Our quality summer houses are available in a range of styles from the modern Holt to the traditional Wiveton. At Crane, we firmly believe that the purchase of your garden summer house should be a collaborative effort which is why we work with you to tailor your building so it meets your every expectation. As you journey through the building configurator you will be able to choose your desired size, door and window placement, roof material, exterior and interior colours, flooring, and more! You will be able to create your very own garden oasis complete with a quality summer house where you can do anything from relaxing, entertaining, or using it as your new garden office.
Delivery & installation included
Why we recommend choosing a made to order summerhouse vs pre-made
If you have decided that the missing piece of your dream garden puzzle is a beautiful summer house then you’re likely going to have a vision of exactly how you’d like it to look. Choosing one of our quality bespoke summer houses allows you to do just that. You won’t have to make any of the unnecessary compromises that come with purchasing a pre-made standard model or have the daunting task of having to do additional work yourself like adding your own insulation and lining to get it looking and feeling exactly how you wanted. Your quality summer house will be handmade to your exact order and we include delivery and installation. Start designing your garden summer house today for a stress-free purchase.
Benefits of a quality summerhouse
Versatile
Your summer house can serve a variety of uses. It can go from a relaxing garden retreat with comfy seating one day to a hobby room full of the materials and equipment you need to build your model railway the next! Your garden summer house will always be useful to you and well worth the initial investment to extend your living space.
Aesthetic Appeal
Your Crane garden summer house doesn’t only serve a functional purpose but an aesthetic one too! We want you to love looking at your garden summer house as much as you love spending time in it. We offer a range of customisations that you can tailor through our online building configurator allowing you to create a summer house that can be a focal point in your garden and complement its surroundings.
Increased Property Value
The emotional appeal of having a dedicated space to escape, combined with the functional benefits of additional living space, makes summerhouses a desirable feature for many homeowners. And, for this reason, investing in a summerhouse can certainly lead to an increase in the value of your property.
Quality Summerhouse Ideas and Inspiration
Our summerhouse features & considerations
Unlined or Lined & Insulated
All of our quality garden summer houses come with an option of either being unlined or lined and insulated. The unlined option is more common for a traditional garden summer house, as the name suggests, this is a good option if you are only planning on using your summer house during the summer. The alternative is to have your garden summer house lined & insulated. This option would make the summer house usable all year round due to its temperature regulating properties. Certainly a worthy investment if you want your blissful summer retreat to become a cosy hideaway during winter.
Style & Aesthetic
When choosing a style and aesthetic for your summer house, consider the overall theme, your personal preferences, and how well it integrates with the rest of your home & garden. We offer a range of summer house styles from the traditional Wiveton Summer House to the modern Salthouse Studio Summer House, and some that sit in between like our Thornham Studio Summer House. Each one comes with a range of customisable features including door and window positioning, exterior and interior paint colour, as well as what roofing material will look best with your design.
Partitions
You can easily create a multipurpose space by including partitions in your garden summer house. This is a great option if you’re also needing to increase your storage space as we can add a partition to create a separate storage area with its own external door. Other potential uses include creating an area for a toilet, or a changing room if your summer house is also going to be doubled-up as a pool house.
What Sets our summerhouses apart...?
Year Round Use
If you want to use your summerhouse throughout the year, you can opt for our internal lining and insulation to increase comfort and decrease noise levels.
Handmade to order
All our garden buildings, from simple wooden sheds to complex garden rooms, are handmade to order in our Norfolk-based factory by our team of experienced craftsmen.
Planning Assistance
The majority of our buildings do not require planning permission; however, for those that do, we offer advice, drawings, and any necessary support you may require.
Our sustainable timber
To make our garden buildings, we use only the highest quality FSC® certified Redwood, sourced from a timber mill in Northern Sweden, which practices sustainable forestry.
Range of Roofing Options
With our Summerhouses, you can choose from our Cedar Shingle tiles, or Grey or Terracotta slate effect tiles. With the Morston, Blakeney and Holkham, you can also choose to have heavy duty felt.
Our extensive colour range
You can choose between our Exterior and Farrow & Ball paint ranges to help further enhance your Summerhouses and complement your garden environment. Choose just a single colour for your building, or select a second colour to offer a pleasing contrast.
We can help you with a base
We require our summerhouses to have a solid, level base to sit on. For a completely hassle-free experience, you can choose our in-house base laying service.
Design your own summerhouse
Use our online tool to design a summerhouse to your specifications. You can choose your window and door options, select your chosen roof covering and paint colour(s), as well as many other features.
Why Choose Crane
Established in 1974 by David Crane, Crane Garden Buildings are proud to still be, at their heart, a Norfolk-based, family-run business, and a highly rated producer of high quality timber garden buildings.
10-year guarantee for peace of mind
50 years' Experience
Handmade to order
14 show centres across the country
UK Delivery & installation included
FAQs
We offer a unique experience where you have the option to customise every aspect of your dream garden summer house so that it is exactly what you want. We firmly believe that we are able to produce summer houses that are of superior quality in the market as we have over 50 years of experience allowing us to perfect the way we build as well as using only the highest quality materials like our FSC® certified timber and tried and tested paint systems. Quality goes into everything we do, which is also why we offer a 10-year guarantee on all garden buildings in our core range.
The main material used to make summer houses is timber. There are many reasons why timber is a superior building material for summer houses such as its versatility in its finish i.e. it can be stained to show the natural beauty of the wood itself or painted, and it also acts as a natural thermal insulator. At Crane, we only use the highest quality FSC® certified Scandinavian Redwood timber for our garden summer houses. Find out more about where we get our timber from.
The majority of our garden summer houses have been designed to not need planning permission due to being below the maximum height of 2.5m and can be installed under permitted development. However this does depend on the position you want your summer house to go and any additional rules stipulated in the area you live in, like a national park for example.
Yes, a summer house can be used all year round. If you would like to use it as living space all year round we would highly recommend choosing an insulated summer house. On each of our summer houses you will find the option for it to come unlined or lined and insulated in our online building configurator. The additional insulation will help to regulate the internal temperature throughout the year and make it much more efficient to heat should you decide to include an internal heater.
You can furnish your bespoke garden summer house however you like, and this will largely depend on what you’re planning on using it for. If your summer house is going to be a hobby room you will need a table and chair as well as plenty of storage or if you’re using it as a relaxing retreat, you will need comfy seating. There are many stylish interior design ideas for your summer house that can be tailored around the building's usage and your individual style. Don’t forget you can also visit your nearest show centre for inspiration where you will see a range of dressed buildings on display.
Yes you can. Use our online building configurator to explore the options available to you and create the bespoke garden summer house of your dreams.
Maintenance is minimal. It’s recommended that the roof is kept clean from any build up of leaves, debris, and moss especially over the winter months. The same applies to the windows, they should be cleaned regularly to prevent any decaying debris eating away at the paint and woodwork. Always check for any damage to the roof or cladding which could potentially let damp in. It’s also good practice to open the windows every now and then to ensure there is sufficient ventilation inside which will also help to prevent any mould from developing.
We provide a 10-year guarantee with most of our buildings. We also have a dedicated customer service team who will help you throughout the order process, and will be on-hand to help with any questions post-installation as well. Find out more about our 10-year guarantee.
Yes. We have an optional electric pack available on all bespoke summer houses that are lined & insulated. It’s important that if you would like to have electricity in your luxury summer house that you also choose to have it lined & insulated as this will help to protect the power supply from damage caused by damp and mould, preventing a potential fire hazard.
Our electric pack extra includes 4 double sockets, 1 external double socket, 1 8-way consumer unit, spotlights, and the chance to add in exterior spotlights (Holt and Salthouse only) as well as a wall heater and/or air conditioning unit.
Yes. It is vital for the longevity of your bespoke summer house that it is to be situated on a flat, level base. This will keep it stable, in the correct alignment, and protect it from the damp and wet ground underneath. Typically we recommend a concrete base and we offer this as an additional service if you require it. Concrete provides a strong base that will last, the alternatives are a timber base or ground screws.
Lead times can vary throughout the year, please get in touch with our sales designers to find out more about current lead times and open delivery slots.
