June 8, 2009: Hobbit House

Or should I say, another hobbit house... they seem to pop up every once in awhile.
Some are pretty crude but this one is very nice. Don't know how it will stand up to Wale's weather over time.

Try that around here and the building inspectors would go catatonic - right after their apoplexy attacks.

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Originally Posted by SPUCK Try that around here and the building inspectors would go catatonic - right after their apoplexy attacks.

Want! want!

I would guess it will last quite as well as much modern crap thrown up by contractors who aren't going to live in it and just want to get it done as quickly and cheaply as they can get away with.

Although, as a "Hobbit" house ... I don't think Bilbo would approve. It should be neat and orderly, with perfectly round windows and doors. And I'm not sure about the portable stereo on the windowsill :p
ETA: and there are stairs! Harrumph. No stairs in Bag End, thank you very much.

Obviously hobbits don't bother to clean their stoves. I like it.

I keep looking for the monkeys sitting on all the tree branches,

I love it. I want one.

The Orkin man would love this! Wood with tree bark usually harbors incects. In the old Pueblo style architecture of the desert southwest they use a lot of tree trunks (vigas) and cross them with branches (latias) to construct the roof but they remove all of the tree bark before using it. I once worked on a project that utilized this method. The tree trunks were all stacked in a pasture adjoining the structure and an old man and his wife and 3 children came and began removing the bark with a type of home made spokeshave plane. It was prety incredible.

Looks nice - I'd love to spend a weekend there. After that I'd probably hate it so much I'd never return (yeah, I'm a city person)

My house looks a bit like that. And since it's going on 400 years old now, I'm guessing he's got a shot at it lasting a while.

Tudor construction methods were like that: build a brick chimneystack, tie beams to it and plaster in between. The plaster has to be renewed periodically, but it's pretty sturdy stuff.

Oh it's gorgeous!
I can just see it inhabited by lovely swarthy little Celts too.

(btw Bruce, correct Wale's then delete this line )

I love the way the inside looks. I've always had a thing for log homes, but this is quite different. And I love the earthen roof. I can just hear myself saying to my wife "Honey, I'll be out mowing the roof."

I'm with chrisinhouston--leaving that bark on was a bad idea. Even if they managed to kill all the bugs somehow, it's still going to peel off and disintegrate in very short order.

We had a dome home built and really liked the shape of the spaces. Even if I could not actually hear the termites chewing and the spiders dancing in this house, I would be listening for them all the time. So perhaps a turf-covered dome, small scale, would be a good way to go. But I still like this little place. It could be a guest house.

Looking at the floor plans, there seems to only be one bedroom. That doesn't seem practical.

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Originally Posted by chrisinhouston The Orkin man would love this! Wood with tree bark usually harbors incects. In the old Pueblo style architecture of the desert southwest they use a lot of tree trunks (vigas) and cross them with branches (latias) to construct the roof but they remove all of the tree bark before using it. I once worked on a project that utilized this method. The tree trunks were all stacked in a pasture adjoining the structure and an old man and his wife and 3 children came and began removing the bark with a type of home made spokeshave plane. It was prety incredible.

FTR - we don't really have house-eating insects in this country.
I'm sure if you research you can find some, but in general, termites and such do not feature on our radar.

However, in some parts of the country (Scotland if my memory serves me right) there are plagues of mice due to the milder winters. And then can chew through all the wiring while the owners are taking a ski-break abroad. And no shadenfreude here either - skiing is a cheap holiday.

Err...we have woodworm. They'll eat a fair bit of your house.

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Originally Posted by DanaC Err...we have woodworm. They'll eat a fair bit of your house.

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Originally Posted by Sundae Girl - skiing is a cheap holiday.

James Bond would beg to differ.

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Originally Posted by Sundae Girl (btw Bruce, correct Wale's then delete this line )

Haven't the Scots and Irish been building houses with sod roofs for centuries?

Anyway, that one looks particularly cozy. I want one too.