“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.”
From The Hobbit, or, There and Back Again by by J.R.R. Tolkien
For the lovers of that hole in the ground, take a look at these little, wooden houses with the quintessential round door made very familiar by the Lord of the Rings books and movies. Wooden Wonders, in Unity, Maine, custom designs and builds these little wooden structures that can be used as playhouses, saunas, writing nooks, guest cottages, yoga or meditation rooms or maybe even a tiny house.
The structures can be integrated into your own landscaping and flower boxes can be added onto the back. The structures can be customized with different colors, additional materials, windows, dormers, interior shelving and other decorative features. Wooden Wonders also features a “heavy duty” package with double doors that allows for storing a lawn tracker or an ATV.
The Shed and the Cottage are the two largest Wooden Wonders. The Shed has the signature front as well as a squared rear “addition” to allow for more usable space for your storage or other utility needs. Choose from 10′, 12′ and 14′ front widths, each standard with a 3′ wide rear door. Base prices range from $3,695 on the 10′ wide to $7,995 on the largest 14′ wide option. The Cottage has the same basic layout as the Shed but with a finished interior and has the option of an insulation package. Base prices range from $5,545 on the smaller 12′ wide model to $14,995 on the 16′ wide model.
Photos courtesy of Wooden Wonders
By Christina Nellemann for the [Tiny House Blog]
NO WAY am I letting my granddaughter see these! Lord of the Rings is her current bedtime story, I can imagine her reaction and I’m not ready to DIY one of these right now! When it comes time to build a sauna though . . . hmmmmm.
These are so cute.
Anyone know how they bent that front exterior trim piece near the entrance it looks like it’s a 2×4 on a few of them and then on the others a naturally bent branch/ tree? Any links on how to create a bend like this on dimensional wood?
I do not believe it was bent although it looks like a 2×4. These are cut from a set of side-joined pieces. Think of a butcher block with the many pieces glued together. Once laid out flat, the sections are scribed with the appropriate arc. These arc segments are then pieced together side by side to make the “whole” trim.
I talked to the guy who builds these wonderful houses at the Common Ground Fair this September. He said the common theme for these houses are use of structural, curved beams made from laminated cedar, using a large hydraulic press.
Love these- here’s an interview I did with the Wooden Wonder Crew for some more info, etc. Can’t wait to visit/film them soonish….
http://relaxshacks.blogspot.com/2012/02/interview-with-wooden-wonders-crew.html
-Deek
ps- the timbers aren’t block-glued- they’re bent in a hydraulic press, or so they told me in the interview…pretty fascinating stuff….
You’re right Deek – the structural members were probably soaked and then bent. I was thinking more about the trim around the doors. Upon closer examination I believe they used a thick, exterior grade plywood and cut the “holes” and “arcs” from there.
Yeah- def. looks like plywood….looks good though…
Love these! How wonderful!
very cute! I would love one of those for myself as a office/get away from people in the house. lol
Thanks for the additional information Deek.
wow! This is amazing!
Thank you for sharing this to us.
I’m hard pressed to think of something that would make a cooler playhouse for a kid!
Oh I so want a hobbit hole
I like it!!
Cooool Idea,I love the Hobbit hole as well.
-Larry
They are pretty cool looking. Especially dressed up with the foliage.
A note on the bending of the beams mentioned in the previous comments. To do that yourself, a simple streamer would work. Or even easier and some say stronger, would be to laminate them via a jig. I’ve seen some major structural beams that used the lamination technique. For a DIY project it may be the way to go. For the bent logs, steaming I’d the way.
They don’t look hard to build that’s for sure. A few weekends and you’d have your own Hobbit Hole.
I met you up at the Common Ground Fair about 2 years ago. Way-Ta-go!!!! You’re coming right along with your designs. So glad to see you on Tinyhouseblog. Beautiful work.. Your quote from Tolkien is a romantic and ingenious way to lure people in. THANKS>
NOT plywood! keep guessing 🙂
Nice to see all the positive feedback– thanks, all!
If you’re on facebook, come “Like” us: facebook.com/hobbitholes
and tell your friends!
I would like to say being a builder myself these are very clever and some awesome craftsmanship. I know how much time and talents that have been put forth to create . Each one of these Hobbit Wooden- Wonders obviously is built with total dedication and professionalism My best to your company and my hat off to some fantastic creative wood working, I really dig the colors,
Sincerely,Steve Auth
CEO,Woolywagons
I am just searching for new chicken house idea and I found this blog. Those are such a nice house for children and it would also be a good house for a chicken.
Rocy and Melissa graciously invited us to display our 26 birds in their beautiful, new, spotless 6×8 Champion coop during the Fair. They saved our birds’ lives as the weather was so unusually hot, the animals were heatsick in the cages in the barn.
This “Taj Mahal of coops” gave them cool shade, natural ground to dust themselves, hardware cloth sides to prevent unwanted poking by little fairgoers, far lower stress, and excellent security from predators and thieves at night. I enjoyed that we had ample space to stand and move around in caring for our animals. There were no sharp edges nor rough wood anywhere in this beautifully crafted piece.
This was the first fair we haven’t had to spend hours baby-wiping poop from the crevices in our chickens’ feet as when confined to coop cages, they’re stepping and laying in their waste all weekend.
Happy, healthy birds and farmers! We VERY HIGHLY recommend these finely crafted coops. THANK YOU MELISSA AND ROCY!
Lori Scott of Scott Ranch Chickens, Mount Vernon ME