Hobbit Home: The Shire Located in Wales

A pilot doing an aerial survey of Wales spotted this outpost of the Shire down below. Apparently the hobbit-builder maintains a website, and explains just how to build a hobbit home.

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.
_woodlandhome_more photos here

Hobbit Homes Movie Set New Zealand
Hobbits are normally secretive, but apparently the author of the hobbit website linked above is a human : hobbit mixed-blood who married into a hobbit family. That explains his willingness to interact with the human world over the internet.