Everyone wants a room with a view when on holiday but this Suffolk holiday home will really push you over the edge.

Welcome to the ‘Balancing Barn’. It’s not a trick of the eye, this shiny, sleek steel building really is teetering over the edge of this hill. Yes, the incline may be slight, but just what is stopping this 30 metre long building – with half it precariously hanging in thin air – from toppling over?

Image source via William_M._Connolley

Holiday home with a difference

Its mirrored exterior only adds to the illusion, reflecting every inch of the natural surroundings – above, at the side and even underneath, creating a serene scene yet one which hides a hint of menace and danger.

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But yet it seems that’s the point. Dutch architects MVRDV and Mole Architects apparently designed the Balancing Barn to literally tip up our ideas of holiday homes as study, sensible places into one which gives us a unique, thrilling, and psychologically exciting experience. There’s always the thought of what if…?

Mirrored exterior

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After all, are you gung-ho enough to gather all your guests – there’s room for eight to sleep – at the floating end of the barn? Or even be willing to try out the hanging swing which sways innocently right underneath the part where – frankly – you expect there to be supports of some sorts. One overly-vigorous swing too many and well, you just never know.

Sleek steel building really is teetering over the edge of this hill

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Of course its design works in perfect harmony with the lush Suffolk surroundings. Where the building is on solid ground, you enjoy nature at ground level, but head to the hanging end and suddenly you experience it at a whole new level of tree height giving you a dual outlook dependent on which ‘end’ you’re in.

Taking holiday homes to a whole new level

The secret to its success is actually the clever use of heavier materials in the half that sits on the ground and that, combined with its rigid structure, prevents it from tipping.

Whether you’re brave enough to put it to the test is another matter but you can be sure that staying in this holiday home is sure to be a great, if a little uneasy, escape. You can book a stay at the balancing barn here.