of Pueblo, Colorado
• Körner's Folly, Kernersville, North Carolina
• Hat 'n' Boots, Seattle, Washington

• Folly Fellowship
• Novelty architecture

• The Folly Fellowship- An organization which celebrates architectural follies
• Follies in the English Landscape
• Follies and Monuments - A comprehensive catalogue of Follies within the UK
• Images of follies on Odd-stuff!
• European Follies - Book to be published 2007
• Kasimira’s Castle, Wichita, Kansas *(Photo of "Lady Kasimira", with her castle)

• Headley, Gwyn & Meulenkamp, Wim, Follies Grottoes & Garden Buildings, Aurum Press, London 1999
• Headley, Gwyn & Meulenkamp, Wim, Follies — A Guide to Rogue Architecture, Jonathan Cape, London 1990
• Headley, Gwyn & Meulenkamp, Wim, Follies — A National Trust Guide, Jonathan Cape, London 1986
• Headley, Gwyn & Lord Snowdon London: Sight Unseen, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London 1998
• Headley, Gwyn Architectural Follies in America, John Wiley & Sons, New York 1996
• Meulenkamp, Wim Follies — Bizarre Bouwwerken in Nederland en België, Arbeiderpers, Amsterdam, 1995
• Howley, James The Follies and Garden Buildings of Ireland Yale University Press, New Haven & London, 1993
• Jones, Barbara Follies & Grottoes Constable, London 1953 & 1974
• Hatt, E. M. Follies National Benzole, London 1963
• Barton, Stuart Monumental Follies Lyle Publications, 1972