Being amused by this, I read it out loud to my husband, who replied, “is he making that up?” and I said, “yes…” and nearly fell off the couch laughing, and he said, “you never know, people are crazy…”
I don’t know how many times I’ve fantasized about winning the lottery and building my very own hobbit hole. It would have to actually be built into a hill, though, and have a round door. That would be sweet.
I wouldn’t exactly call using recycled PVC as roofing “green.” PVC has the annoying habit of giving off toxic fumes when it burns.
I’d be more interested to see what they’re worth in 20-25 years. The air’s starting to leak out of the housing market and this is a pretty pricey niche market. Finding a buyer for the place after the current craze over LOTR inspired by the Jackson movies has passed might be difficult, and if you have to sell the place in a hurry, you could wind up taking a bath. And while it might sound nice to live with a bunch of like-minded folks, everyone I’ve ever known, who’s lived in a place with a “Homeowners Association” of some kind, be it a subdivision, condo, or hippie commune has quickly grown to loathe living there. Seems that there’s always some nitpicky jerk who has nothing better to do than to parse the living agreement at the subatomic level so they can bitch about it at the next meeting. Now, the one thing all geeks have in common, be they Trekkies, Star Wars fans, LOTRites, Tucker fans, or what have you, is that they love minutae. Imagine if you piss your neighbor off because you can conjugate Elish verbs better than he can. Do you really want someone who’s hobby is nitpicking things to death, looking over a housing contract that you’ve agreed to abide by?
Well, you’re one up on this Trek fan. (Read LOTR & The Hobbit, back in middle school, enjoyed the books, hated Jackson’s movie.)
Good points, by the time I retire I should be able to buy in cheap. Unfortunately also a good point on the “Homeowners Association”. I am no fan of these oddities. Besides can you imagine the hospital stays when a pair of 60+ year old geeks get into a full out brawl over Balrog Wings? 
Jim
Late 60’s, even. Though I believe there’s been expansion since then.
Perhaps they could market the houses to little people and finally establish the real Midgetville.
I love Deschutes- it’s my favorite restaurant here in Bend. Unfortunately, it’s *everyone else’s[/I[ favorite, as well- I tried to go there for dinner last night, and got turned away by the hour-long wait. If you don’t get there before noon during the week, there’s no way you can fit lunch into an hour, thanks to the wait.
Since everyone seems so interested, I’ll drop by The Shire this morning and take a few pictures, and post 'em here.
I found something amusing on the site.
They have directions on how to get there from Portland, Eugene, Salem and Boise. They also have combined instructions on how to get there from the big three California cities: Sacramento, San Francisco and L. A. Interestingly, the directions stop before you even cross the Oregon border:
“# From San Francisco, Los Angeles or Sacramento: Take I-5 north to Weed, CA.”
That’s it. I’d heard they don’t like Californians there, but wow.
Nah, it’s just that when you hit a place called “Weed,” there’s not really any reason to leave it.
Perhaps they are recommending an extended stay in Weed before moving on to The Shire. Kind of makes sense, really.
Don’t get me started on the Californian jokes. Oregonians are not nice.
So when are Dr. Qadgop and family moving in?
Yeah, okay. But I just looked at the animation “introduction” and the 30-second ad, and it’s embarrassing!
Sweet! I have a friend in Bend. He happens to be of Hobbit stature, too. Damn I want a Hobbit hole of my own.
Just remember to not spend all your weapons budget on medieval items and you’ll be fine.
[Sean Connery]“Just like a Hobbit to bring a Glaive to a Gun Fight”[/SC]
Oh, poo. We’re plenty nice. My mom was a Californian, and I married a Californian. I don’t hold it against them. Too much.
An uncle lives in southern Oregon. He doesn’t like Californians much. He shuts up though, when I ask ‘Didn’t you move here from San Diego?’ :dubious:
Anyway, this reminds me of Storybook Style architecture, which was popular in the 1920s.
Links to Storybook architecture sites:
http://johnrobertmarlow.com/storybook.html
A friend of mine used to trick-or-treat at Spadena House (‘The Witch’s House’) when she was little. There’s a nice example of Storybook style in Culver City, next to the Mann Culver Cinema.
An authentic Tudor style house would be cool, but these are weird, cutesy, Painter of Crap-ified versions of Tudor architecture. Here are some photos of the real deal in England:
Southampton
Oxford
Godmanchester
Birmingham
Here is a modern Tudor house in Toronto. I’d much rather live in a house that looked like one of those than the Butterfly Cottage.
Aha! Then my work here is done! Smoke pellet! Window! Closed! BANG Owww!!!
I don’t mind if people think I’m crazy. My goal is to have them wonder, just for a second: “What if he’s not crazy?”
I remember reading an article where Peter Jackson expressed a desire to do the exact same thing with the Bag End set from his movie. Evidently it’s in storage somewhere, pending future productions (ohpleaseohpleaseohplease).
Do you have any idea how the prices on these homes compare to others in the area? In other words, what’s the premium for the novelty value and the unusual architecture?
And the hobbit house shown on that site isn’t nearly as nice as Bag End was in the movie.
