holes

Hobbit achitecture is functional and beautiful and incredibly comfortable: cool in the summer, warm in the winter, and with large round windows for sunshine and ventilation. I can't imagine a nicer way to live, and sometimes wonder how Humans make do with all those rectangles for doors and windows. Elves live way up in trees, Dwarves live in dreadful caves--and I won't even speak of the way orcs live!

Below are some lovely photos of Hobbit Dwellings round and about the Shire, as well as a few paintings done by some famous artists. There even a few Human dwellings that ought to interest you.

Enjoy them!

his hole is the humble abode of Daisy Brambletoes and her family. It is much bigger than it looks, though, both inside and out. You can see why this hole is somtimes called "Wisteria Cottage", because every spring it is covered with big, purple wisteria blossoms. As you can see, it is a very misty, moisty morning here. Below are a few close-ups of our garden...

A somewhat less-humble abode than my own is this, with the Great Smial of Brandy Hall. This one but the latest of new diggings that always seem to be underway at that grand address. Brandy Hall is a huge place, very beautiful and comfortable I'm told, though I have never been inside. I have heard that as many as five hundred Hobbits can live comfortably inside!

This very handsome hole belongs to Master Peregrin Took, who lives here with his father, the Thain of the Shire.

It is quite grand on the inside, even grander than Bag End, and almost as grand as Brandy Hall - if much smaller.

This attractive, if modest hole, is the one Sam Gamgee grew up in, and is still filled with vegetable and herb gardens for cooking. His old Gaffer still lives there.

This is the same duplex, in the year of the great Winter Freezover. That was the year that a great snowcasle contest was held in Bywater, and the Proudfoot children won hands down.

This is, of course, the famous house in Crickhollow. It is just a little bit removed from those other houses, and at the end of the road beside a wooded area. Frodo Baggins owns this house.

This is a house from Bree, just to give you an idea how Men sometimes live. The Hobbits who live in Bree, of course, would not dream of having all those stairs!

This is a depiction of Bag End by the artist Ted Naismith. That is Gandalf standing on the path, and Bilbo can barely be seen, seated on a garden bench.

It looks to be a very balmy summer morning.

This is a depiction of Bag End as seen in a popular animated film. Bag End, of course, is a much finer hole than this - but at least the artist knew Hobbit architecture when he saw it.

This one was painted by the famous artist, John Howe, who claims to have actually visited Bag End on several occasions.

I will admit -- there is a marked similarity to the real Bag End.

This last picture was painted by Professor Tolkien, who knows Bag End and Hobbiton better than anybody, outside of the Baggins family and Gandalf.

That is Bag End at the top of the Hill, and numerous holes along the hillsides. Closer to the river, you can see the Hobbiton marketplace and the Sandyman Mill, as well as the Green Dragon Inn. This picture certainly gives you an idea of what a well-ordered community Hobbiton is like.

These are some new garden plants, including fresh vegetables on the potting table, and decorative plants in pretty pots.

This is a neighbor of ours, taking the day off. He is the local Beekeeper - "Froggy" Diggwell by name. His wife, Petunia, often does her laundry with me, and they have fourteen fine, strapping children.

So why is it that he looks so tired all the time?

This is Farmer Grubbs' Farmhole, not far from the Brandywine River. It looks small and lonely here, but it tunnels in very deep. The hedgerows were built tall in order to keep out "varmints", as he calls them. I wonder if he means Hobbit-Varmints? You can see Mrs. Grubbs leaning over a half-door. Farmer Grubbs is actually a shepherd. Sheep are often raised in the Shire for wool, and occasionally for mutton.

This is a large pipeweed farm in Longbottom, after the harvest and sometime before the first snows of winter, which is why it looks so barren. That big hole, with three entances, belongs to one of the Tooks (I forget which), and the smaller hole in the upper corner belongs to a neighbor. That's a private vegetable garden inside the fenced area.

Bag End is on top of a hill in Hobbiton, overseeing much of the land around. It was built by Bungo Baggins and his wife, "the fabulous" Balladonna Took - a pretty young lass who in her day was quite a "catch" for eligible young Hobbit-lads. She also had dealings with Gandalf, it is said, and once ventured as far away as Elf country. Anyway, this hole has a magnificent green door with brass firrings and an impressive flight of steps. I have never actually been inside, but I have friends who have. In any case, it is the finest hole in all of Hobbiton, and in several other villages, too, I hear.

These three holes are of a very humble sort, and are lived in by honest, but less-well-to-do families. Homes like these are typically found all over the Shire.

This is a hole in a quiet corner of the North Farthing. My very dear friend, Pansy Longbranch lives here, where she practices her music all evening. She plays a stringed psaltry, a recorder, and several other instruments. Her hole is never without beautiful music.

The blue-framed door shown here is a closeup of Pansy's front door. Isn't it charming? I believe she is also planniing to have pictures of flowers, bees, ladybugs and dragonflies painted on the front of her door. It will be quite nice after that is done.

This is another hole in Frogmorton, just a short walk from my own front door. It has a lovely red door and is covered with red roses. It should come as no surprise to learn that the lady of the hole is also named Rosie.

This is Sandyman's Mill, which most of our flour and processed grains come from. Old Sandyman is a somewhat strange chap, and his son is an impatient Hobbit who just isn't satisfied with a small business. He wants to "industrialize", and that just isn't right for Hobbits. I don't think much good will come of it when he takes over his father's business.

This lantern and signpost marks the Green Dragon Inn, one of the most famous taverns in the Shire. My husband Mongo spends many hours in this place when he passes though Hobbiton and Bywater on business.

This is the most curious Hobbit Hole of all, for it was actually built by a family of humans who admired our architecture ! They have actually named it "Bag End 2"

-- a most unusual tribute.

If you want to find out more about it, then click on the picture and you will be taken right away to their site.

And this is the Hole last winter, when we had so much snow on the ground! You can see where the stepping stones were practically buried, and our toes almost froze!

And this is Crickhollow, a very small village in Buckland which is very typical for that part of the Shire -- where many Hobbits do not have real Hobbit Holes, but live in houses not unlike the ones Humans live in. They are impressive on the outside, but are actually very small on the inside, and not good for large families to live in. Still, they can be quite cozy, and Frodo Baggins purchased one of these - a small, quiet house in a quiet corner of this quiet village. He did not wish to have visitors it seems.

This large, fascinating house was not built by a Man nor a Hobbit, but by the famous Tom Bombadil. The small house in the back is for his pony, Fatty Lumpkin, who is a member of his family circle. Tom is the guardian of the Old Forest, and lives here with his wife, the lovely river sprite, Goldberry. Clever old Farmer Maggot has had many dealings with Tom -- and until Frodo and his three companions came there, probably very few other Hobbits even knew about him.

All original text and artwork by"Daisy Brambletoes" are the property of Cheryl W. Duval and Off-Note productions and is not to be used without written permission. Movie stills are property of New Line Cinema.