The Pineapple Building is rare, but they do exist, whether a replica of pineapple or an artistic interpretation of one, these buildings will add joy to any journey. Pineapple buildings exist and you can check them off your bucket list.
Where I grew up, Dole Pineapple was king. I visited pineapple packing plants, I knew people who had summer jobs in the fields and in high school we would park in the dark dirt roads amongst the pineapple to drink beer and listen to music. Pineapple was all around me. In Honolulu, the Dole Pineapple plant’s water tower stood high in the skyline (long ago now!) and was in the shape of a giant pineapple. I have such happy memories of being a kid, driving through downtown, planting my face against the window, looking for that giant pineapple high in the sky. Finding it was like winning a treasure hunt. It never got boring.
Recently I was googling around and found a few other fantastic, whimsical, outrageous and fun Pineapple Buildings. Some are more “structures” than they are buildings, but you get the gist! I truly want to put them on my bucket list for travel in the not too distant future. Here are five funky and fun pineapple buildings to explore – two of them are in the Southern Hemisphere, two in the Northern Hemisphere and one is everywhere you want it to be!
The Dunmore Pineapple – Scotland
Between Edinburgh and Stirling, you will find this wild and wacky classic folly* of a building. Owned and operated by the National Trust of Scotland, this spectacular building “was built in 1761 by the Earl of Dunmore as a summerhouse where he could appreciate the views from his estate. At this time, pineapples were among Scotland’s most exotic foods.” (From the NTS website.) Pineapples were also grown in the gardens here!
Entry to this building is free for National Trust members and is open all year round. The Pineapple is surrounded by lovely grounds and the former curling pond, all for you to explore.
*Let’s take a minute to talk about Folly buildings! “Folly” is an architectural building created mostly just for decoration. Old meanings of “Folly” came from the french “folie” meaning silliness or madness, but older meanings include “delight”. Most Follies were built as garden decorations of much grander homes and were designed to symbolize classical virtues or historical ideals. There were mock Roman temples, Chinese temples, Egyptian pyramids, and fake ruins of abbeys. Sometimes they were copies of mills or cottages or villages. Often they were like miniature pieces of grand architecture. Today you see many follies when you tour old grand castles, manors and estates in the UK and France. They often make for a fun surprise or punctuation on a grand house tour. Personally, I’d love to live in the Pineapple Folly!
Modern Pink Pineapple Folly at Berrington Hall
This modern pineapple folly makes me so happy! It’s a Folly! It’s Origami! It’s PINK! Alas, I don’t have permission yet to show you a photo of this spectacular temporary / contemporary Pink Pineapple Pavilion – but you can click this National Trust link to learn more about it and how it fits into Berrington Hall. (There is a one minute video showing how it was built and how it looks in the gardens.) You can also click the Studio Morison link to see a more detailed view of this fabulous creation from the artists who created it.
Why is it pink? “Heather and Ivan Morison chose the striking pink colour from a traditionally Georgian palette, also found in the interior decor of the Hall itself. The ‘gaudy yellow scagliola’ and the ‘dusty pinks’ present in the ceramics of the interior and its door surrounds provided the colour inspiration.” (From the Studio Morison website.)
I don’t know if it is still there or not, I think it was taken down last year. #SadFace
The Big Pineapple (#1)
That’s a big pineapple! (I can’t help but hear Ghostbusters saying “That’s a big twinkie“…) This fantastic structure is located in Queensland, Australia – the Sunshine Coast Region, to be specific. It was built in 1971 at the Sunshine Plantation, an early “agri-tourism” site that attracted tourists on holiday from all over Australia. The Plantation was almost 100 acres and had restaurants, a train, and gift shops along with crops, a rainforest and a Macadamia Nut factory. In 1983 Prince Charles and Princess Diana visited the plantation and rode in the train. The plantation has changed hands a number of times since it opened, but still has many visitors. In 2013 The Big Pineapple Music Festival was created and continues to this day!
The Big Pineapple (#2)
South Africa boasts its own Big Pineapple. This one is located in Bathurst, near Port Alfred in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It was a British settlement started around 1820. They built a village and a pub (of course) all of which are preserved as a historic site. Pineapples were planted around 1865 and became big business and an agriculture success. Plans were drawn up in the 1980s to build the Big Pineapple to accent the pineapple museum on the site. It was finally constructed in 1990. Today, the town attracts artists and retirees and pineapple fans!
A Pineapple House You Can Own!*
How could we talk about Pineapple Buildings and NOT talk about most referred to Pineapple House of all? Sing along with me:
“Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS!”
That’s right – Spongebob knew a good thing when he was househunting and plunked his Krabby Patty earnings down on a spectacular folly of a house. It’s bright, it’s roomy, and your very own fish can enjoy their time living in a Pineapple. You will have to live vicariously through your own fish, watching them ease in and out of this fabulous little folly.
*For your own fish to swim in…
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