I came across this website that suggests making your very OWN hobbit hole out of concrete pipe. I doubt you could build one without heavy equipment, and though I don't know, I suspect that the concrete pipe (reinforced) is very expensive. Still, I thought some of you might like to take a peek. MAIN PAGE FLOOR PLAN

-- Anonymous, January 11, 2002

Answers

Cool!

What do you want to bet that *someone* out there will probably build one of these things?

I'll bet it'll even be featured in Better Homes & Gardens Magazine. ;- )

-- Anonymous, January 11, 2002

Cool, now thats the kind of earth shelter I want!!!

-- Anonymous, January 11, 2002

Neat, wouldn't that be nice to have for your own little retreat!!!

-- Anonymous, January 11, 2002

This is an interesting plan. When someone get's one built, be sure to send us a pic, eh?? Not for the claustrophobic, I daresay.

-- Anonymous, January 11, 2002

I was thinking in terms of claustrophobia as well, and then I realized that properly situated, that should be a non-issue, for the most part (altho this is spoken from one without a major claustrophobia problem). If you have enough windows, or situate it similarly to what was done with Bag's End on a bank, you could have a lot of windows. Not all that different from a normal house, unless your house has very high ceilings.

Of course, that would mean no attic storage, or basement. I'd need a big old bunker built futher back into the hillside for storage, myself.

I was also looking at the floor plan and wondering about planting a tree centrally through the open area where the tunnels weren't to make it more attractive and less barren. You probably wouldn't need a lot of shade being sub-terranean, however, it would look nice, it would be a good alternative to a deck to lie out on (or tie a hammock under) and picnic and so forth. I visited High Gate Cemetary a while back, and central to the Egyptian Tombs complex was a pretty large sized Cedar of Lebanon (tree) planted in a very very large central planter, and it didn't appear that the tree roots were forcing their way through the walls, so with proper planning, that could be done.

Wish I had more land...just ONE more project that I'd love to do... (right up there with recreating Stonehenge in my back yard)

-- Anonymous, January 11, 2002

Ah, I figured my friends here would like this sort of thing!

One of the things suggested by the author/owner of those webpages was using round pipe for the connections or hallways. You would want FLAT floors, even if the walls and ceilings curved. So that area under the flat floor would be the place to run wiring and pipes. I would think that would be a good place to build in storage too (as long as your damp-proofing was good!). I actually thought the elliptical pipe (oval instead of round) would be a good connector, but set up on "end". If you were using it as hallways, you would have less wasted space side to side, and you would have a deeper area under your flat floor.

For all I know, concrete pipe IS what they used to make the movie sets.

Hey Jules, what about a hobbit hole over in "Pleasant Valley" or whatever that area is called?

-- Anonymous, January 12, 2002