Friday, September 29, 2006

Architecture

This development came to my attention through a link in something I read about Tolkien. It had been billed as an attempt to create Middle Earth, in Oregon. The front page, however, and the first few I read after that, made it seem like little more than an over-the-top planned community, with an English cottages and village look. Thomas Kinkade also came to mind.

With morning coffee in hand, I read further. My goodness! It looks I can't link straight to a picture, so, go here and look at some of the last pictures for a view of Hobbit Hole 1! And this page has a few things to say about Bree. Wow.

Here in Capital City, I wonder if I mentioned that the Fan Market, most recently a combination tanning salon and video rental place, is now a Starbucks? The mega chain finally infiltrated the Fan.

I wasn't going to read Style this week, because I am disappointed I never made the Top 40 Under 40 list, but I relented. Slipek's review of the Historical Society's addition is more a sketch of its evolution, though eventually he mentions that he doesn't like the way the new wing juts out.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

ok so now my daughter wants to immigrate to the states. thanks chocolate. thanks alot. :)

Lisa said...

I'm guessing because of Faux Hobbiton, not a Starbucks in the Fan District. ;-)

Anonymous said...

Even though Elise is a pretty big fan of almond cappuccino coffee-drinks it was the dreams of the shire that caught her attention. Who comes up with the ideas to build places like that? Its nuts! "please come live in my tailor-made fantasy park!"

Anonymous said...

I need to move there right away and open a Prancing Pony inn. (Cause I'm short enough to be a Hobbit, dagnabbit, and I am really good at beer related things.:)

Anonymous said...

Man, I thought it was bad that there was a "Shire" develpment in Silver Spring, and a "Hobbit Glen" golf course in Columbia, but never did I think that someone would actually try and re-create hobbit hovels.

I gotta show this to my friend who teaches the Tolkien class here at SJC. He'll be moving to Oregon by next summer!

Fringe Element Enthusiast said...

I'm still waitin for Hogwart's Summer Camp...

Daniel said...

...and y'know what's really creepy? That they point out the "origins" of pipe-weed smoking at the Prancing Pony. I'll bet if I lit up a Chesterfield in that place, they'd have my head on a dwarf-made silver platter.

Old West End, where art thou? Hard to imagine that I once derided the Fan Market as "too snooty" and took my trade to Stanley's. A pox upon the soul-munching Starbucks.

Anonymous said...

Fan Market was where the "stinky downstairs boys" (my frmr house neighbors at 2406 Grove Ave) would buy their porn. I never knew it as a tanning palace...