Straw Bale Construction Camo

An English farmer tries to avoid planning controls by concealing a mock-Tudor castle in a 40-foot haystack:

Once it was finished, he and his family moved in and lived there for four years before finally revealing the development -- complete with battlements and cannons -- in August 2006….

Problems began last April when Mr Fidler, thinking he had beaten the planning system, applied for a certificate of lawfulness which is given if a property is erected but nobody objects to it after four years.

But Reigate and Banstead Council says the four-year period after which the building would be allowed to stay is void -- because nobody had been given a chance to see it.

The matter will now be decided in February by the council's planning inspector, who could give the Fidlers as little as six months to tear the castle down.

I hate to say it, but I think Castle Fidler is doomed. Enjoy the view while you can: