One bedroom mobile home annexe
A 49sqm mobile home annexe in East Sussex under the Caravan Act — green render and redwood, a hallway, a skylit living room and a deck that opens to the fields.
A Room in the Garden specialise in mobile home annexes under the Caravan Act that feel far removed from the traditional image of a mobile home. This East Sussex project shows how their approach can create a wonderfully light and airy, comfortable home at the end of a family garden.
Designed for a client returning to live on the family property after a major life change, the building needed to feel distinctly her own while sitting lightly in a much-loved garden. The result is an elegant, understated mobile home annexe that preserves views from the main house, keeps the main garden working as it always has, and quietly opens up to countryside views behind.
With a Lawful Development Certificate confirming its status as a mobile home rather than a permanent dwelling requiring Planning Permission, this annexe shows what is now possible within Caravan Act rules when design, layout, and materials are carefully handled.
At a glance
- Size: 9.86m x 4.98m, about 49sqm, 2.7m tall outside with a 2.44m ceiling — entrance hall, living room, kitchen behind pocket doors, office and utility strip, double bedroom and en-suite.
- Built for: a client returning to live on the family property, at the far end of a long garden, with her own deck facing the countryside.
- Planning: a mobile home under the Caravan Act with a Lawful Development Certificate, not a planning application for a permanent dwelling.
- Outside: muted green render with vertical redwood panels on three elevations, wrapping into the roof overhang; anthracite frames; a beige composite deck two metres deep.
- Inside: anthracite bi-folds to the deck, an 1800 x 1200mm skylight, underfloor heating and a dual-fuel wood burner, white walls and light oak flooring.
A carefully positioned annexe that keeps the garden working
The annexe sits at the far end of the long family garden, aligned to maintain open views from the main house and avoid taking more space than necessary. Rather than carving up the garden, the building effectively creates a second edge to it.
The main lawn and planted areas still read as the primary garden for the house. The new home then has its own outdoor space, with a generous, two-metre-deep deck running along the countryside side of the building. This tucked-away terrace feels semi-hidden from the main garden while opening up to fields beyond, giving the owner a sense of privacy without separation from the family.
At 9.86m x 4.98m (around 49.1 sqm) and 2.7m high externally at its tallest point, the footprint is medium sized in terms of the projects we feature, but the positioning and glazing mean it feels larger in use than the numbers suggest.
A light-filled living space with views and a skylight
You enter through an Anthracite Grey front door into a good-sized hallway, which gives the home a clear entrance rather than stepping straight into the living space. From here, the floor plan opens out into the main living room, where the sense of light and volume is immediate.
A wide set of Anthracite Grey framed bi-fold doors faces the countryside, opening directly onto the composite deck and framing long views beyond the garden boundary. Above, a generous 1800 x 1200 mm skylight brings light down into the centre of the room, creating a real wow-factor moment when you walk in.
Heating is by underfloor heating throughout, giving even warmth and keeping walls free of radiators. The owner has added a dual-fuel wood burner in the living area, both as a focal point and as a second, more atmospheric heat source on cooler evenings. Together, they make this a comfortable, welcoming year-round living space.
Interior ceiling heights are around 2.44m, which is higher than many annexes designed to sit under more restrictive planning height limits. In practice, that extra headroom helps the rooms feel calm, open, and airy.
Compact kitchen with clever pocket doors
The kitchen leads directly off the main living area. Rather than leaving it permanently on show, A Room in the Garden and the client have used a double set of pocket doors between the two spaces.
This detail allows the owner to treat the kitchen as part of the open-plan room most of the time, then slide the doors closed when she wants to hide everyday clutter or keep cooking separate from the main seating area. Pocket doors are often used for bedrooms and bathrooms in annexes; using a double version here in the main space is a particularly clever way to keep the layout flexible without losing wall space to door swings.
The kitchen itself is compact but functional, working with the footprint instead of fighting it. Storage and appliances are handled within a simple, linear run, keeping the eye on the views rather than the units.
A home office, utility and spacious bedroom
Next to the kitchen, a 1.3m-deep strip has been used to create a combined home office area and utility space. Bespoke sliding doors conceal storage and services, so this zone can function as a practical workspace and laundry area without adding visual noise to the interior.
Beyond, a comfortable double bedroom feels more private and enclosed, helped by the way circulation is arranged so you pass through a hallway. An en-suite shower room (with simple, minimal tiling in keeping with the rest of the specification) completes the accommodation, giving the owner a comfortable fully self-contained home.
For a footprint just under 50 sqm, the layout manages to provide a proper entrance hall, generous living area, kitchen, office/utility, double bedroom and bathroom in a way that remains spacious rather than cramped.
Calm, neutral interior finishes that can evolve
Inside, everything has been kept deliberately quiet and neutral to support the client’s taste and allow the space to evolve over time.
Walls, ceilings, internal doors and kitchen cabinetry are all finished in white, paired with light oak flooring and simple bathroom tiles. The effect is bright and welcoming, with light bouncing around rather than being soaked up by darker finishes.
Anthracite Grey framed windows and doors punctuate this palette and frame the garden views like picture windows. The neutral interior means accent colours, textiles and artwork can be changed without needing to rework the fixed elements, which suits a home designed to adapt with the client’s life.
Render and timber detailing that elevate the exterior
One of A Room in the Garden’s strengths is the way they combine materials to create sharp, contemporary buildings. This project is a good example of that approach.
A muted green render forms the main body of the building, chosen to sit comfortably against the planting and lawns rather than shouting in the space. Vertical Redwood cladding panels are then used across three elevations to break up the facades, adding warmth and texture.
The contrast between the crisp render and the vertical timber, both in terms of texture and colour, is particularly striking. The timber is not limited to isolated panels; it continues into the roof overhang and soffit, so the material wraps around the edges of the building. This gives the roofline a strong, continuous edge and helps the building read as a single, composed object rather than a simple box.
A light beige composite deck extends out from the bi-fold doors, with matching steps up to the entrance. Anthracite door and window frames tie in with the composite front door, pulling the exterior palette together.
A mobile home annexe with Caravan Act credentials
Technically, this is a mobile home annexe designed to comply with the Caravan Act, supported by a Lawful Development Certificate rather than a Full Planning Permission for a new permanent dwelling.
For many families, that route can be a practical way to create self-contained living accommodation in the garden, provided the design, siting and structure are properly handled. A Room in the Garden are experienced in this type of project: creating mobile home annexes that are as far removed from the traditional idea of a static caravan as it is possible to get.
They also design and build permanent annexes with full planning permission and Building Regulations approval where that is the right route. In both cases, their emphasis is on year-round comfort, careful siting in the garden, and an exterior and interior specification that feels like a small, well-designed home.
Here, the combination of higher ceilings, underfloor heating, the wood burner, extensive glazing and considered materials creates a calm, private retreat that feels complete in its own right while remaining closely connected to the family home.
Learn more about A Room in the Garden
A Room in the Garden are based in Sussex and design and build bespoke garden rooms and self-contained annexes across the UK, both as mobile homes under the Caravan Act and as permanent dwellings with Full Planning and Building Regulations. To explore more of their projects or discuss your own plans, visit their website, call their team on 01273 044 507, or send them an email: hello@aroominthegarden.co.uk to arrange an initial conversation.
