It’s hard to believe but its been nearly 9 years since we last saw the lovable little hobbits, wise wizards and stoic elves of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy in theaters. With a worldwide box office take of almost $3 billion for the three films, there are more than a few “Ringers” (Lord of the Rings super fans) eagerly anticipating the December 14th release of “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”.

Part of the magic of the Lord of the Rings films can be credited to how magical and beautiful the Director made “Middle-Earth” look. Besides the lush green fields and mountains, some of the homes and villages were very, very awesome. So to commemorate the soon to start “The Hobbit” trilogy, we’ll dedicate our own series of blog posts looking at some of the homes you’ll see featured in the movies. To start, let’s head over to a tight-knit community where their homes literally have deep roots.

The Shire is an area almost exclusively inhabited by Hobbits. You’ll remember Hobbits as being the really little guys with big feet (Frodo and Samwise Gangee were hobbits). The pace of life that Hobbits enjoy there is as slow and as peaceful as one would expect life in the country to be. As an avid consumer of breakfasts, I personally love how Hobbits find it important to have “second breakfast” as often as possible.

To the uninitiated, the Shire was modeled after the small villages of the Mid-Western part of the English countryside. Surrounded by lush vegetation and rolling hills, Hobbits of the Shire tend to live in a hole in the ground. No, really, a hole in the ground…and they’re lovely. These underground homes are environmentally friendly, cool and extremely roomy as well. Although Hobbits are said to grow to be no more than 4 feet tall, their underground bungalows surprisingly fit much larger visitors quite comfortably, like Gandalf the Great.

The main Hobbit home we see in the original LOTR movies and in “The Hobbit”, is ‘Bag End’ – the home of Bilbo Baggins. The spacious property features an inviting circular green door, a ton of rooms with eye-catching round windows, solid wood decor throughout and a charming garden out back. Judging by their height (or lack of it), I’m guessing Hobbits hate stairs. So like most homes in the Shire; Bag End was a ranch that came with all the amenities a reasonable middle-earthling would want; including unobstructed views of the garden and meadows that lead down to a pond. Take a look below at some more pictures of Bag End and the Shire! Would you mind living there?

Front doors set the tone and say a lot, and this circular green one says, “duck” and “warm/cozy”.

The hallway at ‘Bag End’…truly a view anyone wouldn’t mind having.

Every home needs a floor plan. Look at how spacious Bilbo’s home is!

There’s plenty of space in the dining room at ‘Bag End’ for entertaining interesting company with huge appetites.

Lovely original woodwork is a consistent theme at ‘Bag End’. On another note, looks like Bilbo’s guests are impatiently waiting for food. He should hurry.

The rustic feel of the home’s decor makes it feel extra cozy and Hobbity.

What do you think of the Shire? Does it seem like the kind of neighborhood you’d want to call home? Let us know what you think.