Long Itchlington, may be no more than an unassuming Warwickshire village but it packs a pubby punch – boasting no fewer than seven watering holes. It’s part and parcel of the passing trade here, not only from the A423 that zips through the high street, but also the tranquil Grand Union Canal bringing cyclists along the towpath and wandering houseboaters onto shore. There’s something charmingly resourceful about these canal folk, with everything economically housed in the narrow innards of their boat. It’s an ingenious efficiency that’s echoed at Family Teeny Weeny House, an onshore hideaway with a surprisingly similar ethos.
12ft long by 10ft wide the Family Teeny Weeny House is truly teeny weeny. When you look at the raw measurements it doesn’t seem particularly appealing, but the reality is quite the contrary. This dwelling is a masterpiece of quirky design. Despite the odds it packs within its timber walls a kitchen, dining area, and three different sleeping spaces, with fold out bunk-beds downstairs and a king-sized bed tucked inside the roof. The stairs themselves, well, they’re not really stairs at all, but a pair of staggered kitchen cupboards that together form block-like stacks you ascend onto the table and up into the second floor.
Outside, the spacious decking has a bigger footprint than the actual house and boasts a wood-fired hot tub; a prime spot to enjoy some late night stargazing. A covered dining area is accompanied by a woodburner, modified so you can both cook on it and use as an open fire and the tall, shiny chimneys appropriately echo those old fashioned canal boats, releasing soft wisps of smoke as they quietly chug along.
Peculiar, the Family Teeny Weeny House certainly is, but in a dynamic and fun sort of way. If you’re looking for something different then the quirky, storybook charm of it is difficult to contend with. Like everything, the originality of glamping has to contend with the self-generating craze it has created and, while bell tents and yurts start to pop-up across the country, Family Teeny Weeny House can most definitely still claim to be something original and new. For kids, of course, it's a blast but even us bigger kids can't help but find it fascinatingly fun. Match that with the family-friendly pubs and you've got yourself a winning glamping getaway.