Architecture

Hobbit hole-style luxury home hits the market

Hobbit hole-style luxury home hits the market
Underhill is on the market for a cool £700,000 (roughly US$918,400)
Underhill is on the market for a cool £700,000 (roughly US$918,400)
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Underhill is arranged around a family recreation area with large stone arches and a heated indoor swimming pool
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Underhill is arranged around a family recreation area with large stone arches and a heated indoor swimming pool
The large glazed doors offer choice views of the nearby Pennine Hills
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The large glazed doors offer choice views of the nearby Pennine Hills
Underhill is on the market for a cool £700,000 (roughly US$918,400)
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Underhill is on the market for a cool £700,000 (roughly US$918,400)
The modest sliding circular door set into the hillside offers little clue that behind it lies a large entrance hall and an expansive 4,000 sq ft (371 sq m) luxury home
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The modest sliding circular door set into the hillside offers little clue that behind it lies a large entrance hall and an expansive 4,000 sq ft (371 sq m) luxury home
This area, dubbed The Cave, features a peat fireplace
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This area, dubbed The Cave, features a peat fireplace
Inside the main family recreation area
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Inside the main family recreation area
The kitchen
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The kitchen
One of the four bedrooms
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One of the four bedrooms
The owner and designer of the home is architect Arthur Quarmby, president of the British Earth Sheltering Association
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The owner and designer of the home is architect Arthur Quarmby, president of the British Earth Sheltering Association
Located on a well-placed plot near Sheffield, Manchester, and Leeds in northern England measuring just under an acre (0.4 hectare), the home is part-buried into a hill
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Located on a well-placed plot near Sheffield, Manchester, and Leeds in northern England measuring just under an acre (0.4 hectare), the home is part-buried into a hill
Unlike most hobbit home-style dwellings, the interior features a remarkable amount of natural daylight inside
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Unlike most hobbit home-style dwellings, the interior features a remarkable amount of natural daylight inside
The large glazed doors offer choice views of the nearby Pennine Hills
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The large glazed doors offer choice views of the nearby Pennine Hills
View gallery - 12 images

Many hobbit holes are fun but modest dwellings, with low ceilings and relatively cramped and dark rooms. This example in Huddersfield, England, will appeal to The Lord of the Rings fans looking for a little more luxury. Built by a proponent of earth sheltered construction back in 1975, it boasts four bedrooms and a large recreational area that includes a swimming pool.

The aptly-named Underhill is located on an attractive plot in northern England that measures just under an acre (0.4 hectare). It's part-buried into a hill using earth sheltered construction – that is, using the earth itself as a thermal mass to help maintain a steady temperature.

Indeed, the owner and designer of Underhill is architect Arthur Quarmby, president of the British Earth Sheltering Association, and it has served as Quarmby's own family home for the last 41 years.

The modest sliding circular door set into the hillside offers little clue of the expansive 4,000 sq ft (371 sq m) luxury home within. The interior layout is arranged around a family recreation area with stone arches and a heated indoor swimming pool.

Underhill is arranged around a family recreation area with large stone arches and a heated indoor swimming pool
Underhill is arranged around a family recreation area with large stone arches and a heated indoor swimming pool

Elsewhere, Underhill includes four bedrooms, a kitchen, music room, study, dining room, workshop, and a stone vaulted cave with a peat fireplace. Large glazed doors offer choice views of the nearby Pennine Hills.

Unlike most hobbit home-style dwellings, the interior is bright and airy thanks to large roof lights installed throughout.

Alas, if you fancy making Underhill your own little slice of The Shire, you'll probably need to follow Bilbo Baggins' lead and steal a dragon's stash of gold. The home is currently on the market for a cool £700,000 (roughly US$918,400).

View gallery - 12 images
3 comments
3 comments
ljaques
Does anyone else see the irony of this? The Middle Earthers were down-home, hard working country folk who got by and had modest underground homes. Here, you walk through the quaint entryway to an odd, mounded, expansive, richly-decorated multi-room mansion with indoor swimming pool, costing 50 to 100 years of Hobbit savings. Hmm...
Yessirree! You, too can own a million dollar home which reeks of chlorine just like the pee pit downtown!
BigGoofyGuy
I think that is really cool. I like the entrance gives one impression while the inside gives another.
MK23666
All pools aren't cleaned with chlorine.