# Why don't (more/any) people live in hobbit holes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 16, 2009, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-any-people-live-in-hobbit-holes/510300 "2009-09-16T09:57:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2009, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-any-people-live-in-hobbit-holes/510300/21 "2009-09-16T17:31:55Z")
> [@](#): > > May I introduce you to Matmâta in Tunisia. This is what I mentioned in post #11. ---
**Author:** ![Odo\_Proudfoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac91a4/32.png) [@Odo\_Proudfoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odo_Proudfoot)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2009, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-any-people-live-in-hobbit-holes/510300/22 "2009-09-16T17:54:03Z")
For some examples of “Earth Houses” and their pros and cons, Check out > **[Earth shelter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_house)** > > An earth shelter, also called an earth house, earth bermed house, or underground house, is a structure (usually a house) with earth (soil) against the walls, on the roof, or that is entirely buried underground. > Earth acts as thermal mass, making it easier to maintain a steady indoor air temperature and therefore reduces energy costs for heating or cooling. > Earth sheltering became relatively popular after the mid-1970s, especially among environmentalists. However, the practice has been around fo... ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2009, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-any-people-live-in-hobbit-holes/510300/23 "2009-09-16T18:11:53Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Pfft. Hobbit holes! > > What you want is an [underground city](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derinkuyu)! Of course, Cappadocia also has other, slightly more hobbit-like, underground villages. Certainly not. Oh, underground cities are all fun and engineering challenges in the beginning, I’ll grant you that. But then you dig one inch too deep, awaken a Balrog that had been hibernating for millenia, and then your little shindig’s over, mister. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2009, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-any-people-live-in-hobbit-holes/510300/24 "2009-09-16T18:34:40Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Certainly not. Oh, underground cities are all fun and engineering challenges in the beginning, I’ll grant you that. But then you dig one inch too deep, awaken a Balrog that had been hibernating for millenia, and then your little shindig’s over, mister. Terminex has a policy for that. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2009, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-any-people-live-in-hobbit-holes/510300/25 "2009-09-16T18:36:54Z")
“As Iluvatar is my witness, I thought Balrogs could Fly!” ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2009, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-any-people-live-in-hobbit-holes/510300/26 "2009-09-16T18:55:43Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > “As Iluvatar is my witness, I thought Balrogs could Fly!” Well done sir, well done ! My “laughing” cheeks are aching just thinking about this. ---
**Author:** ![Rack-a-Bones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rack-a-Bones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rack-a-Bones)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2009, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-any-people-live-in-hobbit-holes/510300/27 "2009-09-16T20:35:24Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > “As Iluvatar is my witness, I thought Balrogs could Fly!” I Googled this to find out wtf you were talking about and the first link is this thread and the second link is another SDMB thread. /slight hijack ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2009, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-any-people-live-in-hobbit-holes/510300/28 "2009-09-16T20:40:57Z")
> [@](#): > > I Googled this to find out wtf you were talking about and the first link is this thread and the second link is another SDMB thread. /slight hijack The other thread is almost certainly me. I quote myself sometimes. And I used that as a sig line for a while. ---
**Author:** ![goodie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@goodie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/goodie)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-any-people-live-in-hobbit-holes/510300/29 "2009-09-17T00:01:00Z")
“I don’t have a proper question about tree huts yet, but I’d love to talk about them…” Finally! Tree huts are where we all need to be, peeps. Fresh air and sunshine, not to mention the exercise we’d get building and re-building them after every storm. Why live underground and miss out on the skin cancer and biting insects? (mmm…biting insects…) ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-any-people-live-in-hobbit-holes/510300/30 "2009-09-17T00:07:38Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > When I lived in Salt Lake City, there was house down in Sandy or one of those southern suburbs that was completely underground, in the middle of an otherwise normal bunch of suburban housing. If you drove up to the front, you saw a door. Just that – a normal door, as on the front of a house, only there was no house behind it. If you weren’t right in front of it, you could see a slanting enclosure go9ing down. The house consisted of nothing but a basement and that one anomalous above-ground door. Someone claimed that they started building the basement and never got any further, but I suspect there’s more to it. S.A.R.A.H.? Is that you?? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-any-people-live-in-hobbit-holes/510300/31 "2009-09-17T00:09:42Z")
> [@](#): > > I Googled this to find out wtf you were talking about and the first link is this thread and the second link is another SDMB thread. /slight hijack That’s because it’s a mash-up of two different memes. On the one hand, you have “As God is my witness, I thought \_\_\_\_\_ could fly”, where the blank is some creature that has just fallen to its death as a result of said assumption. On the other hand, there’s a long-standing debate amongst Tolkien fans as to whether Balrogs have wings and/or whether they can fly. ---
**Author:** ![santiago42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@santiago42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/santiago42)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-any-people-live-in-hobbit-holes/510300/32 "2009-09-17T03:32:22Z")
> **[Missile bases, communication bunkers and underground properties](https://www.missilebases.com/)** > > 20th Century Castles, LLC - National leader in the acquisition and sales of missile bases, communication bunkers and other underground properties. For all your underground dwelling needs. ---
**Author:** ![Girl\_From\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3da27b/32.png) [@Girl\_From\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girl_From_Mars)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-any-people-live-in-hobbit-holes/510300/33 "2009-09-17T03:53:47Z")
Cave dwellings aren’t uncommon in parts of Andalucia in Spain. Although I believe they are man-made, not natural. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-any-people-live-in-hobbit-holes/510300/34 "2009-09-17T04:35:34Z")
> [@Turek](#): > > There is/was a community in Bend, Oregon called The Shire which was made up of Hobbit-inspired residences. It seesm to have fallen on bad times since the housing market decline. These were not underground houses. It was a [theme park](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVt_FyKp_yA) gone horribly wrong at $280 sq/ft. Warning, the urge to gouge your eyes out after watching the video should be tempered with the knowledge that the housing bubble killed it. May it rot in architectural hell with the hopes that “This Old House 2050” doesn’t attempt to fix any of it. It’s like Frank Lloyd Wright paid the 7 dwarfs to rape Snow White and these were the bastard children. My eyes… ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-any-people-live-in-hobbit-holes/510300/35 "2009-09-17T04:49:29Z")
> [@santiago42](#): > > [http://www.missilebases.com/](http://www.missilebases.com/) > > For all your underground dwelling needs. Perfect if [this](http://rj3sp.blogspot.com/2009/05/steve-eves-saturn-v-rocket-replica.html) is your hobby. Hopefully it doesn’t trigger a war. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-any-people-live-in-hobbit-holes/510300/36 "2009-09-17T12:58:08Z")
Not underground, but [definitely Hobbit-ish](http://www.simondale.net/house/). ---
**Author:** ![runcible\_spoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc29f/32.png) [@runcible\_spoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runcible_spoon)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-any-people-live-in-hobbit-holes/510300/37 "2009-09-17T15:18:29Z")
> [@C3](#): > > Not underground, but [definitely Hobbit-ish](http://www.simondale.net/house/). I would argue that that is significantly more hobbitish than full-on underground. Really more of a living roof situation. I wonder to what extent you get the same problems with that kind of setup. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-any-people-live-in-hobbit-holes/510300/38 "2009-09-17T15:59:28Z")
> [@runcible\_spoon](#): > > I would argue that that is significantly more hobbitish than full-on underground. Really more of a living roof situation. I wonder to what extent you get the same problems with that kind of setup. If you go to the “Similar Building” section of that website, there are a whole bunch of other houses that are very cool (including a tree house). The guy who built the one linked is planning to do a whole village of them and will teach you how to build them if you’re willing to help with the construction. You’d have to go to Wales, though. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-any-people-live-in-hobbit-holes/510300/39 "2009-09-17T22:22:12Z")
> [@C3](#): > > Not underground, but [definitely Hobbit-ish](http://www.simondale.net/house/). A very interesting set-up. I’m going to have to go through it thoroughly to see how sound it is. How do you certify a branching tree as a load bearing post? Backing into a hill is always problematic but I’ve always wondered about a true double wall design that would guarantee separation from water and hydrostatic pressure against the wall. I find it hard to believe it was done with such a small budget. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-any-people-live-in-hobbit-holes/510300/40 "2009-09-17T22:44:43Z")
First trip through the site shows the floor is sitting on straw which is sitting on wood pallets. Termites would consume the floor and support beams. I find the idea of plaster over straw an interesting idea as it would be real easy to build and maintain and might be a great way of throwing together emergency housing in the event of a massive disaster using local material. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-any-people-live-in-hobbit-holes/510300.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-more-any-people-live-in-hobbit-holes/510300.md?page=3)