(pronounced FAH-lee)

Though this fun-to-say word means a foolish act, a costly, misdirected undertaking, or a lack of good sense to most of the world, in the architecture and design sense it is used to describe a small-scale, often extravagantly adorned building created solely for the purpose of satisfying the owner’s fanciful taste. If you’ve always dreamed of having a Medieval castle with a turret or a gingerbread style Victorian home but don’t want to actually reside in it, then simply satisfy that architectural jones by erecting a folly on that 50-acre estate of yours!