Arthur Miller Studio Project

Donations are being sought to ensure the survival of the cedar-shingled writing shed built and worked in by Arthur Miller from the late 1950s onwards. Originally sited on his Roxbury home in Connecticut, the 22ft x 14ft garden office studio is where he wrote the screenplay for The Crucible and stage plays including After the Fall. It was moved some years ago and sadly is currently in a parking lot awaiting a long term future, entirely inaccessible to the public.

Miller's daughter Rebecca is hoping to raise funds to enable it to be donated to the town of Roxbury and a gofundme project page has now been set up in the hopes of reaching the $1m mark - the money will go to restoring and relocate it (to the Minor Memorial Library in town, roughly $200,000) with all its original furnishings such as his desk, typewriter and chairs, as well as keep it in good shape in the future (roughly $800,000) since it's beginning to show its age and provide a location where workshops and other literary events can be held.

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Arthur Miller's shed

In 1948, Arthur Miller built a white clapboard cabin in Roxbury, Connecticut, specifically as a base in which to write Death of a Salesman, even though he had never built anything similar in his life (he said the hardest part was putting up the roof rafters by himself). As he built, he put together the play in his mind, although he did also make use of his desk, an old recycled door. More details about the shed and the play in a great, but quite long, article by The New Yorker's John Lahr here.

Arthur Miller's writing studio

Nothing compares to the experience of working in a garden office you have built yourself. In 1948, Arthur Miller put together a white clapboard cabin in Roxbury, Connecticut, specifically as a base in which to write Death of a Salesman, even though he had never built anything similar in his life (he said the hardest part was putting up the roof rafters by himself). As he built, he put together the play in his mind, although he did also make use of his desk, an old recycled door. It was extended a bit in the mid-1970s, and a deck was added. There is a great page about the studio on his official website here which includes photos of it inside and out by one of Magnum's star photographers, Inge Morath. "Nothing disturbs him there, not even the view," she wrote. There are also more recent ones by Kurt Kaindl. 

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Celebrity sheds

Various famous people are strongly associated with sheds/garden offices, mainly writers. Among them are:
* Philip Pullman, author of His Dark Materials trilogy
* Dylan Thomas, author of Under Milk Wood (his shed is pictured)
* William S. Harley and Arthur Davidson, creator of the famous motorcycle
* Roald Dahl, author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
* George Bernard Shaw, author of Pygmalion
* Agatha Christie, author of And Then There Were None
* Henry Williamson, author of Tarka the Otter
* Arthur Miller, author of Death of a Salesman (he built the shed specifically to write it in)
Virginia Woolf, author of A Room of one’s Own

It is just you - virtual book tour (and win a book)

As part of his virtual book tour, Steve Stack and his marvellous book It Is Just You, Everything's Not Shit (an upbeat and witty riposte to those other books which wallow in the misery of things) appears today and over the weekend on Shedworking. In a rather postmodern take on the book tour (as if doing it online weren't enough), here is an interview Steve did with me about homeworking and shedworking, a longer version of which appears in his book. To win a copy, simply add a comment mentioning something nice about the world and the one I like most will get a copy of the book. Or if you can't wait, you can buy a copy here.

What are the advantages of homeworking?
Generally, a sense of freedom that you simply don't get in a normal office. I'd much rather be a box fresh, free range homeworker roaming free (or at least in a garden office) than cooped up in a pen, nose to nose with the same battery chicks all day. More specifically:
- A greater control over my time - I still have to work, but I can choose an extremely flexible routine which involves, for example, listening to cricket and playing with my sons which wouldn't otherwise be possible.
- I can listen to music (which is great since I've never worked with anybody who's shared my interest in early music)
- I choose how my office looks, can wear what I want to work, and have a 30 second commute (less if I decide to work on the kitchen table rather than go to the shed)

Tell us a little about Shedworking the blog, and The Shed magazine
The Shed is a free bimonthly pdf magazine for shedworkers and people who work in shedlike atmospheres, a lifestyle (sometimes quite aspirational) title rather than one which features nuts and bolts homeworking subjects such as filling in your tax return. I started it because there is a growing community of shedworkers (and homeworkers in general) whose daily experiences and interests are not catered for by any other publication, indeed who by definition tend to work in relative isolation and are not aware of others in a similar position. The Shedworking site is a natural extension of the 'brand', again made possible by new technology and its marvellously free nature. The idea of the blog is to provide a daily update of news and items of interest for homeworkers in general, but with a decidedly sheddish slant (e.g. the list of all the UK shed suppliers which is not available at any other central point). Unbelievably, nobody else does this on a daily basis for homeworkers anywhere in the world.

Shed envy - what's the best homeworking set-up you've seen?
Ooh, that's a very hard one. It might be a bit of a cheat of an answer, but I think you've got to go a long way to beat George Bernard Shaw's revolving hut at Shaw's Corner, just up the road at Ayot St Lawrence, which he could winch round to change the view or improve the light or maybe for a bit of exercise. It had a telephone connection to the house and electrics, and is still in good nick. One of the most admirable is Adam Constantine, a designer, who essentially runs a successful carbon-neutral company from his shed in Shrewsbury but in a modestly understated way.

Any famous shedworkers you would care to impress us with?
A small selection might include Andrew Marr, Alison Pearson, Louis de Bernières, Mark Twain, Charles Dickens (though his was more Swiss chalet than shed), Jeanette Winterson, Philip Pullman, Trevor Baylis, Dylan Thomas, William S. Harley and Arthur Davidson, Roald Dahl, Arthur Miller. Er, Linda Barker.

How do you think working from home changes a person?
It deinstitutionalises them. It can also make them fatter if they can't keep away from the fridge (another advantage in working from a shed rather than a kitchen table).

Shed Box of Delights: Epic Retreats

Shedworkers who want somewhere remarkable to work in or a busman's holiday in the loveliest parts of Wales can now enjoy a vacation at one of eight specially-designed cabins as part of the Epic Retreats project. It's a partnership between Best of Wales, Cambria Tours and George + Tomos Architects, with funding from the Welsh Government’s Tourism Product Innovation Fund.

There's only around 200 bookings available as part of this Wales’s Year of Legends 2017 so you will need to get your skates on. Pictured are Shedworking's three favourite designs, from the top, Dragon's Eye by Carwyn Lloyd Jones (features including a rotating round bed), Arthur's Cave by Miller Kendrick (lots more details at their site), and the Slate Cabin by Trias.
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Friday posts are sponsored by Warwick Buildings, manufacturers of outstanding quality timber buildings. Click here for more information.