Gatehouses (I)

[Penfeather]

I find gatehouses (along with carriage houses) irresistibly romantic and charming. Not the hottest topic in this forum, I know, and there probably aren't very many Gothics that take place in them (does anyone know of any?).

By the 19th Century most of these structures no longer served their original purpose of defending a castle or estate, and had been converted into grand decorative outbuildings that typically housed an upper-level servant, family member or other retainer.

Can you imagine how much fun it would be to live in one of these humble abodes?