From HobbitHoleWiki

From HobbitHoleWiki

What's new? (updated 7/27/05)

Welcome Baltimore Magazine readers!

We're featured in the August issue of Baltimore Magazine! Marylanders, be sure to pick up a copy at your local news stand. Or check on their website (http://www.baltimoremagazine.net) for details on ordering it.

A little insight into our lives

Also, for those looking to learn more about us (well, me in particular - Rob), you may want to read some articles I've posted online at a friend's site. You can view my author bio at this link (http://www.theedwardwebsite.com/biorob.html), and also find other interesting articles. The Edward Website (http://www.theedwardwebsite.com) is a freelance writing site, where anyone can apply to become a regular volunteer columnist.

Our Investment House!

We've now been in our investment house over a week, and are enjoying the peace and quiet. Although my job's been keeping me busy, and Tania has plenty of small house keeping tasks to keep her busy each day, we're grateful for the stress relief of having a quieter place to live. As things calm down we'll be doing further planning on our Hobbit Hole and updating more frequently, but feel free to check back here and leave comments on our live journal as well.

You can review our Project Goals section for our complete plan, but this house is meant to be an investment to be used to build equity for the next 2-3 years. That equity will then be used to finance the building loan for the Hobbit Hole itself. We may also soon have an official announcement of finding land for our Hobbit Hole! Keep checking back, or add our Live Journal in the News section to your Friends list if you have an LJ of your own to stay posted!

Adding to the site

Don't have the time to email or add content to the site? Then please leave your mark by signing our new Guestbook! We have just started our new Works in Progress page, where others can post articles about their own projects. The first project to be mentioned is our friend Essay's Home, which we heard about from joining the Cheap Shelters Yahoo Group (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cheap-shelters/). Hopefully soon other members of the group will be adding their own projects to this page!

What's a Wiki anyway? (updated 3/31/05)

Basically it's a user-editable website. You should read the Help section for some basic guidance on how to use it. I also have an article online entitled 'Why Wiki?' (http://www.theedwardwebsite.com/whywiki.html) that may answer your questions. Some links may take you to a page that is not yet created. Since this is a wiki, if you register for a free account with us, you are more than welcome to create that page yourself. Realize that this site will now be constantly a work in progress, since everyone has the freedom to edit everything but the main sections.

What's this about a raffle? (updated 4/11/05)

Arms of Valour, Ltd (http://www.armsofvalour.com) was gracious enough to donate one of their Sting swords (http://www.armsofvalour.com/miva/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=AOVL&Product_Code=LoR-001&Category_Code=LR) for us to raffle off over the course of one month. The raffle has since ended and our original winner failed to respond within 1 month, so Heather Mullaney has won this officially licensed Lord of the Rings sword (http://www.armsofvalour.com/miva/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=AOVL&Product_Code=LoR-001&Category_Code=LR)! Here's a picture of Heather Mullaney proudly brandishing her Sting sword!

What is a Hobbit Hole?

You truly should read our Hobbit Hole section to gain enlightenment.

What is the point of this website?

In short, we hope to build a Hobbit Hole. Yes, we mean a subterranean dwelling as described in the link above. No, it will not be in Middle Earth, and no, we are not (completely) insane. This website has gradually evolved into the wiki form that you see now, and we hope to build it into a comprehensive source of information on Hobbit Holes, Tolkien, the building of underground homes, and various alternative building techniques.

Are you serious?

We are actually quite serious about doing this, and have done much research on Earth Sheltered homes. We are getting advice from both an architect and a loan officer in our family, and also from many readers who have emailed us with suggestions. While we are currently in the initial planning stages, we are hoping to purchase the actual land as soon as we discover the perfection location for our needs, as determined by pricing and geography.

How is this website supposed to help accomplish that?

This website is dedicated to gathering information on building a Hobbit Hole. We are currently saving towards building our own within a few years, as you can see in the Project Goals section. Although we do accept contributions of time, expertise and money, we have changed the focus of our site into a wiki to allow us to create an online community of fans of The Lord of the Rings. Additionally, this site also will contain much information on Earth-Sheltered Homes and alternative building techniques. Hopefully we can generate enough information and interest in our project to make it easier for those who will come behind us, wanting to make their own Hobbit Hole.

I have pertinent advice or expertise in this matter - how can I help?

You can email us at mailto:[email protected] or reply to postings on our News Page. We will do our best to reply to every email we receive, except for hate mail. Even if it's just sharing encouragement or a sketch you've scanned of how you would build your own Hobbit Hole, we'd love to hear from you! Our fans are the biggest reason we haven't given up after the first few nasty letters we've received, so getting emails from you is never a waste of our time!

Are you certain you are not insane?

Quite -- at least in our better moments. But this is not as ridiculous a project as it may seem at first. You see, my (recently-acquired) father-in-law is an architect. He has shown interest in this project, and although he will have to be re-certified for a different state in which to practice, he should be up to the task at hand. There are also construction companies that already do houses of a similar nature, although they do not appear to be designed in the tube-like, rounded appearance of the traditional Hobbit Hole, which is what we seek.

You can see one here (Davis Caves.Com) (http://www.daviscaves.com).

Where is this Hobbit Hole going to be constructed?

We are currently seeking undeveloped and (as) secluded (as possible) land in the area of Kent Island, Maryland. If you want zip codes and towns to check on a map, that will be Stevensville (http://maps.yahoo.com/maps_result?ed=M7tNO.p_0TqT&csz=stevensville%2C+md+21666&country=us&new=1&name=&qty=) and Chester (http://maps.yahoo.com/maps_result?ed=M7tNO.p_0TqT&csz=Chester%2C+Md+21619&country=us&new=1&name=&qty=), 21666 (http://maps.yahoo.com/maps_result?ed=M7tNO.p_0TqT&csz=stevensville%2C+md+21666&country=us&new=1&name=&qty=) and 21619 (http://maps.yahoo.com/maps_result?ed=M7tNO.p_0TqT&csz=Chester%2C+Md+21619&country=us&new=1&name=&qty=).

Won't digging a hole sink the island?

You know, there's one in *every* crowd. But since you're taking the time to read this, I'll answer your question. As Davis Caves (http://www.daviscaves.com) states on their FAQ section (http://www.daviscaves.com/earthfaq.htm) about drainage and waterproofing, this type of home is waterproof. My parents also live on the island, and their house is over 21 feet above sea level and the lawn is kept quite dry by means of drainage ditches running along the road and natural landscaping slants in the front and back yard. We hope to accomplish the same by landscaping, and since the area is flat we will most likely have to first build up our own hill and then build the home into it, or build the home and then bury it.

One of your zip codes is 21666? That's the legal age for drinking and the mark of the beast!

This should be no cause for concern as long as I get my Hobbit Hole. If I don't, I'm going to raise an army of legally drunk orcs and cause an apocalypse like you wouldn't believe. Ask a stupid question...

So what inspired this project?

As you have probably detected by now, my wife and I are huge fans of the The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings series, and other of Tolkien's Books about the fantastic realm of Middle Earth. We are approaching our one year anniversary and have lived thus far in an apartment.

Why do you want to move out?

In our old apartment, we had noise problems with various neighbors off and on, so the silence, seclusion, and privacy of a Hobbit Hole seemed like a true dream come true. Living in an apartment for any length of time as a rule is just treading water financially, instead of moving forward with an investment in actual property. We're currently in a small house as a property investment, but hope to begin construction of the Hobbit Hole in the next few years. This project is a plan for our future, both as a place to raise our family and run a Bed & Breakfast as a business for additional income.

What are the advantages of such a dwelling?

Most can be found in the FAQ section (http://www.daviscaves.com/earthfaq.htm) or Why Earth section (http://www.daviscaves.com/whyearth.htm) on Davis Caves (http://www.daviscaves.com), but I'll reiterate a few of the most appealing ones. Earth Sheltered homes (such as a Hobbit Hole is extremely low-maintenance. There is no roof to repair, no breakdown of foundation or walls, no rust or rotting. The primary part exposed to the outside world is the cement, which is sheltered from the heat and cold by the ground. The interior wooden panelling and floors would be stained and polished, and if kept dry, should last well beyond our lifetimes. Less power is needed for heating and cooling, since the earth does not change temperature quickly and *never freezes*. It also makes for a much more attractive outside, since the surrounding lawn and even hill overtop is all usable landscape for our kids to play on someday. They are also exceptionally quiet, since the earth is also a good insulator against sound, and this sounds wonderful to us, as we crave silence on a daily basis.

Are you die-hard environmentalists?

No, not really. I mean we don't like polluting and we think recycling is a good idea, but those aren't the main reasons behind this project. We just want a unique home straight out one of our favorite fiction fantasy worlds, to be our retreat from the outside world. We're actually quite huge geeks and fans of technology, and both have our own computer and Game Boy. Broadband Internet access will be a must, and we'd like to get Satellite TV again. We've cancelled it due to it not being cost effective, but we used to enjoy Buffy (http://www.upn.com/shows/buffy), Charmed (http://www.paramount.com/television/charmed), and The Daily Show (http://www.comedycentral.com/tv_shows/thedailyshowwithjonstewart/). Granted, we'd give up quite a few amenities and leave half the rooms unfinished for now if it meant moving into a nice, silent home any earlier. If you want to know more about us, you can bore yourself with our livejournals, mine (http://www.livejournal.com/users/loftgeek) and my wife's (http://www.livejournal.com/users/funnel101).

So why don't you just build it yourself now?

Currently we just don't have the funds. We exist on a single income, and I recently switched to a new job, starting at base salary. While the paycheck is beginning to improve, we definitely don't have the credit necessary to merit a large building loan such as would be needed for the project. If you'd like to see our current plans, check out the Project Goals section.

How far along are you?

You can check our current progress in the News section, or read a summary in the Project Goals section.

How can I help?

Check out our Contributions page to learn how you can help.