Hobbit house

[Sniper-T]

My neighbour's wife read "The Hobbit" by J. R. R. Tolkien, and decided they needed to build an underground house. 30 years ago. Here's a couple shots of their place:

see the chimney in the center of the green space?

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/tt140/Sniper-T/multiplicity/IMGP5236.jpg

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/tt140/Sniper-T/multiplicity/IMGP5240.jpg

[izzyscout21]

that's really cool. How energy efficient is the place?

[Sniper-T]

Amazingly so!!

His heating/cooling bills are about $20./mo. where I have a traditional style house, that I've done amazing insulating to and am still averaging over $100.

you can't see from the pics, but he's got over 100sf of solar on the front, and can go off grid with a flip of a switch.

I aspire to be him!

lol

[Sparrow]

That is in Manitoba?!

[bacpacker]

Very nice place. Underground is my dream house. Has been for years. Maybe one day.

Is that a L shaped lake around the back of the house? How big is the house? Total underground on 3 sides or more?

[Sniper-T]

Yup...Manitoba, just down the road a ways from me.

it is an L shaped pond, which joins to another one barely visible at the top of the phot, so in essense, he has water on three sides

What he did was he dug the hole for the basement, then built the house, then used the fill to cover it over, including what he dug out for the ponds.

The South facing side is not covered, and open to the sun. It is essentially a bank of windows.

I think he said that it was about 2400sf in size

[izzyscout21]

Ah..Canada...land of the mystical lumberjack commandos....(just kidding guys!):)

or am I.......
http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx288/2crgrunt/demotivational-poster-lumberjack-commandos.jpg

[bacpacker]

Sniper that is one nice lay out. Not much worry about drinking water either, I would assume fish to eat as well.

[Sniper-T]

He hasn't done fish, as he is only 5-8 feet deep, and in a cold winter, it would freeze solid. He provided me with valuable info though for when I started building my poond, I took it down to 18 feet, and although a technical problem killed them off this summer, I had 200 trout thriving nicely in mine.

He would have to filter his water for drinking, being that shallow, he gets a lot of algae. He also allows runoff into his, which isn't the greatest either. He raises peacocks, and encourages geese into his pond, and has 11 mating pairs that return annually. Between that, his amazing garden and greenhouses, he'll do well for food. I'll supply him with the water and fish in trade. lol

[bacpacker]

The runoff is easily enough filtered. I didn't consider the cold winters up there and 5-8' would not be deep enough to hold them over. I bet your at 18' you will be in good shape.
The geese are a nice touch.

[Sniper-T]

I've over wintered minnows for 3 years now, and I'm sure that fish wont be an issue now that I've got my pumps sorted out.

I personally 'discourage' the geese away from my yard, as they have the unfortunate habit of pooping all over my beech. plus they carry leeches on them, and since we also use the pond for swimming, I don't need leeches.

Geese are more than welcome in my back 40 and in the dugout back there.

[Sparrow]

Ah..Canada...land of the mystical lumberjack commandos....(just kidding guys!):)

or am I.......
http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx288/2crgrunt/demotivational-poster-lumberjack-commandos.jpg

LOLZ. Yeah, that is a fable. Men in Canada have become this:

http://www.lionsdenu.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/metrosexual.jpg

[Sniper-T]

Careful Sparrow... don't be lumping all men in with that!!!

*shudder*

:)

[ravensgrove]

We have koi, they do some sort of suspended animation thing when their pond freezes getting oxygen from the frozen pond. We haven't lost any even in -8 to cold...raccoons that's another thing.

[Sparrow]

Careful Sparrow... don't be lumping all men in with that!!!

*shudder*

:)

Yes, I agree! But I am used to the men on Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal ... they are 98% like that! :) If I wanted a chick, I'd date a woman - I used to say to myself LOL

[Sniper-T]

A good buddy is in TO, some of his stories about the people he deals with daily make the hairs on my neck stand on end. He is what I call a misplaced western redneck, there by circumstance rather than choice. but yeah, I'd agree with your 98% generalization around there!

:)

[Sparrow]

Yeah, it was scary. I went on a date once to a hockey game where the guy was cruising other guys! Mind you, I wasn't wearing my paper bag on my head with the picture of Charlize Theron ... maybe that was why :)

[Sniper-T]

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t208/WingMan0519/squaresbig/paperbag.jpg

lol

couldn't find a Charlize... maybe this'll work?

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm36/mrxpez/paperbagoverheadfunnypiccompressed.jpg

[The Stig]

While humorous, what the hell does this have to do with the hobbit house?

[Sparrow]

LoLz yeah! What does it have to do with the Hobbit house?! LMAO. Sorry we derailed the thread!

[ladyhk13]

Are there any plans on this house? Do they have to use a dehumidifier all year long? Do they need to use the fireplace daily to keep the chill off? Are there any pics of the other side? What kind of solar are they using? This is very interesting to me since we are looking at all options to go off grid and different types of houses. All info is great.

[LUNCHBOX]

Ah..Canada...land of the mystical lumberjack commandos....(just kidding guys!):)

or am I.......
http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx288/2crgrunt/demotivational-poster-lumberjack-commandos.jpg

Izzy and Stig in disquise....sorry, that house is nice also.

[Sniper-T]

They do not have the plans anymore, like I said, it was built almost 30 years ago. He granted me permission to post those 2 pics of his place, but didn't want any showing the front or anymore detailed views of their house/property.

I have been in there many times and can probably answer any questions you may have.

They do not need to run a dehumidifier, nor a fireplace, as they have no moisture/dampness issues. Inside the house, you wouldn't know it was underground, unless you knew it was underground. it really just looks like a normal house. It is a concrete construction, made with poured floor and walls(basement) then preformed concrete girders for the ceiling/main floor; poured walls, and preformed concrete ceiling again. He did lament once how much easier it would have been to build it with the insulated interlocking concrete wall segments

Most of the inside was slatted and then covered with wood or drywall, as is the mainfloor ceiling. The mainfloor floor is done in hardwood over a floating pad. The only place that you can see the concrete is the basement ceiling, and that is only because they didn't want to bother covering it.
One end of the mound is a 2 car garage, which also has a full basement under it. He has a 4' square hole in one corner, where he pushes wood down into the basement, where he has a homebuilt wood stove, that he uses in the winter.