We've all seen those American movies where the kids (not the goat variety) sit on the roof of their house before getting up to mischief.
Apparently my son has watched them too and is now using the roof as an extension to his bedroom, which isn't as bizarre as it sounds because living in a cottage means our bedrooms are built into the roof space anyway.
With nimble feet (I try not to look) he climbs out and perches in the sunshine.
Villagers are used to my cats sitting next to the chimney and occasionally people will knock on the door in great distress fearing for the safety of our feline tribe, the cats simply snigger and saunter down the ivy to terra firma.
Now my neighbours ring or passersby frantically shout through my kitchen window (disturbing my hobby of creating a masterpiece out of an old potato and a shrivelled red pepper) because it's not often you see a 6ft teen perched on the apex of a roof.
He is never idle up there though. When he's not reading he takes photographs of sunsets or just practices chillaxing after a busy year of exams. Now he's helping me use the flat section over his window for my tomato plants – it's actually a nifty little sun trap.
His sister has joined him and they both observe the world from a new perspective, which I do on a smaller scale by sitting in the tree house. It's quite peaceful gazing out over the tops of trees.
I do worry about him falling and hubby stresses about losing roof tiles, as, unlike our American counterparts, our roofs aren't always safe enough to support anything heavier than a bat. But using your roof as an additional living space isn't a new idea.
The Scandinavians, not known for their flights of fancy, have been using the roofs of their homes for centuries. The roofs are covered with grass for insulation, which maximises the sun (in short supply up there), which their goats munch on oblivious to the height.
Meanwhile, the western world has started cannibalising rooftops and we have a pandemic of solar panels. Basically, if you can't spread horizontally you may as well go vertical.
Rooftop gardens and now farms, in space impoverished cities, are becoming trendy accessories. Elsewhere, people are experimenting with horticulture on acres of roofs and there is a growing movement to Grow Your Own in poly tunnels, greenhouses and troughs up above the streets.
The benefits are obvious. Fresh produce, insulation, offsetting of carbon footprints and encouraging isolated communities in high-rise tower blocks to work together to create an oasis in the middle of a concrete desert.
I'm not suggesting you trot up onto your own personal lofty space but I do think architects need to be mindful to this alternative way of living a "Good Life".
Although I am not quite ready to keep the chickens up there or keen on the prospect of light-footed, welly-wearing farmers trying to use their tractors to harvest their crops on my tiles at 3am.
