Hobbit Homes anyone?

[j3rk]

A Low Impact Woodland Home

You are looking at pictures of our family home in Wales. It was built by myself and my father in law with help from passers by and visiting friends. 4 months after starting we were moved in and cosy. I estimate 1000-1500 man hours and £3000 put in to this point. Not really so much in house buying terms (roughly £60/sq m excluding labour).

Some key points of the design and construction:

• Dug into hillside for low visual impact and shelter
• Stone and mud from diggings used for retaining walls, foundations etc.
• Frame of oak thinnings (spare wood) from surrounding woodland
• Reciprocal roof rafters are structurally and aesthaetically fantastic and very easy to do
• Straw bales in floor, walls and roof for super-insulation and easy building
• Plastic sheet and mud/turf roof for low impact and ease
• Lime plaster on walls is breathable and low energy to manufacture (compared to cement)
• Reclaimed (scrap) wood for floors and fittings
• Anything you could possibly want is in a rubbish pile somewhere (windows, burner, plumbing, wiring...)
• Woodburner for heating - renewable and locally plentiful
• Flue goes through big stone/plaster lump to retain and slowly release heat
• Fridge is cooled by air coming underground through foundations
• Skylight in roof lets in natural feeling light
• Solar panels for lighting, music and computing
• Water by gravity from nearby spring
• Compost toilet
• Roof water collects in pond for garden etc.

Main tools used: chainsaw, hammer and 1 inch chisel, little else really.

[hardstylin]

those would make fuckin sweet hunting cabins!

[veN]

Cool! But I thought you were talking about the Hobbit House on Nelson. What's the deal with that anyways? I always see 20-somethings drinking on the porch and sprawled out on the front lawn. Anyone?

[laska]

That place is adorable!
An oak frame will get destoyed by termites pretty quickly though.

[-evil-duerr-]

as soon as I contract a rare breed of genital fungas, i'm gonna hit up one of these houses and reflect on my mistakes.
it's what bilbo would do.

[Carrie]

there are three of those houses in the lower mainland

one on broadway, one on king edward and one on a street i totally forgot.

I read about it in the paper the other day