The Hobbit House of Culver City

I love me some Lord of the Rings. Yes, when Gandalf shows up for battle as Gandalf the White or when Aryan hottie Legolas surf-glides down a pile of orcs, I get chills down my spine. Embarrassingly, I get equally excited for the part with Bilbo Baggin's hobbit house, because it's just so damn quaint.

From Cynicalscribble.wordpress.com

So when I was on my way to an audition in Culver City and happened by this...

...my head exploded.

Turns out, it's the Lawrence and Martha Joseph Residence and Apartments, and yes, there are real hobbits people living in there.

The cottages, nicknamed "The Hobbit Houses," were designed by former Disney artist Lawrence Joseph, who was also a skilled carpenter. He worked on it from 1946-1970, and apparently there are no right angles in the complex.

From the LA Conservancy's website:

The Joseph Residence and Apartments is one of the most significant examples of Storybook architecture in Los Angeles. The sweeping shingled roofs, diamond-paned windows, and clinker-brick chimneys exemplify the fanciful Storybook style, which took inspiration from idealized interpretations of European cottages.

 Can you see the little turtles in the pond?

One of the apartments opened up last year, and prices were $2,595/month for the 2-bedroom, 1-bath cottage.

I wouldn't actually want to live in there, but I could just imagine Bilbo welcoming Frodo and Gandalf in for a cup of tea or a few drags of the Shire's finest pipe-weed, then just talking for hours about that one time when they went all the way to Mount Doom in Mordor, wasn't it a blast? And then getting some munchies for Elven bread and watching Space Ghost til 3 in the morning.