HOBBIT HOUSE #ecobuilding

Even a great grandmother can build a hobbit house! This is the ultimate dream for a kid who loved playing in the dirt. I never imagined a house could be built of earth. Come discover what can be done.

We needed round posts for the Hobbit House frame. The challenge: where to get them? The building supply store sells treated posts, but given the ecological nature of a hobbit home we are avoiding wood that can outgas toxins. The salesman suggests talking to a forestry company to buy whole trees (that we could debark), but the local plantations contain only the fast-growing pine Pinus radiata, which is not durable unless treated. Our efforts to obtain the more rot-resistant douglas fir comes to naught. This post details how we resolve the dilemna.