MY HOBBIT HOUSE

I once had a Hobbit Hole fascia on a brick wall in my backyard. It looked nice but I couldn’t open up that door and step inside. Because it was exposed thus susceptible to bad weather it eventually had to be pulled down.

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 You see I have this thing about JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, not so much the books these days. I discovered better written and more exciting sagas years ago but the movies. Their design and production impress me no end.
 So one of the items on my bucket list was to one day have a real Hobbit Hole in my back yard. Unfortunately that hasn’t happened yet but I believe I now have the next best thing a Hobbit House. It took several years and some really nice people but it happened.

 The Hobbit house frame and interior was originally built bylocal artist  Jamin Swaneveld over five years ago when he ran Willowwoods just outside of Belgrave in the Dandenongs East of Melbourne.
 Jamin planned to set the frame into the bank of the creek that ran beside the property where Willowwoods had its gardens and little hexagonal shed/store.
Willowwoods sadly folded for various reasons but providence favours the brave and talented and Jamin went onto establish Last Frontier Tattoos in Upwey and gained for himself a successful business and a reputation as a masterful inker with a waiting list of up to year.

The Framework as originally built.

The unrealised Hobbit house followed Jamin to Last Frontier with the hope of maybe completing it as a more basic version and use it as the counter for the shop.
But where Willow Woods was a gentler more whimsical place. Last Frontier –which Jamin has designed and built himself- is more steam punk with a tilt towards the strange and mythical. The shop having an atmosphere of a 19th Century Apothecary and Curio Shop, so the Hobbit house didn’t ideally fit the shop theme. So it was put out the back because Jamin really didn’t want to get rid of it with all the work he had done on it.

Jamin's original inside work.
See video

From the side.

 Around November 2013 I paid a visit to Jamin at Last Frontier to see what marvels he had added to the shelves in his shop and especially to see a new display cabinet he had made to house his lovely old medicine bottle collection. As it does talk returned to the old Willowwood days and the “what ifs” and “could’ve beens” and Jamin mentioned the Hobbit house was still around the back of the shop. Still in excellent condition hidden under a large cover and buried under other bits and pieces that needed sorting or disposal.
 It was then that he offered it to me if I was willing to take it. What would I do with an incomplete Hobbit house? Where would I put? Did I know what I was doing?

 It didn’t matter. I said “Yes and thank you.”

A couple of days before Christmas I organised with my step son Kris to hook up the trailer and pick up the frame and plonk it in my shed. I spent the next couple of weeks telling friends and family “Look what I got for Christmas”.

It was during the Christmas break that I had to sit down and think exactly what my opinions were. My goal was to finish the original idea of setting up the Hobbit house in situ to the best of my abilities while showcasing the interior and enhancing its qualities.

The new site for the Hobbit House.
Originally the Whomping Willow

Though the Hobbit house looked just like a wooden crate from the outside, inside Jamin had built a lovely panelled room complete with fire place. Because the frame was being into a bank and the widest part was to support the fascia, Jamin inserted a mirror on a 45 degree angle to create the illusion that the room extended into the bank but was in fact running along the front behind the front door.
 Though Jamin had created a wonderful interior it still needed a  list of items before installation such as a viewing window, to seal off an open end that was the access to the interior, water proof the unit as well as  install lighting for illuminating and effects. All this and creating a complete fascia and roof to make the whole structure come alive. Whereas Jamin’s original idea would have become a Hobbit hole I would have to build a Hobbit house similar to what Samwise Gamgee lived in at 3 Bagshot Row.
  In other words it would be a free standing house.

Before I could start I had to remove
the rest of the tree and the trampoline.

 I didn’t have a creek running through my backyard or have a large fall on my property to cut into I did however have a spot under a nice tree that when levelled looked like the tree was  growing out of the top of the house. But before I started that there was fun to be hd with the design of the outside. Having been made redundant from my job only weeks before I was given the frame I was not in the position to throw lots of money at the project so I needed to budget and not get too carried away with plans in case I couldn’t buy food or the wife killed me. Whichever came first. Luckily I have a garage full of bits and pieces and the initial layout for materials was minimal.
It also meant a lot of pick and shovel swinging to prepare the site where the house would eventually sit.

 I spent the rest of the summer planning, building, rejecting, planning and building again until I felt I had the right feel. Jumping from inside the shed to work on the frame and outside to level and prepare the area where it would sit. This was usually interrupted by a day trip with the missus where no matter where we went I found some other little inspiring titbit to enhance the house whether it be a certain colour, texture or garden ornament. It was on one of these outing that I found brass candelabra that with a bit of modifications became the chandelier.

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The Fire Place with LEDs.

Working Lights

When I was happy with the inside arrangements I made another trip to visit Jamin to show him what I had done and how it was going to look.
It was on this trip that he reminded me of an idea he had for the end of the hallway where he had a door partially open and back lit to give the impression that there was more happening further back in the house. I had totally forgotten this and had already spent a considerable amount of time and effort making a neat little door but fixed in position. But the idea was too good to ignore and I redesigned again. The door aside Jamin was quite pleased with the progress and was impressed by the little fake flame burning away in the fireplace with the use of LED lighting. Come the start of autumn it was time to test the structure and I placed it outside to test its weatherproofing and durability.

Getting ready for winter.

Kris doing the electrics

Nice and dry

 










By August I was content it was sturdy enough after some winter storms that where so strong one took out my shed when a large tree fell through it and the shopping centre down the road flooded. The Hobbit house neither fell apart nor leaked (unlike the shed) so it was time for the final stage the electrics, window dressing and garden.

Kris , who you may remember helped me moved the frame back home also designed the lighting. Being a 4^th year apprentice electrician and working in 3 watt LEDs using a 24 Volt transformer I was confident that the house was safe and not liable to catch fire or blow out any fuses. Actually Kris’ design and installation brought the project a whole new life by using the mirror to highlight low areas and the false perspective of the door look quite realistic. The winters rain and spring sunshine had given the path and surrounding grass a chance to settle in and with the fitting of the synthetic grass, chimney and fence the house was taking shape. Ideally it would have been nice to have a larger front garden but I was restricted by the gate way that links next door house and I wasn’t quite prepared to block that off as we have a great relationship with our neighbour.

When the local newspaper rang and asked if they could send ‘round a photographer, the wife and I went into overdrive to pretty up the garden and add some wildlife to the lawn roof.

It made us work quickly and use our gut feeling about what looked best. All up I’m quite satisfied with the result.

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Sightseeing In Middle Earth

Sightseeing In Middle Earth
High nerd related content article.


I’ve always been an avid reader and when I was younger I had a passion for the fantasy genre, I was given the Lord of the Rings when I was a teenager by my sister as a present and devoured it. Though in reality a very drawn out saga it led to a whole new interest and it was through this I discovered authors like Raymond E Fiest and David Eddings and then back peddled onto Isaac Asimov and Ray Bradbury. I know other who did the same with the Earthsea series and younger kids today with Harry Potter and Eragon.
It wasn’t until the film trilogy produced by Peter Jackson that Lord of the Rings became truly accessible and my favourite movie series of all time. The rather wordy and ponderous story came to life with modern technology and story telling methods. There is no denying the story is a classic and without it we wouldn’t have the rich treasure of stories that followed but we have to realize it was written by an English professor with an interest in languages more than 60 years ago to an entirely different audience. I still find it hard to accept it was originally classed as a children’s book.

The point is I loved the movies and they gave me a deeper understanding of the story of The Lord of the Rings as a whole as well as an increased interest in the movie making process as well as concept art, computer graphics, animation and production methods. I have all sorts of books based around the movie as well collectibles in all shapes and sizes, so when the opportunity arose to nick over to Wellington in New Zealand to tour some of the locations and visit the world famous Weta Workshop.
Arriving in Wellington, I half expected to see big signs and banners regaling “Home of the Ring” and that sort of stuff , especially since this was the city that when it hosted the premier for the last movie the Return of the King it had a red carpet kilometres long and more people who live in the city lined the streets. But I was to be disappointed; the eight days I was in Wellington I didn’t see any such advertising or promotion. It has been ten years since the last movie release, they have just moved on.
This is also the town that King Kong and a large chunk of Avatar was also made. The city has so much more going for it and it knows it.

Good on them I say.

This doesn’t mean a vibrant and professional little industry hasn’t capitalized on the popularity of the movies.
I booked our tour in Australia but it was easy enough to do in town - Wellington tourist bureau in the city centre are absolute gems and they never seem to shut! –we even had a couple people who jumped off a cruise ship for the day to join us.
We were picked up by our guide Phil in a lovely new SUV with all the modern comforts all up their was seven off us including our tour guide. Phil was well qualified having played six characters as an extra in the trilogy as well as being a part time sound recordist in the TV industry.
His roles included (for the nerds) an Uruk-hai, an Eastlaling, a Gondorian guard, a member of the army of the dead and an Orc, the other role escapes me, sorry.

Phil’s knowledge was vast and enthusiasm for the movies and his job were infectious. Making the whole day very enjoyable and comfortable.
If you have seen the movies, and hoping you’ve got this far you have, you would know that there are multiple landscapes and environments, many real, some reproduced in the studio. The entire trilogy was filmed in New Zealand, on both islands; many of the more extreme locations requiring four wheel drive and even helicopter access, of course these sites I didn’t visit. But what amazed me was the number of locations filmed locally within such a small distance from the city centre.
Without going into great detail over scenes, parts of the movies were filmed in local parks and walking tracks in nearby Mount Victoria.

That's the ledge through the trees there. Before and composite.

These included the Hobbits evading the Black Riders and Aragon and Theoden look down at the Rohanian Riders from a ledge, (The army they look down on was filmed over a thousand miles away near Queenstown)
Still very much identifiable when viewed on the DVD.

The tree was a fake

We traveled out of the city passed a disused quarry where massive sets were made for Helms Deep and some reused for Minith Tirith, sadly all removed on completion of filming and the Hutt River where the Fellowship paddled their boats down the River Anduin.

The River Hutt- Anduin

About 30 Kilometres north in the city of Upper Hut a whole sequence was shot in the local Harcourt park. In the movie the city of Isenguard is visited by Gandalf and he and Saruman walk in the ancient forest and soon after its majestic trees are ripped out of the ground and burnt in to fuel furnaces. That sounds quite quite epic.
It is until you realize it is only a local park about one hundred metres square.

This area was the road to  Isenguard

Me and the Missus walking in the gardens of Orthanc

Other locations were further inland and were less obvious and due to the ten year life span barely recognizable.

10 Kilometres out of the Upper Hut city in the imaginatively named Upper Hutt region which serves as the catchment area for the water supply for Wellington we went to the glorious Kaitoke regional park a thick forest where they filmed the Elvin city of Rivendell. It has natural beauty about it but when viewed in the film, it has so much computer overlays mixing with miniatures and matte paintings and other studio trickery that only a bit of foliage is seen, seemed like a waste of effort to drag all the equipment there.
So when we were told while sitting at a picnic table under a tree eating lunch that we were actually in Frodo’s bedroom, I took Phil’s word for it.

Frodo's bedroom - Before and After

YES, it's the SAME tree.

I enjoyed Rivendell for other reasons, I got to do a pose at the famous “Legolas tree” and I also got a photo opportunity with Todd , the guy with the crazy make up who played the Harrad Captain and steered the massive elephant like creatures called Mumakil. Anyone who has seen the movie will know whom I speak.

Spot the difference, damn hard, isn't it?

Me and Todd, Todd as Harrad Captain

The furthest place we visited in the North Island about 65 Kilometres out was a private property called Fernside which is over the mountain ranges in Featherstone. A lovely property built in the 1930s which used to be the private residence of the US ambassador to New Zealand.
Once again hints were left of the filming locations of Lothlorien and where Gollum/Smeagol murdered his brother after finding the One Ring but the house and lands were a beautiful location in them self. It is still the place of the only existing set piece from the movie an old bridge that was dressed up to look elvish.
Technically it doesn’t exist because when the cleared the land to get in the film crew they weaken the root system of an old tree and it fell on the bridge a couple of years later and destroyed the bridge, the one there now is a very good reproduction.

The Lothlorien Bridge, without mist, fake trees and make up.

Driving between the sites is quite an enjoyable ride thanks to the good roads and gorgeous green landscapes that surround them.
You can’t do a tour of location sites without visiting the Weta Cave in Miramar a suburb just ten minutes from the city centre.

It's small but jam packed full of fun.

I wanted to TAKE everything home

This is the hub of where all the collectables from the movie can be seen and a must for all fans. Though the size of a small shop it is chock a block full with statues and books as well a replica weapons and armour. It also has a small museum to view full size character costumes and props and the many limited edition figurines that sell out in weeks on release. The Weta cave is in a prescient known affectionately as Wellywood. In these unsuspecting streets are the unmarked workshops and production offices for Peter Jackson’s Wingnut films and just down the road are the equally unimposing Stone Street Studios where all three Lord of the Rings were made as well as the King Kong remake and a big slice of Avatar, that’s a lot of movie money there folks.

These barrels were used for the escape from the Elves scene.

I was very lucky indeed to walk passed the studio gates when they were open and witnessed scenes from the new Hobbit film being filmed on the back lot. A massive green screen with cottages standing tall in front of it. The place was full of caravans blocking most of the view but I still got a buzz.

A sneak preview of Laketown from the Hobbit Movie

To finish off, a short walk around the corner from the old paint factory that has become Stone Street studios is the wonderful full restored art deco movie theatre The Roxy. A labour of love by Peter Jackson and members of the Weta crew.
A trip into the past that everyone should experience and they serve a great cup of tea as well.

The gorgeous Roxy Theatre

Having a cuppa with Tintin and Snowy at the Roxy

The ceiling of the Roxy's Grand Foyer.