Story By: Lee Bullen,Sub Editor: Alex Cope,Agency: Central European News
‘The Lord of the Rings’ fans no longer need to travel all the way to New Zealand to visit J.R.R. Tolkien’s envisaged The Shire after an entrepreneur built a Hobbiton-style home in southern Poland.
Nestled in the scenic village of Babice in the south-western Polish region of Podkarpackie Voivodeship, ‘Lord of the Rings’ fans can visit ‘Hobbitowa’ built by Bogdan Pekalski.
The Tolkien-esque property is reportedly based on the Hobbiton Movie Set in New Zealand that was a significant location for ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy and ‘The Hobbit’ series.
Not content with his version of Hobbiton, set in the rolling hills of The Shire in Tolkien’s imagined world, Pekalski said that he has already started his next themed project called ‘Gandalfowa’ based on Gandalf the Grey.
He told local media: “I had an idea for this house a long time ago. Originally, it was supposed to be ‘Gargamelowa’, from the wizard Gargamel in the Smurfs children’s cartoon but at the end of the summer, when I started building the second house a bit, I asked the fans on the Hobbitowa Facebook page what to name the second house, Gargamelowa or Gandalfowa?
“The vast majority of people opted for the latter name.”
Until the second village is ready, ‘Hobbitowa’ is being marketed as “ideal for adventure seekers and unusual inspiration, as well as offering adventure and survival lessons for families with children”.
Hobbitowa does not provide Wi-Fi or TV so that guests can get away from the humdrum of everyday life and meet fellow travellers, according to reports.
Hobbitowa can accommodate four people at a time and it has been awarded a rating of 4.9 out of 5 stars from over 100 reviews on its Facebook page so far.
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