This Side of the Pond

A tiny building hit the news last week when it went on sale for more than the price of a family home. The structure in question is a beach hut in my home county of Dorset, and to explain why it’s so expensive is going to take some unpacking.

Beach huts are a quintessential part of the seaside in my part of the world, and also a uniquely British phenomenon. You’ll find them scattered across other nations’ shores, but nobody else loves them quite like the Brits do.

Beach huts are teeny cabins arranged in rows along the edge of the sand, often painted in bright and cheerful colors. They�...