Housing woes hit Hobbit town
The Bend (Oregon) Bulletin has this item today on the unhappy ending for a Hobbit-themed housing 
development.
Foreclosure proceedings have started against The Shire, a 31-lot development that was to have been filled with houses inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. The homes' features included unique stonework, artificial thatched roofs, terraced gardens and a network of streams and ponds, the paper reports.
Ron Meyer, who conceived the concept, acknowledged that the market took a bad turn before his idea could catch on.
“Some people were turned off by living in ‘Disneyland,’ ” he said. “It’s more of an artists’ community for a certain market segment that wanted something different. There’s been enough people that have come through that would say, ‘What a wonderful concept.’ But then the market crashed, and everyone (went) home.”
Only one house in the development has sold since the project broke ground in fall 2006. The sales price: $650,000.
-- Peter Hong
Photo: Looking out a "Hobbit hole" that was part of the set in New Zealand used in the filming of "Lord of the Rings"
Credit: Tracy Lee Silveria / Los Angeles Times
Questions? Comments? Email: peter.hong@latimes.com
Hobbit-themed housing. Ridiculous.
Now condos shaped like the Death-Star... that has potential.
Posted by: TakeFive | August 06, 2008 at 06:59 PM
I'll say this: I'd rather live in Hobbit town than in one of these generic McMansions with no back yard, no front yard, and right on top of your neighbor who has the EXACT same house as you.
Posted by: Lou | August 06, 2008 at 08:38 PM
Yet another brilliant concept priced to death by the "Californication" of Central Oregon. The run up around Bend & Redmond through the bubble made the SFV look tame.
When I moved to Redmond I was welcomed to poverty with a view. The going wage in CO is $10 per hour and $12 is rockin'. Given the cost of everything is the same as any major metropolitan area such pricing is unsustainable.
There are a lot of developers in and around Bend facing the same reality check. Many of the new homes in the area have been rented out by the developers because of the lack of qualified buyers. I've friends who are in a 2,000 sq. ft. house for $800 a month. With a listing price on the high side of $400k this looks like a bargain. Now, about the heat...
Posted by: Michael Snyder | August 07, 2008 at 09:34 AM
Wow! This could be the "x".com of this bubble.
x = [insert your example of most ridiculous dot com flame out; e.g. "pets"]
Posted by: tew | August 07, 2008 at 09:53 AM
I would totally live in a hobbit village, if I could afford it!, except that they probably would have had a stupid neighborhood association to maintain the "feel" of the neighborhood and I hate neighborhood associations. I'd never buy a new house, either, because they start falling apart after a couple of years.
That said, I'm also gleeful that the housing market is finally seeing a reality check. The market has been ridiculously, disproportionately high for far too long and I'd like to see it decline even more before it evens out... even though it would mean losing equity, I'd rather live in a house that is worth less than I owe than see the market continue as it has been, shutting out the working class from property ownership. 19 years ago my house sold for $15k. Today, it's on the tax records at over TWENTY-FIVE TIMES that value. This could be acceptable is the median wage was also 25 times what it was in 1989, but it's not. Who wins with this? The city, county and state wins when they collect record high property taxes, and everyone else loses.
Posted by: Kalera Stratton | September 02, 2008 at 11:37 AM