According to theYorkshire County Magazine , Simeon Ellertonwas a notable centenarian who pass away in 1799 at the age of 104 . His ripe eld might have been enough to get him noticed on historical registers in the United Kingdom at the time , but he was also note for more over-the-top reasons .
Ellerton was a fittingness fanatical , and he liked to walk . Everywhere . He ’s described often in notification about his biography as a " noted pedestrian . " But it was n’t just that he liked to walk ; he like to take the air long distances . And when he was on these prospicient jaunts he would collect Harlan Fisk Stone from all over England and wreak them back to his property . Sometimes , these trip would see him carrying stone from up to 50 mi ( 80 kilometers ) away . Upon his head .
With these stones , Ellerton build himself a endocarp cottage of his own design . Since he hoard the rock at the roadside and carried them back himself , his menage would have been incredibly inexpensive .
Ellerton might have been century ahead of his fourth dimension as far as build up a habitation with found materials .
Andy Stauffer , owner ofStauffer and Sons Construction , explains to us via email that there are many vantage to using found , rescued or reprocess edifice materials in their home today : " Using materials that already survive on your land can be a huge advantage in that the materials are free and you do n’t require to ship them to your chore site . … The challenge , is that builders must ensure the items find on a property can be used for structural materials . "
As an model , Stauffer cites a mansion he ’s turn on that was built in 1913 that had burned down and needed rebuilding : " The base was made of river rock that had been take from the local river . We ca n’t use these rocks for the foundation today , but we will be using them to create beautiful and born - count rock walls around the dimension . "
He adds , " If we had wanted to construct a natural stone wall but did n’t have entree to this solicitation of rock already on the property , it would have cost a considerable amount to spell them , so in this case , having found materials was a smashing benefit from both a cost efficiency and beauty linear perspective . "
Ellerton had this see out long before the modern trend of building with found material set about . However , even the " eccentric " Ellerton did n’t take his compulsion as far as Colorado resident Jim Bishop did , though . Bishop did n’t build just a cottage with stones he ’d find , he make an entire castle on his property using Oliver Stone he determine there . Now he ’s the owner ofBishop Castle , a roadside magnet in Colorado .
Where Bishop has kept going with his castle into the present daylight , Ellerton hold back once his home was ended . But then , he had no reason left to hold stones on his head during his walkabouts . It ’s said that he still feel as though the extra weight was a requirement for him to savour walking . He would go on his walking with a dish of Harlan F. Stone on his brain to model the stone he used to carry .
Ellerton lived in that cottage until his death , which attracted the aid of many publications who sought to immortalize his advanced age and eccentricity . This is how we do it of him today .
