Hewas Water: the dog-friendly hut rising from a 100-year-old trailer

Most holidays start with a difficult goodbye at the kennels. Molly and Louis are building something that skips that part completely. On an old hay trailer that has been in Louis’s family for more than a century, the couple are hand-building a shepherd’s hut in a quiet Cornish field, and the whole point is that the dog comes too.

A trailer that has been in the family for over 100 years

The base of the hut is not a chassis bought in for the job. It is a hay trailer that has belonged to Louis’s family for over 100 years, and it is now carrying the weight of something it was never built for. Louis has a passion for building of any kind, and once this first hut is finished he plans to advertise and build bespoke huts for other people who want one of their own.

Why a hut you can bring the dog to

The idea came from the way Molly and Louis already like to spend their time. They love Airbnbs, shepherd’s huts and barn conversions, and Molly jokes that every occasion is an excuse for her to say “let’s book an Airbnb”. They also love the outdoors, walking and exploring with their dog Matilda. Being able to take the dog away with them matters, and they had struggled to find a shepherd’s hut where a dog is genuinely welcome. So they decided to build one themselves. Matilda turns up in almost every update, which is rather the point. It tells anyone watching that this is a dog household through and through.

Twelve days in, and counting

At the time of writing the build is on day 12. It has come up fast, from a bare trailer bed to a framed structure with window openings and a wrapped, weather-tight shell. Louis is good at his job, so most of it has gone smoothly.

The curve that gave them trouble

The part that tested him was the roof. Cutting the curves for the curved roof was the hardest job of the whole build, shaping the ribs that give a shepherd’s hut its rounded profile. Watching it come to life has been the rewarding bit. Molly says that every day she finds herself imagining more guests staying in the hut and picturing where everything will go inside.

A field above the old mine

The hut is destined for Hewas Water, in a quiet field that looks out over an old tin mine and clay tip and across the rolling fields beyond. They are aiming to open early next summer.

Cornish wood, Cornish coffee

Molly is keen to point out that the build has leaned on businesses close to home. From the wood used to put the hut together to the coffee and biscuits that will be served to guests, they are trying to support local businesses in their area wherever they can.

Following the build

Molly posts a daily update on The Cornish Huts on Instagram and TikTok, showing the previous day’s progress and the behind-the-scenes of a hut going up plank by plank. There is, as you would expect, a lot of Matilda. The hut is not finished yet and the field at Hewas Water is still empty, but the plan is set, and the imagined guests are already checking in inside Molly’s head.