Energy-Efficient Hobbit Home for Sale in New York State

Jim Costigan, building engineer, has spent his spare time for the past six years building a green-roofed, energy-efficient hobbit home in New York State, according to New Atlas.

Known as the Hobbit Hollow, it follows the same scenery style as a hobbit’s home with a stream and waterfall nearby on 1.7 acres of land.

“When I saw the Fellowship of the Ring and saw Bilbo Baggin’s house (Bag End) I thought that was one of the most original and unique pieces of architecture that I had ever seen,” Costigan told New Atlas. “Like this was completely off the charts, I thought that would be one of the coolest things ever to live in. I went on the web trying to find one that was built but couldn’t. So I built the original Hobbit Shed in my backyard for my lawn tractor (that’s why my website is called My Hobbit Shed). Anyway, I put it on the web and got a tremendous response to it. So I started to think about how to build a full scale one you could live in. This is what I came up with. It’s sort of for the modern day Bilbo Baggins who is concerned with climate change and all that other good stuff.”

Underneath the green roof consists two parallel 16 inch-thick concrete walls, supported by a concrete roof. The interior has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, dining room, hallway, kitchen and utility room that makes up 1,500 sq. ft. Although there aren’t any interior decorations, it does have a skylight and electric fireplace.

Credit: Jim Costigan

Although the house isn’t officially certified as a Passive House, it does conform to stringent green building standards. The hobbit home has triple-glazed windows, and insulation rated as R-60 in the roof and R-50 in the walls. Its air-tightness is rated at .36 ACH (air changes per hour) at 50 Pascals, meaning it is within the Passive House requirements of .6 ACH.

The house also maintains temperature with a Mitsubishi Hyper heat pump. So far, Costigan has kept the house at 67 degrees Fahrenheit, and the electricity bills for the last year have averaged at $45 per month. The house is also hooked up to grid power, but could also be equipped to use solar panels.

Hobbit Hollow is currently up for sale, and may be one-of-a-kind, since Costigan said building another hobbit home is unlikely.