Thank you J.R.R Tolkien for having inspired Peter Jackson to making both the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, and thus making the famous tunnel-maze designed underground dwellings (Tolkien described them, but Jackson was the one who showed them to us ^^). I have made it my aim to end up living in one same such type of house. The attraction has nothing to do with Tolkien or even the Medieval Fantasy genre, but strictly an aesthetic one. One cannot refute the complete sense of comfort and coziness that such interiors project, strongly influenced by the specific choice of interior design bringing in all the ambiance, without which it would just seem boring and unappealing. It is this mix of “classic” English country-house style and compactness that give it such a “cozy” feel, undoubtedly further confirmed by the knowledge that the “house” is crammed underneath earth and ground. Looking at the cylindrical shapes of the tunnels and roundness of doorways, it could almost seem as though it was at first built for normal “humans”, straight up and that it was then squished vertically downwards under the weight of the surrounding “hill”. What’s funny, I find, is that these seemingly underground Hobbit dwellings were inspired by ancient, viking houses which had been built in very much the same way, as a means to protect its inhabitants from the harsh weather. An example of such a house was reconstructed in Newfoundland, Canada at l’Anse aux Meadows (picture). Looking around the internet I managed to spot two blueprints for possible hobbit dwellings, one of which seems quite true to what we get to see of it in the movies, especially “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)”, which shows more of the different rooms inside Bilbo Baggins’s domicile than “The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)”.
They’re quite opposite each other one being based on a tunnel of a hallway with room “cavities” on either sides along the length and the other being more maze-like and wanting to break any linear logic. The choice will boil down to available choices, but I think in the aim of practicability I won’t be allowed too artistic a solution. In the case of Bilbo, his home is right underneath a hill-top, which could explain its large area in the second schematic. Also, there are more rooms than really needed, we can take out one of the cellars, the smoking room (although it would be nice to be able to offer oneself one), either guest or spare room, back-door, the west hall and atrium (which could be just one corridor combined with the east hall), parlour and I’d combine the dining room with the kitchen. I’d also get rid of the storage (room) and use the back-room instead. My own schematics coming as soon as I’ve finished my first draft =)
The following are possible sources of inspiration, the first for the interior and the second house for the exterior.
