Words and pics by Jo Green, a former allotmenteer, forager, amateur herbalist, pickler and jam maker who squeezed her allotment greenery into her tiny garden.

Here we are with 365 days in front of us. Imagine having a house with 365 rooms? Such houses do exist and are called Calendar houses for obvious reasons!
The Earl of Dorset, Thomas Sackville (1567 to 1604) had Knowle House in Kent converted into a calendar house with 365 rooms , 7 courtyards and 52 staircases to represent the number of days in a year , days in a week and weeks in a year.

Many people were fascinated by horology, mathematics and symbolism, so to design one’s house by numerical principles was quite a talking point. Thomas Sackville was a freemason and that probably stimulated his love of architecture and symbolism as any Dan Brown reader will agree!
However, as the Earl of Dorset was not actually in Dorset very much he is a lame claim to fame.
The nearest one I can find is Avon Tyrell House near Christchurch in the New Forest. Built in 1891 by WR Lethaby an arts and crafts architect, it has 365 windows, 52 rooms and 12 chimneys!
Even though this house was built nearly 200 after Knowle house, you don’t have to look far to see another esoteric strand in the mix. W R Lethabys’ most famous book is called, ‘Architecture , mysticism and myth’.
Instead of making a list of New Year resolutions this year I am just going to do a layout plan for my dream Calendar mansion – much more fun!