Isabelle and Jean-Luc Teurterie, the owners of the Hobbit houses in Tanis, 7 km from Mont-Saint-Michel, in the Manche department. (©Poisson Benjamin – Channel side.)

“Down in a hole lived a hobbit. Not a filthy, dirty and damp hole, filled with bits of glass and mold, (but) a hobbit hole, hence a certain comfort. »

These few words, taken from the beginning of the Hobbitwork of JRR Tolkien, describe well the decoration of the houses ofhobbitbree. These lodgings, for the less original, are located in Tanis, close to the Mont Saint Michel (Sleeve).

It is Isabelle and Jean-Luc Teurterie, which are the origin of these houses. “We are not fans from the start, it is rather our son who convinced us to embark on this adventure”, explains Isabelle. The first house was built last year. It has been available for rental since May 2022. Jean-Luc and his wife are almost the only ones to offer this type of atypical housing throughout the Great West.

The Hobbit house of Hobbitbree, in Tanis (Manche) has all the comforts of a cottage. (©Poisson Benjamin – Channel side.)

Wood, from floor to ceiling

Jean-Luc built this house from A to Z. The former caregiver explains: “I made myself a mobile sawmill, to cut my boards and my trunks easily. Moreover, a magnificent oak pillar sits in the middle of the room.

The entire interior of this Hobbit habitat in Tanis (Manche) is made of oak, it feels like a cocoon! (©Poisson Benjamin – Channel side.)

Jean-Luc is a good handyman, to say the least. To fashion his houses, he used a section of Rennes metro wooden mold. For the slabs and the foundations, he used 40 tons of concrete, and no less than 42 tons for the ceiling.

“Then we covered everything with 1,500 tonnes of soil. Indeed, the houses have sorts of green roofs. On these green roofs grazes a sheep, in an …