My Dream (Hobbit?) House

My friend Chris Baskind says this house is for “upwardly mobile, fashion forward hobbits.” I THINK that describes me….

OK, I’m having a severe case of house lust. Have you ever seen a cuter little abode? Check the website for more pictures, as well as plans and details of the sustainable aspects of the this “Low Impact Woodland Home”, which include:

* 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.

Not only is it so cozy and inviting, it is gorgeous inside too!

And in case you were feeling like a productive member of society, to top it off, this couple built the house for around $6,000 with a baby and a toddler to distract them! (I guess now I’d feel bad about kicking them out and moving in, since it would just be me and my cats and dog. But not that bad, ha ha!)

Baby, eating, Energy, farm, Fashion, garden, Home, Lighting, local, Music, oil, pictures, plastic, skin, spa, spring, sustainable, water, wood

Starre Vartan is the founder and editor-in-chief of Eco-Chick and author of The Eco-Chick Guide to Life (St. Martin's Press). A problogger and oft-quoted green living expert who has been featured in the NYTimes, Elle, Glamour and Whole Living, she is a contributor to The Huffington Post, Inhabitat, and Hearst's The Daily Green, and is currently editor-at-large for Coco Eco Magazine. An active ecofashionista, she has style edited for Plenty magazine and coordinated runway shows. She splits her time between Connecticut and NYC and calls Sydney, Australia her second home, even though it was her first (as that's where she was born and most of her family resides). When not writing, blogging, or researching her next book, she is trailrunning, trying to cook, or snowboarding.

How I Wear Eco Fashion: Yuka Yoneda, Design Editor and (Former) Shopaholic!

5 Comments on “My Dream (Hobbit?) House”

lornadoone
Oh my gosh. I am in love with this!
11/21/07 » 8:20 pm »
melanie
I am always stalking that website and drooling over that house. I could easily be a Hobbit – I have curly hair and always have second breakfastes.
11/22/07 » 9:22 pm »
Justin Fleming
Problem is, these ‘low impact’ houses mean buying new already green land and plonking another new house on it (even if it is turfed over).
Would animals still graze on the roof and could people still enjoy the countryside and walk over it?
Now if people were willing to create that on existing housing plots in cities, then you’ve got something!
11/26/07 » 5:21 am »
lornadoone
I love this little house. My dad has been looking to build a very small house on his property, and I sent him the link above. Maybe we’ll have our very own “hobbit hole” in the family!
11/27/07 » 5:59 pm »
jesse brown
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05/16/08 » 1:35 pm »