DIY Hobbit house

fearfaoin · Post by **fearfaoin** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 2:06 pm

Some Welsh family built a Hobbit-style house.
They put up lots of pictures and plans to build your own!

http://www.simondale.net/house/index.htm

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 3:39 pm

Cute. And the kids aren't bad either.

It looks very cozy, but I wonder if it's damp.

fearfaoin · Post by **fearfaoin** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 3:48 pm

Well, there's a lot of straw insulation involved. The floor is well off the ground
and there seems to be a draining scheme in place. Though, "water by gravity
from nearby stream" makes it sound ... awfully downhill-y.

I like the idea of running the flue through a heat-retaining mass. A lot of recent
solar homes are built with that kind of "absorb and redistribute" scheme.

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 3:50 pm

I like their plans for an eco-village of similarly constructed houses in S Wales.

TonyHiggins · Post by **TonyHiggins** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 8:28 pm

Where do you put your stuff???
Tony

anniemcu · Post by **anniemcu** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 8:40 pm

Way cool!

cowtime · Post by **cowtime** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 9:13 pm

Fascinating, particularly since I like architecture and it looks like fun too.I can think of some long term problems that would arise, but all in all, not bad. That would make a unique weekend getaway but I'm like Tony- where do you put your stuff? And by stuff I mean things like a water heater. Sorry, but I remember having to heat water on a stove and have no wish to do so again.

Denny · Post by **Denny** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 9:27 pm

dang Americans.....gotta have inside plumbing

was that the one with "water from a stream up the hill" and not near enough solar panels for a water heater?

cowtime · Post by **cowtime** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 9:43 pm

yeah, and I can envision "water from a stream up the hill" becoming more water than wanted during a really long hard rain storm.

Denny · Post by **Denny** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 10:01 pm

ya can can ya

so can I

Enclose · Post by **Enclose** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 4:58 am

aww, don't hobbit houses have round doors? those were the coolest part!

claudine · Post by **claudine** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 10:00 am

very nice, but will it survive a storm or even heavy rain?

dwest · Post by **dwest** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 10:33 am

izzarina · Post by **izzarina** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 4:17 pm

claudine wrote:very nice, but will it survive a storm or even heavy rain?

They do...I think it has a lot to do with the grass growing on the roof, but don't hold me to that.

Mr Izz, when he was in his "alternative building" phase (which hasn't really ended, but it seems to have subsided now that he's in his "fountain pen" phase) wanted to build a Hobbit House. It really is very warm and if you do it right, very dry and not at all damp. But the key there is doing it right...if you don't, you absolutely will have a problem with dampness. They are also VERY cost efficient (read: cheap to build, and even cheaper to maintain) and much better on the environment than standard houses. Also, they can be quite large, which would be sufficient to hold all your "stuff" (although part of the attractiveness of such a house would be the elimination of stuff, I think). It's simplistic nature is very appealing to me, I must say. I really wouldn't mind living in a Hobbit house...so long as I could be known as Rosie Cotton whilst living there