Hobbit-core inspiration

With housing affordability issues at an all-time high, the tiny house movement is rapidly growing. New Zealander Bryce Langston has spent the past 10 years travelling the globe exploring the movement as host of YouTube series Living Big in a Tiny House, one of the world’s most watched architecture shows. In this extract from his book of the same name, he visits a tiny house in Nelson.

I had never heard of hobbit-core before meeting Anna, Stoff and their young daughter Molly. After visiting their home, I discovered my new favourite thing.

A hobbit-core, inspired by the mythical hobbits from Tolkien’s fantasy novels, is all about living in comfort. About wearing comfortable clothes, living in cosy and welcoming spaces and, perhaps most importantly, enjoying good food and drink. Ask Bilbo Baggins. He knew.

On top of the picturesque Wai-iti Ridge, overlooking the valley and beyond to the ocean on the horizon, Anna, Stoff and Molly are living just that dream.

While students together when living in Christchurch, Anna and Stoff inhabited a dingy, old and very cold flat. There’s nothing like cold and damp to make you dream of a better alternative. Together, they made the decision to start building a tiny house. At that stage, they didn’t have a place to put it. They designed and built their tiny house entirely as a DIY project.

Towards the end of the project, Stoff got a forestry job in the Nelson area, and it was there he found an affordable property. It was atop a wild, unloved and overgrown ridge, with difficult access, which many others had put in the too hard basket. The couple fell in love with the challenge, purchased the property and moved their tiny home on to the site.

As adherents of a hobbit-core lifestyle, everything they craft meets this aesthetic. It’s all handmade and decorated to be as homely as possible. Their tiny home oozes comfort.

Anna especially takes her hobbit-core homesteading duties seriously. It brings her pure joy. She loves her garden, and it shows. It is among the loveliest gardens I’ve had the pleasure of visiting. The property, just over 0.5ha (3 acres), has an abundance of rock, which has all been shaped into stunning stone wall gardens. Here, among the pollinator-friendly flowers and willow-weave fences, Anna grows much of the fruit and vegetables needed by the family.

She equally enjoys her home crafts, and loves to cook and bake. When I visited, I was immediately treated to freshly-baked cinnamon rolls and hot coffee. Such a start ensured I was becoming rapidly enamoured with the hobbit-core concept. Anna even designs and sews most of the family’s clothing. This has encouraged a quirky and charming style among the family members, just as if they have emerged out of a fantasy novel.

Stoff enjoys his various projects, too. He hunts and fishes for much of their meat, he enjoys building projects, and is super-active. During the pandemic lockdowns, he even built a rock-climbing wall in front of the house, using stones from the local river.

Molly grows up playing in the garden, chasing ducks, baking in the kitchen with Anna, and helping Stoff with his chores. Watching her thrive in this environment made me feel happy. She is able to experience a way of life that so many children can’t have in big homes with little or no garden.

The tiny house itself is beautiful. It’s off-the-grid and solar-powered, with water provided by collecting rain. A large deck is positioned to capitalise on the captivating views, and the large wrap-around cedar benches also function as an outdoor kitchen, craft space and dining area.

Inside, the hobbit-core vibe is evident throughout. Anna or Stoff have handcrafted almost every item in the home. It unquestionably offers all the best parts of a hobbit home: warmth, comfort and lots of lovely things.

Plenty of timber lends the home a rustic cabin vibe. The railings are made with branches, and climbing plants bring life and greenery inside. Chunky timber slabs serve as shelves, and there is brick behind the wood stove — obviously a hobbit-home essential to ward off winter cold.

The home has everything a young family needs. The decent-sized kitchen enables Anna to work her magic, and there’s a dining table for family meals, a bathroom and cosy sleeping loft. Molly has her own playroom downstairs, filled with books, toys and a rack of clothing handmade by her mother.

This is a beautiful way of life. It’s simple, healthy living with hearty, home-made food grown in the garden, or hunted further afield. It’s slow living, with time taken to craft and enjoy everything. It’s close-to-nature living, with life revolving around natural cycles.

Hobbit-core, at its heart, is all about connecting us to things that make us feel good. Undoubtedly, we could all use a little more of that in our lives.

The Book

This is an extract from Living Big in a Tiny House by Bryce Langston, published by Potton & Burton; RRP $54.99