# Ever seen a beach hut? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 31, 2026, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-seen-a-beach-hut/1030513 "2026-05-31T20:06:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2026, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-seen-a-beach-hut/1030513/1 "2026-05-31T20:06:33Z")
I ask this with genuinely no idea what the answers are going to be. We were at the seaside today (Worthing, about 50 miles south of London) and we were talking about them because, if I had paid £30 000 for, essentially, a garden shed, I would be using it every week end - but virtually none were in use (and yes, a good one in the Worthing area _ **will** _ cost you that much). A little research suggests that, while they’re not _uniquely_ British, maybe they primarily are. And when I say British, I mean English - and pretty much the south of England, mostly along the south coast. Here are some of the ones we walked past today: https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!4v1780257456166!6m8!1m7!1sCAoSFkNJSE0wb2dLRUlDQWdJQ2U2cm0tS3c.!2m2!1d50.80581551255273!2d-0.4045693189069332!3f305.00424930704366!4f-5.693570578486529!5f0.898742594941667 And here’s a wiki page. > **[Beach hut](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beach_hut)** > > A beach hut (also known as a beach cabin, beach cabana (American English), beach box or bathing box) is a small, usually wooden and often brightly coloured, box above the high tide mark on popular bathing beaches. They are generally used as a shelter from the sun or wind, changing into and out of swimming attire and for the safe storing of some personal belongings. Some beach huts incorporate simple facilities for preparing food and hot drinks by either bottled gas or occasionally mains electrici... They’re a place to change, to make a cup of tea (you’ll need to bring a camping gas ring - there are shared key-access taps/faucets round the back), keep beach furniture, get out of the sun/rain and that’s about it. You get a shed and a (very) small paved area for your money, where you can have a barbecue (no barbecuing on the beach!) but you can’t stay in them overnight. There are public toilets in the area. So: have you ever seen one? Do they (or something like them) exist in your country? j ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2026, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-seen-a-beach-hut/1030513/2 "2026-05-31T20:13:44Z")
Beach Clubs here at the Shore always had them. They were generally rentals. They were for changing and storing stuff and whatever. I’m sure some teens used them for whatever indeed. I was always a public beach kid, but had some friends whose parents had memberships in the Beach Clubs in places like Sea Bright and Monmouth Beach. Here they were usually called cabanas, but so are the temporary pop-up structures. The wooden cabanas were designed to be moved higher off the beach or into the parking lots during the off-season. I’m in New Jersey, I don’t remember if I saw them in Southern California. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2026, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-seen-a-beach-hut/1030513/3 "2026-05-31T20:21:54Z")
My husband’s uncle used to own a house in the Catskills. He and a dozen other homeowners collectively owned a little patch of beach. There were “beach huts” that looked like those at the beach. No cooking facilities or water (and you could barbeque on the shared lawn, and eat at the shared picnic tables, people did it all the time) but each one had hooks and a bench, and you could store water toys and folding chairs in them, and people changed in them. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2026, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-seen-a-beach-hut/1030513/4 "2026-05-31T20:25:50Z")
The wiki article does give a name in American english, so I guess I’m not surprised that they’re a thing in at least parts of the US. Incidentally > [@What\_Exit](#): > > Beach Clubs here at the Shore always had them. I’ve been to Monmouth beach and the shore at Asbury Park. I’ll be mortified if I walked past some and never noticed them! j ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2026, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-seen-a-beach-hut/1030513/5 "2026-05-31T20:27:58Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > if I had paid £30 000 for, essentially, a garden shed What about £250k? BBC News - ‘£250k for a beach hut in Southwold? That’s bonkers’ - BBC News > **['£250k for a beach hut in Southwold? That's bonkers'](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8j1nv032eeo?app-referrer=deep-link)** > > Seasiders claim it is "ridiculous" that a beach hut is selling for a quarter of a million pounds. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2026, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-seen-a-beach-hut/1030513/6 "2026-05-31T20:32:21Z")
I don’t remember them at Asbury Park in the 70s and 80s. Maybe they have them now, no idea. In the Olden Days Asbury Park was basically a summer Protestant Beach Camp with rows of slightly fancy canvas tents and netting. But I’m talking back in the 1800s like 1871 to the late 1890s. A Bishop Bradley (who Bradley Beach is named after) founded Asbury. I haven’t been at a beach club since 1984 at the latest. So I don’t know the current status. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2026, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-seen-a-beach-hut/1030513/7 "2026-05-31T20:45:09Z")
Hmmm - that article says that the _ **average** _ UK price is £45 000. That’s even more surprising than the asking price of an outlier in Southwold, I think. j ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2026, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-seen-a-beach-hut/1030513/8 "2026-05-31T20:47:40Z")
I was able to verify Seabright still has Clubs with Cabanas. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2026, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-seen-a-beach-hut/1030513/9 "2026-05-31T21:48:47Z")
I saw a movie with a beach Hutt yesterday. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2026, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-seen-a-beach-hut/1030513/10 "2026-05-31T22:39:29Z")
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a beach hut like in the OP. But as an aside, there’s a chain of sandwich shops in California called Beach Hut Deli. The restaurants all have a surfing theme, the tables are made out of surfboards, and the sandwiches are served on frisbees. > **[Home - The Beach Hut Deli](https://beachhutdeli.com/)** ---
**Author:** ![Krav\_Manga](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/krav_manga/32/3153_2.png) [@Krav\_Manga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krav_Manga)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2026, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-seen-a-beach-hut/1030513/11 "2026-06-01T02:07:08Z")
Beach boxes in Victoria (Brighton, Portsea) are selling for more than $AUD1 million. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2026, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-seen-a-beach-hut/1030513/12 "2026-06-01T02:20:40Z")
I’ve only seen them from a distance. A lot of beaches here in Australia have them, but I’ve never been inside one. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2026, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-seen-a-beach-hut/1030513/13 "2026-06-01T02:26:32Z")
In Panama City Beach, Florida, there used to be an entrepeneur who got his start with storage sheds: “Ed’s Sheds”. He expanded the business and, IIRC, part of the expansion was beach shacks. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2026, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-seen-a-beach-hut/1030513/14 "2026-06-01T02:34:56Z")
No, but I’ve seen a house fly. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2026, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-seen-a-beach-hut/1030513/15 "2026-06-01T02:51:52Z")
They look like an excellent place to not be seen, as long as you don’t tell your neighbor where you’ve gone. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2026, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-seen-a-beach-hut/1030513/16 "2026-06-01T03:09:29Z")
From the thread title I was expecting [![](https://masterpiecer-images.s3.yandex.net/5fb578a23f592fe:upscaled) ](https://masterpiecer-images.s3.yandex.net/5fb578a23f592fe:upscaled) ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2026, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-seen-a-beach-hut/1030513/17 "2026-06-01T03:45:32Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > I don’t remember if I saw them in Southern California. Not really a thing in California. Private beaches are essentially illegal here. We do have structures called beach shacks that are tolerated at some state beaches and are communal (locals and regulars) in nature. [![](https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/15/eb/b9/f2/the-classic-shack-at.jpg) ](https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/15/eb/b9/f2/the-classic-shack-at.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2026, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-seen-a-beach-hut/1030513/18 "2026-06-01T03:48:30Z")
You don’t see them in Texas on the Gulf Coast, and I’m guessing it’s because the beach is considered State property, and most privately owned development just off the beach is typically homes and stuff like that. That, and a little building would be uncomfortably hot and awful to change clothes in during the summer. ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2026, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-seen-a-beach-hut/1030513/19 "2026-06-01T06:36:34Z")
There’s quite a few for sale along the Melbourne foreshore right now > **[Beach Boxes for Sale | The Mornington Peninsula Beach Box Association](https://mpbba.org.au/buying-a-boatshed/)** (It’s winter, so prices are a bit depressed right now). Price range - $95,000 - $600,000+ ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2026, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-seen-a-beach-hut/1030513/20 "2026-06-01T08:45:01Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Not really a thing in California. Private beaches are essentially illegal here. I should have clarified that the beach huts that we were looking at are on a public beach (beaches are typically public in the UK). They are sold leasehold, and (in Worthing) that comes with an annual maintenance fee of not far short of £1000. (For which you get… access to a tap/faucet. And precious little else. ) j [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-seen-a-beach-hut/1030513.md?page=2)