Monocoque Cabin – Architect Designed

Monocoque Cabin, Tyrley Lock, Shropshire

Why book direct

Book the Monocoque Cabin here and you pay at least 10% less than on Airbnb, because there's no platform commission and no guest service fee. You also deal with me directly: I'm the architect who designed and built the cabin, and I answer the phone.

The cabin

I designed and built the Monocoque Cabin with friends in 2023, after winning a grant from Airbnb's OMG! Fund in 2022. Over 250,000 ideas were entered. The design comes from the WW2 de Havilland Mosquito, a plywood aircraft whose skin carries the load. The cabin works the same way: curved plywood ribs and a stressed-skin shell, with the structure left on show as the finish inside.

It sits in over 0.2 acres of private, tree-lined garden on a working dairy farm beside the Shropshire Union Canal at Tyrley Locks, near Market Drayton. The garden gate opens onto the towpath. In summer, narrowboats work through the locks past the garden, and watching them with a coffee is one of the best parts of a stay here.

Inside is a single open space with ribbed timber walls and built-in plywood furniture. The bed is at one end and the kitchen at the other, and the curved polycarbonate windows look out to the trees, which makes the cabin feel bigger than its 23 square metres.

The garden and canal

The garden is surrounded by mature trees, and the loudest sound is usually a narrowboat ticking past in the morning. There's room to sit out, and a fire pit for the evenings. The canal is busy with boats in summer and still in winter. Kingfishers and herons feed along this stretch, so keep an eye on the water early in the day.

You're welcome to fish from the towpath during your stay. You'll need an Environment Agency rod licence and a permit from the angling club that controls this stretch of canal.

Dogs

Well-behaved dogs are welcome and can run in the garden. Please clean up after them. The garden isn't fully enclosed, so a dog that needs a secure boundary may find it tricky. The towpath gives you dog walks straight from the door, in both directions.

Sleeping and comfort

A solid timber double bed with good linen, extra blankets and proper pillows. There are three electric heaters on Tapo smart plugs you control from your phone, plus a biofuel fire for the evenings, with a litre of fuel to start you off. The cabin stays warm in winter. Eye masks are provided for light sleepers.

Kitchen

Induction hob, air fryer, microwave, mini fridge and sink, with pots, pans, utensils, crockery, glasses, mugs and a kettle. Tea, coffee and a few basics are there when you arrive. It's set up for short stays rather than dinner parties, but you can cook a proper meal in it.

Bathroom

Walk-in shower and an integrated compost toilet with a powered extraction fan, so it doesn't smell. There are simple instructions inside if you haven't used one before. Shampoo, body wash, hand soap and clean towels are provided.

Wi-Fi and the small things

Wi-Fi fast enough for streaming and video calls, and a fold-down desk if you need to work. USB and 3-pin sockets, board games, a puzzle, local guidebooks, and a dehumidifier running quietly in the background.

Location

The cabin is two miles south of Market Drayton, on the Shropshire side of the Shropshire–Staffordshire border. Market Drayton is a working market town with food shops, a weekly market and pubs, 4 minutes by car or about 40 minutes on foot along the canal. The towpath isn't lit, so walk it in daylight. There's parking for one car at the cabin.

By car, Stafford is about 20 minutes away, Birmingham about 55 minutes and Manchester about an hour and a half.

Good to know

This is a rural cabin on a working farm, and a few things are worth knowing before you book.

In very dry summers the water pressure can drop. It usually comes back within an hour or two; let me know if it happens and I'll keep you posted. Winter evenings are cold outside, so pack a jumper if you want to sit out by the fire pit. Public transport is limited, so a car is the best way to get here and to explore.

Check-in and support

Self check-in any time after 3pm using a lockbox at the cabin, and check-out by 11am. Arrival instructions go out the day before. If you have a question before or during your stay, call, text or email me directly.

A note on our cleaning fee

Our cleaning fee is higher than some listings because we pay our cleaner a fair, living wage.