Category Archives: news

by | November 14, 2021 · 8:23 am

A new start on hobbitholes

Just had the epiphany to simplify OUR lives by building that long delayed hobbit hole for the grandsons… and LIVING in it for a while, while we look for some land sell or rent out our Appletree haven here in Gisborne…

This all because we are vax dissidents, now mandated, and we’re going to HAVE to reduce costs, find a new income now Raewyn’s not allowed to teach at the early childhood centre. Dreamhavens are built fir such a time as this! And with economic dusaster threatening with the ‘almost everything bubble’ surely bound to burst soon, why not act now… downsize now and avoid the rush!

So, follow this blog, and we’ll post updates as we build.

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by | June 22, 2019 · 2:11 pm

Focus, focus, focus…

The work goes on to get design details and techniques right and efficient… invented a couple of new ways to make sandcasting concrete rings for door and window frames; almost set up the hinge blacksmithing shed; made a square mesh bender, and more.

The vacuum sandcastle. .. this cuts a profile through packed damp sand and vacuums away the tailings…

This is the shorter square mesh bender. The bolt heads hook onto the rebar beside each strand to be bent and curls them around the tubing as the lever is pulled.

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by | April 20, 2019 · 11:01 am

Putting my energy where my heart is – hobbithavens Elfhaven and mokohavens

Thanks to the enthusiasm of Hayley who wants to build her own whare and learn ferro and other skills, I’ve dragged hobbithavens back to centre stage and the long-awaited ‘Moko whare’ aka grandsons’ hobbit haven in the woods, is happening. First we had to clear the back yard though. .. Autumn flame colours in tge leaves of the vine, and hot flames of cleanup… lining a hobbit office in a corner of the long sheds, and then we start… after a tangi and (paid!) writing stint with big brother john in Auckland, and a long-awaited party for his 75th. ..

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by | April 15, 2019 · 1:23 pm

NOW We’re starting – grandkid’s den first

After much other setup, some relevant to building good Hobbity tiny homes, some less so, I’ve been re-awakened to the vision to start building DREAMHAVEN..

A young helper/apprentice has appeared and galvanised me to do it NOW… she will build her own tiny cabin after learning with me on this first one for my grandsons Eddie and Bruno (4 and 6, nearly).  Before they grow so much I’ll have to build it grownup size!

Follow this blog for updates:)

First we will set up the Yard at the back of Dreamspace. We’ll build it there and hiab it into place, hopefully the easiest way.

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by | February 2, 2018 · 6:59 pm

Of Pumpkins and procrastination

Concrete creations lately have been mostly limited to ferrocement garden beds and pergolas (see www.fantasticferrocement.com) and my white cement casts of carvings at our Dreamspace Gallery (see www.dreamspace.nz) But I have been asked if I would build a pumpkin cabin, and I’ve done a concept drawing. It’s quite Hobbity… If the lady says do it, I will! But I will try to also get onto the first Dreamhaven cabin, the little one for the grandsons – before they get too old for it…

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Here’s Ortin, a little character from my fantasy epic, volume IV. He would like a pumpkin cabin, I reckon!

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by | June 26, 2017 · 1:16 pm

Dream havens coming soon

Well it has been a while! I was away selling the Ark up north, and now I’m back in Gisborne and Dreamspace is getting closer to hosting the building of the first real live ‘hobbit’ haven. While I was away we lost the hobbithaven domain because my email peter at eutopia went west. So, I rethought and decided it’s a blessing in disguise, since our styles are not limited to a ‘hobbity’ look, but encompass Elven and Aedenic as well… and we have had the question of copyright about the name Hobbit, at least for a main name for it.

Watch this space – our first cabin will be a very ‘hobbity’ one, for the grandsons 🙂 We have been up the garden path so to speak, at the Gisborne environment centre, making the edging for their path and a spiral herb garden, and now hopefully a few raised beds…

There are some other projects ordered too. The sculptural ferrocement is in demand!

 

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by | June 12, 2016 · 6:39 pm

Action at last – Hobbit haven has a base!

From my pecha kucha talk ‘Sailing to Eutopia – Dreamspaces built and imagined’,  (see  Youtube:

came this article, in the Gisborne Herald weekender supplement, 11/6/16.  The Hobbit havens will be built in the back yard of the Dreamspace Gallery and Workshops, then trucked to wherever they are wanted. The large workshop space means we can have a whole area for sandcasting, another for bandsawing lovely wood for fitting out the interiors,  plenty for storage, etc.

photo of my gisborne profile article REDUCED 11 june 2016

 

Thanks to Natasha who bravely interviewed me and managed to make something coherent of it (and who let me see it and tweak before publication). And the photographer – a nice young man who came, smiled, arranged doglets and wizards, and left. Of course, there were one or two minor factual corrections; mainly that of course the pictured playhut is not a true hobbit haven, as it isn’t curved and is very little…

 

 

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by | April 28, 2015 · 9:30 am

A Rose by another name

This is the cabin in the woods with the old Cafe Eutopia road sign, and the new bench and carved roots. Ferrocement is so great, permanence being one of its greatnesses as I get older and have seen hard work rot in the form of titree that seemed so solid and durable, and macrocarpa, and even treated pine (yuk). So think twice, then build once, for life and for the next generations too…

The stain I’ve used is just iron sulphate in water, which reacts with fresh cement and forms a rusty effect. It soaks in a little way – enough for pretty good wearing, and of course a recoat is easy and very cheap. The roots I have stained with acrylic green – not finished yet! Apologies for more on the cabin – I can’t wait to get down to Gisborne’s ‘deep dark woods’ where I am going to build the Hobbit Haven for little Bruno… Watch this space! Oh, and the dome in the last picture is an experiment with some alkathene pipe and greenhouse film – it was quick to make and will last a long time, but… I want to use glass and sand-cast ferrocement arches! Next time!

oh yes, the staff I’ve been carving is in the last photo. Note the classical labyrinth pattern on the concrete paver. I made a mould so these are quick to make – always good to have some stepping stones. Will make more. Can do on order if you want some, too.

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by | April 24, 2015 · 12:01 pm

A Bilbo Bench in the sun

All hobbit dwellings must have ample outdoor seating to catch the sun while smoking a pipe (health warning for humans of course!) or enjoying second breakfasts, elevenses and so forth.

I finally got round to turning the earthy bank on the sunny side of my non-hobbit haven into a nice bench, complete with tree roots and an embedded stone from the ancient hill of Baldrock here in Kaiwaka – the previous owner of our house in Kaiwaka was the local quarryman and blasted half the back side of the landmark into nice light-coloured, hard road chips for the Newmarket overpass among other things, before he was stopped by conservationists or just plain concerned locals… It’s now a reserve I believe.

Anyway, here are some photos.  I can make such features around any hobbit haven of course, happily! It’s simple enough to do, just takes patience and a caring eye – look to real trees and you can’t go wrong… I do try to post details and hints for ferro construction in http://www.fantasticferrocement.com for those who want to go DIY. And there’s always the ebook Fantastic Ferrocement.

Still a bit of a building site as you see, and the staining with iron salts not complete yet. But the doglets don’t mind, and neither do I, when there’s sunshine and coffee and Vogel’s toast with honey..

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by | March 11, 2015 · 3:43 pm

Hobbithaven now on Facebook

I prefer WordPress and the blog, but for the billion or so who don’t… you can now like Hobbithaven on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hobbit-cabins-and-Elven-Architecture/363445557191066 and see all the new posts from this blog which will automatically appear on the Facebook page. Follow us there or here – it’s the same content post by post –  only difference is this blog will soon have more pages with special interest topics – and of course it’s elegant WordPress! Either way, like hobbithaven, follow hobbithaven, and spread the word that Middle Earth is in New Zealand in little cabins and hobbitholes popping up (or down) in back yards, lifestyle paradises and woods all over this green land – I hope!

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