Want to See the Human-Sized Hobbit House That Costs Less Than $5,000 to Build?

TheBlaze ^ | 11242011 | Liz Klimas

[TheDailyChange]

This is not some set left over from The Lord of the Rings. This hobbit house is an honest-to-goodness man-sized home. Not only does it fit a family of four, but it cost just over $4,650 to build.

[TheDailyChange]

Obama's eco green economy is well underway. Prepare for a new living reality.

[6SJ7]

Looks kind of cozy.

[Zuben Elgenubi]

There’s no exhaust for the furnace.

[troy McClure]

Looks Cool.

I would build something like that but we have NAZI code enforcement here.

[Jonty30]

Rammed ground houses are very cheap to build.

The dirt is free.

[Silentgypsy]

Are those lamps made out of beer bottles?

[unkus]

There’s no exhaust for the furnace.

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That’s fake and just for show. The candle is the only heat allowed.

[RetroSexual]

Where I live, the permitting fees alone would be twice that amount.

[RushIsMyTeddyBear]

There’s no exhaust for the furnace.
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Could be one of those ‘alcohol gel flame’ thingies?

[Tijeras_Slim]

ping

[Track9]

Cool house but what a flippin’ leftist. His quotes are mindless cliques.

[Baynative]

The "back to the earth hippie lifestyle" is fine for some. But, as genuinely concerned about the environment as they may be, their elitist tendency to look down on others inevitably comes shining through. As Simon Dale [himself] says: "Being your own (have a go) architect is a lot of fun and allows you to create and enjoy something which is part of yourself and the land rather than, at worst, a mass produced box designed for maximum profit and convenience of the construction industry."

There is something wrong with the psyche of the left in that they can never be proud of their own ideals without tearing down what others do.

It should also be noted that while keeping with the hobbit theme Mr. Dale's new projects are much bigger and employ building techniques that produce a larger carbon foot print than a patty cake mud hut.

[vladimir998]

It’s an electric heater!

[marktwain]

Zoning administrations are local tyranny.

[marktwain]

You can get housing really cheaply in this country. It is the ground to put the housing on and the zoning permissions that are incredibly expensive.

[MasterGunner01]

Back in the days when the Midwest was nothing but a sea of grass and Buffalo, settlers would build sod houses by cutting them out of the soil. There were several reasons: (1) it was cheap; (2) the soil with the grasses holding things together, made for sturdy building materials; (3) the sod huts offered a lot of protection against the harsh Midwest winters; (4) there weren't many trees from which to build houses.

That being said, sod huts had their own attractive qualities. The critters that lived in the ground, now lived in and as part of your new house. The sod houses were very dark inside (probably a good thing since you couldn't see all the creepy, crawly critters), so candles and oil lamps and fireplaces were in use. Sanitation was about what you'd expect from an OWS encampment. If you used the prairie grass as thatch for a roof, you had to contend with the critters that lived in the grass dropping on you at various times. And, as winter set-in, the critters were naturally drawn to the sources of warmth inside the sod house.

There are many ways to build houses on the cheap. As I recall, there are whole communities in New Mexico that devote themselves to such “green” homes. That's well and good, but these folks aren't braving -25 degree temperatures and deep snow either. Be it ever so humble, I like my indoor plumbing, running water, central heating, and other creature comforts. You born-again Hippies can keep yours. Thank you, very much.

[Ladysforest]

And the TAXES. And the regulations about where things must go, how deep - how high. No longer are we able to use spring water as a source, but are required to have deep wells or hook up to city water sources, ect.

Not one but TWO septic systems must be installed for new builds that are not on city sewer systems. Which in turn requires a larger piece of land so that the systems can meet code in how far apart they are from each other, the house, and from the neighbors. They cost about seven grand each (easy). Then you have to pay the code person to come out and inspect/test them too.

And the TAXES!

I am seeing people begin to live in large NICE campers out in the country. They get to avoid all of that crap, and there are just the vacant land taxes to pay.

[TheDailyChange]

You ever hear of buying a piece or land WITHOUT HOA and CC&R’s?

[txhurl]

(4) there weren’t many trees from which to build houses.

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Is there something with the soil that trees just won’t grow? Always wondered why no trees.

[stefanbatory]

It was referred to early on as “The Great American Desert” for a very good reason. Not enough rainfall for forests to grow. Most crops now grown there are supported by irrigation.