# Bag End



## Starflower (Apr 23, 2009)

> It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube-shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with panelled walls, and floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats - the hobbit was fond of visitors. The tunnel wound on and on, going fairly but not quite straight into the side of the hill – The Hill, as all the people for many miles round called it – and many little round doors opened out of it, first on one side and then on another. No going upstairs for the hobbit: bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars, pantries (lots of these), wardrobes (he had whole rooms devoted to clothes), kitchens, dining – rooms, all were on the same floor, and indeed on the same passage. The best rooms were all on the left – hand side (going in), for these were the only ones to have windows, deep – set round windows looking over his garden, and meadows beyond, sloping down to the river.



I just love this description of Bag End - I would love to live in a house such as that. Especially like the 'pantries (lots of these)' part!


----------



## Mike (Apr 23, 2009)

Well, you could always build one ...


----------



## Lindréd (May 21, 2009)

Starflower said:


> I just love this description of Bag End - I would love to live in a house such as that.



So would I! And if you did, here's the view out your front door!







Or, as Mike suggests, you could build one!. This house (link) is not at all like the descriptions of Bag End, but it still is very cool, with some nice hobbity architectural features.

http://www.taunton.com/finehomebuilding/how-to/articles/inside-hobbit-house.aspx


----------



## Bucky (May 29, 2009)

I can't imagine Bilbo's hobbit hole looking anything like that....

For real.

If it did, Bilbo would've known that there were Dwarves hanging on his bell....

Hobbit holes were a lot less fancy schmancy than that picture, even the nice ones like Bilbo's, I'm sure.


----------



## Prince of Cats (May 29, 2009)

Bucky said:


> I can't imagine Bilbo's hobbit hole looking anything like that....
> 
> For real.
> 
> ...




Thanks, Bucky - I totally agree. 

"And that means comfort"


----------



## Lindréd (May 30, 2009)

Bucky: Were you commenting on Howe's painting of the front hall of Bag End, or the goofy house photo link? If the house, then I totally agree (the photos did make me laugh! Although I wouldn't mind having that library myself) If Howe's painting, then I do agree that Howe's interpretation of the front hall is a bit "polished up", but I don't think it's far off the mark of what Tolkien envisioned for Bag End, and I do love the view out the front door! Below is JRRT's sketch from the same general perspective. You can see how Howe got his general idea. 



> The door opened on to a tube-shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with panelled walls, and floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats



PoC: You mentioned in another thread that you were doing some Tolkien-based sketches in an art class. 
Do you have any of Bag End? It would be interesting to see some different interpretations.
I can't draw or paint at all myself, but I do enjoy seeing the results of other people's artistic talents!


----------



## HLGStrider (May 30, 2009)

Looking at both the Howe sketch (which I rather like) and the Tolkien one I just have to wonder why Bilbo's family ever thought such high ceilings would be necessary. 


The perspective is confusing, but it looks to me as if Bilbo doesn't even come up to the halfway mark of his door. This would be the equivilent of a human house having 12 foot ceilings, which has been done, obviously, and more so, but most people stick with 8 foot.


----------



## Lindréd (May 30, 2009)

It IS a bit weird isn't it!
Looks like he'd have to jump to reach the door handle!
Almost looks like it was built for men instead of hobbits!

I wonder, since it's just a sketch, if JRRT just goofed on the perspective
on this one (What? JRRT make a mistake? ) A lot of his work as showcased in Artist & Illustrator is just beautiful (I love his paintings), but sometimes it seems like it took him a couple of tries to get things just right. Maybe this was just an early effort.

And btw, I do like Howe's front hall too (I actually have it as my screen saver!). It just looks like there's a bit too much floor wax 
(I can SEE myself!!)


----------



## Eledhwen (Jun 27, 2009)

HLGStrider said:


> Looking at both the Howe sketch (which I rather like) and the Tolkien one I just have to wonder why Bilbo's family ever thought such high ceilings would be necessary.
> 
> 
> The perspective is confusing, but it looks to me as if Bilbo doesn't even come up to the halfway mark of his door. This would be the equivilent of a human house having 12 foot ceilings, which has been done, obviously, and more so, but most people stick with 8 foot.


A high ceiling in an entrance hall was often installed to create a grand entrance. My ex-inlaws lived in a 6-bed detached 1930s house in London that had been the show home for the development, and it had a very lofty entrance hall that was omitted from the other houses on the street. It's normally a feature of manor houses and stately homes, of course; and Bilbo's home was kind of the manor house of its village.

Looking again at Tolkien's picture; we can't see where the pull handle was on the inside of the door. The central brass handle was probably more for show than function; people in Hobbiton never bothered locking their doors.


----------



## Eledhwen (Jun 27, 2009)

Lindréd said:


> This house (link) is not at all like the descriptions of Bag End, but it still is very cool, with some nice hobbity architectural features.
> 
> http://www.taunton.com/finehomebuilding/how-to/articles/inside-hobbit-house.aspx


I think it's fantastic! Almost everything in it is beautiful (though I would have gone for a natural stone fireplace, or a range, rather than the slate slivers and plasterwork - see Lindréd's link for details).


----------



## Hobbit-GalRosie (Jul 8, 2009)

Indeed, that is a beautiful house and I love that people make such things. Personally I too would go a little less fancy though. It does have a great quality of English-ness to it though, which is vital when dealing with Tolkienesque architecture.


----------

