In a hole in the ground there lived...

It turns out that outdoorsy men who like to build things can have a whimsical side and give you all sorts of hobbit hole daydreams into the bargain.

In a hole in the ground there lived.....unexpectedly whimsical outdoorsy men?

The summer just past was a weird one here in the Shires, as the whole country struggled through drought and heatwaves. Lots of time draped indoors and trying to keep cool, rather than being out in the garden, meant looking for some zero-energy distractions and I heard the siren song of YouTube on the TV. 

I have a liking for a genre of video called silent vlogs, like a standard vlog but instead of lots of speaking to camera its lots of quiet (usually very hobbity-cosy) activities and no speaking. All very calm and chill and enjoyable.

Then, as one video finished, it suggested another of a man building a cabin in the woods entirely from wooden pallets. As someone who lived through the original nineties pallet wood craze I was duty bound to click. What I discovered was manly men silent vlogs....and they were bizarrely compelling.

I could sit back, with my fan and a cold drink, and watch 45 minutes to an hour of men (and bizarrely they are always men) going into the woods with an axe, a shovel, a saw and what seems like an entire backpack of absurdly long nails and see them craft a one room cabin entirely from scratch. They were rustic and simple and the style was almost always "outdoorsy man", but they're not even using power tools, so really each one was a remarkable creation.

Then I discovered that some of them were making hobbit holes and that was a hole I was more than happy to tumble headlong into.

These men were digging out entire hillsides by hand, crafting stone fireplaces and chimneys with rocks they dug out and a mortar made from the soil, fashioning round windows and even solving the round door hinge dilemma in creative ways. 

I was beyond hooked. Who knew that outdoorsy manly men were so darn whimsical? I watched a lot of those videos this summer, mainly from one channel (Lesnoy, a Ukranian outdoor survival channel that has seriously branched out) but there are other makers having similar ideas. From their efforts was the seed of the return of Middle-earth News planted; the fans needed to see these too!

Its best not to be too misty-eyed about these though; they are impressive and whimsical and beautiful, but they are still decidedly rustic. If electricity, bathrooms and running water are absolute essentials for you then these won't be the hobbit holes of your dreams, but they may still induce some very nice daydreaming and they are so darn wholesome to watch that I do think you'll still enjoy seeing them! 

So, without further ado and rambling backstory I give you....the top 5 solo outdoorsy man hobbit hole builds on YouTube!

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#1 Living Underground Building a warm dugout deep in the forest

[youtube=T0AgU-qIs6Q]

It's the video that's going to make you go "I want one... maybe I could build one?" The building of the fireplace is incredible, this is the hobbity-est by far.

#2 Into the hill: One man's journey to build the perfect underground hobbit house

[youtube=JmH5SSE4z0I]

A whole different approach to this build, but the outcome is still very much hobbit hole! A clever solution to the round door conundrum and a very good doggo (Farmer Maggot would be jealous) make this exceedingly watchable. Daydreaming will inevitably follow.

#3 To build a shelter among the stones - like a hobbit house

[youtube=JTxru_xaMUo]

What do you do if you want to make videos about building hobbity shelters in wild and remote places, but you also want to make cooking videos? You do both! Strictly this build is only like a hobbit hole, but look at it, the vibes and whole build process are amazing. Would find this one very difficult to leave....and very difficult to access, to be fair, this one is seriously high and remote!

#4 I built a hidden house in the forest in 5 days

[youtube=uIABEWV_7Z8]

So you fancy the idea of your own little hobbit hole by now, but you don't have much time to make one? You could copy this man and take your power tools to speed things up. You could be only 5 days from your very own hobbit hole (not counting the years of time developing all the skills to use the tools and learning to work with materials, admittedly, but we're daydreaming here, let's hand wave that we already know how to do that!)

#5 I built a free house from abandoned pallets start to finish

[youtube=1MtJRAiVn4U]

What if you want to live in Buckland, near to a stream flowing into the Brandywine? You do this!

This is the video that started the obsession for me (ignore the thumbnail, it's so much better for real) and the stars here are the ingenious rotating hobbit door and the very good doggo.

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That's the top 5 for you to start some serious Hobbit hole dreaming with, but my absolute favourite of all of these builds is.....not even a Hobbit hole! I know, I should be ashamed, but look at it.  It's glorious and the whimsymaxxing going on here is on a whole other level. 

I hope you enjoy your trip down this Hobbit hole rabbit hole and maybe get to realise your own Hobbit hole dreams in the future.