PHOTO: Welsh Man Builds Dream House for Family

Simon Dale found a solution to large expenses for an expensive house, and provided life in nature.

The Dale family from Wales fulfilled their wish with the help of friends and random passers by, and built a real hobbit house.

The construction of their house took around four months, but after 1500 hours of work, and an investment of 3000 pounds, their home was finished.

The house was constructed with maximum caution towards the environment, because of which they have the unique opportunity to live in untouched nature. Simon Dale found a solution to avoid large expenditure for an expensive house or apartment, and enable his children to grow up in a way that rarely any children have the opportunity to experience.

Simon, who received the most help from his father, claims that being his own, self taught architect is a lot of fun, and enables you to creatively express yourself, and enjoy something that you created yourself.

The family constructed the house by using only natural materials, and in that way there are certain that their children are protected from cancer-causing chemicals that are used in modern buildings.

Key points in building a hobbit house:

They dug inside the earth because of the visual effect, as well as for shelter. The stones and earth that were dug out were later used for building the walls and foundations.

The frame of the house was built from surrounding oak branches, and Simon claims that the supporting structure for the roof can be made easily. Bales of hay are placed on the floor, walls and roof, which enables easier building later, and great insulation as well. The walls are made from stones, because of which they are a lot more airy, and they are more easily made than a wall made from concrete. The house is headed with a furnace that burns wood, which means that they use a renewable, local and abundant source of energy. The smoke passes through a large rock that is sticking out, so that it is kept from escaping quickly, so that it slowly releases heat.

The fridge is cooled by air that comes from the ground below through the foundation. The skylight on the roof provides natural light, and in order to make electricity for the lights, music, computer etc, they use solar panels.

The family gets its water thanks to gravity from a nearby spring, the toilet is compost based, and the garden is watered with the rainwater that they collect.

The main tools that were used to build the house were a chainsaw, hammer and 2.5cm chisel. They hardly used anything else.

Simon Dale claims that he is not a construction worker or carpenter, and that before building his house, he had virtually no experience in such jobs. He also claims that he managed to make the house because he worked on it a lot, and that he never lost self confidence and determination.

Take a look at some photographs of the house in the PHOTO GALLERY.