Of a red brick construction, the building was originally faced with flints and stood four storeys high (24 metres (79 ft)), a height it retains to this day.

His application for planning permission to turn it into a dwelling was refused in August 2020 by the South Downs National Park Authority.

The decision stated that the conversion would lead to an "'unsympathetic form of development', due to the intended scale, design and appearance" and that the owner had provided "insufficient information … to justify the impact of the proposals", according to a news report.

Prior to converting the folly into a residence, Talbot had planned to "replace the missing elements, both structural and decorative, and to refurbish the building as far as practical to match the original design" according to a June 2020 news report.

Local lore suggests "spectral sightings [that] include flying bricks, faces in windows and a ghost tractor that drives up behind you, then disappears".