西蒙·戴尔是英国西部威尔士的一位顾家男人。他对自给自足和生态意识的兴趣促使他亲手建造了自己的房子——一个你能想象到的最可爱、最温暖、最舒适的住所之一。而这一切只花费了他3000英镑，约合4700美元！
你能想象比这更迷人的入场方式吗？ 
西蒙给出了建造这栋房子的两个理由。第一个理由很简洁明了，出自他的网站：
这很有趣。按照自己的方式生活，会很有成就感。追逐梦想能让我们的灵魂保持活力。
他的第二个理由是呼吁可持续发展，他指出“我们的资源正在日益减少，我们的星球正面临生态灾难”。您可以在这里阅读他完整而充满激情的声明。
西蒙也是一名摄影师，而且正如你在本文中所看到的，他是一位才华横溢的摄影师。
这是西蒙正在帮助别人建造的另一栋房子里的美丽景色。（最初，这张照片被误认为是他和家人居住的房子。）
工具相当简陋。他唯一使用的现代化工具是一台电锯，用来砍伐大约30棵小树。他没有砍伐任何原始森林来满足家人的需求。他专注于使用需要自己动手能力的工具，比如铲子、凿子和锤子。然而，他只用了四个月就建成了这座漂亮的房子。
这栋房子由木头、石头和稻草建造而成，屋顶铺着草皮。它用燃木壁炉取暖，并配备太阳能电池板供电。大部分材料都是回收利用的。然而，最终呈现出的效果并非那种破败不堪、勉强凑合的风格。它充满创意、艺术气息、优雅而温馨。最令人惊讶的是，建造这栋房子并不需要多年的专业训练或经验。西蒙一窍不通。他不是建筑师，也不是工程师，更不是木匠。他完全是从零开始。他告诉《每日邮报》：
自己当建筑师是一件很有趣的事情，它能让你创造并享受一些属于你自己和这片土地的东西，而不是，最糟糕的情况，是一个为了最大利润和建筑行业的便利而设计的批量生产的盒子。
使用天然材料建造房屋可以消除生产商的利润，以及大多数现代建筑中充斥的致癌毒素混合物。
他很幸运地获得了建房用地。这块地面积不小，是别人赠予他的，条件是他负责照管这块地。
西蒙·戴尔、他的妻子贾斯敏·萨维尔和他们的两个孩子在他们竣工的家门前合影，而这栋房子仅仅建造了4个月！本页所有照片均由西蒙·戴尔拍摄（http://simondale.net）。
为了打造环保住宅，他们采用了多种环保措施，例如堆肥厕所、在塑料层上铺设稻草进行隔热，以及利用房屋地基下方空气循环进行制冷的冰箱。由于水泥是高碳排放材料，因此内墙采用石灰抹灰而非水泥抹灰。
这座建筑是低影响或永续农业生活方式的一部分。这种生活方式强调与自然和谐共处，也与自身和谐共处，崇尚简约的生活方式，并适度运用科技。这类低成本的自然建筑不仅自身具有可持续性，而且还具有提供经济适用住房的潜力，使人们能够获得土地，并有机会过上更简单、更可持续的生活。
我无法想象还有比这更可爱、更吸引人、更宜居的房子了。这或许就是未来住宅建设的发展方向，也应该是这样。
有关 Simon Dale 的住宅、规划和更多照片的更多信息，请访问他的网站“低影响林地住宅” 。
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
SHARE YOUR REFLECTION
58 PAST RESPONSES
They choppped down trees to build it!! It uses wood to heat it! This is not sustainable. Cute and hobbit like but not all that eco friendly.
I'm guessing that most of these people oohing and ahing over this would not be nearly so enamored after using the outhouse, washing the clothes in a tub by hand and hanging them out, having no privacy since the kids sleep in the same bed with the adults for a month or so. Having lived this romantic lifestyle, I can tell you, it's not all it's cracked up to be, especially for women.
no laundry area, where's the bathroom and where's the room for the boys? But if they're happy, then they have found ways to make it work... I would want a laundry
It is lovely, but I can't help wondering how safe it will be in anything resembling catastrophic weather. And how will you protect all of that charming untreated wood from termites and the like?
I hate to be a nay-sayer, it just strikes me as reckless to completely disregard the input from two entire professions (Architecture and Civil Engineering) that have evolved over time with the sole purpose of providing better and safer buildings for man-kind.
The good news? Well, with that price tag, even if you have to completely rebuild it every five years or so, it will still be economical.
I applaud your ingenuity and audacity, and wish you nothing but good fortune.
It's worth pointing out that the production of lime plaster is also heavily dependent on massive energy inputs. It's made (like cement) from the heating of limestone until it oxidizes. The per unit difference in emission output between lime plaster and portland cement isn't all that much. Cement does have the advantage of not being highly caustic (pH12) during the application. That being said, the home is gorgeous. You could likely build this in the United States under the adobe house building codes.
One of my dreams is making a home like this one. Making a decision is the hardest part.
Beautiful home but i didn't see a bathroom or a shower in the desugn plans..just wondering how that works out?
land included?
where's the shower / bathroom?
What an Amazing Place!! Something you only fantasize about!! Its Beautiful & So Creative!! What kind of kitchen & bathrooms are you using? I Would love to see every room!!
Blessings to you & your family...Happy Living!!
LIVING THE DREAM!!!
It's just like the house in my dream...
Creative.
City permit bureaucrats, would never let this be built due to " codes"
Too much government oversight stifles creativity in US.
what a great place for children to grow up in. they'll have a magical childhood. anyone sent this to ' grand designs ' ? !
Stunning. Gorgeous. Lovely. So helpful to see...I learn from this type of thing.
The rooms appear to be hobbit sized but the man himself looks to be about 6 feet tall. I would not mind but does have trouble navigating the shorter ceilings? Did he consider geothermal power? I am fascinated beyond belief and entranced with his photography. What a lovely way to live within the Earth.
Beautiful, creative and inspiring ! Unfortunately here in the US it would probably be impossible to receive the proper building permits resulting in hefty fines then it's untimely demolition. Imagine creating communities like this alongside permiculture instruction - This type of housing would certainly pose a huge threat to power and profits !
Whoa! You guys are my heroes today!
I wanted to do this 40 years ago but was told I was nutz....
This is too cool for words. LOVE!
Wow! Such beautiful houses built with care and love become homes, which is what we require.
There is a non profit in the UK that helps promote these types of buildings!
http://www.thepoosh.org/
Divine I want it..
I adore this, absolutely adore this. I wish I had any kind of building skills at all; I'd be doing something like this. Wow, just wow.
I love the fact that there are no flat walls and no 90 degree angles. Everything is curvy.
Finish
every day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some
blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you
can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too
high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.
My dream home. Where's the chooks?
napenda hii ajabu,,,,ilove it so much
Yes! Someone needs to start Habitat for Hobbits!
How gorgeous! It is so beautiful and quaint never mind magical. They look like a very happy family! xxx
cliche has it that the real home resides in the heart... our physical house is a concrete manifestation of that heart... simon's is one of cozy, green, and welcoming... and he built what he is inside... his 'hobbit home' :)
my love to simon, his wife, and the kids... the world is blest with people like you... ur an inspiration, in words and in deeds... godblessalways... roseencabo707@yahoo.com
Its n0t easy being green
so marvelous!! quite impressive!
amazing house.....good bless
Why is it better to kill baby trees instead of old ones near the end of their lives? It's not ok to kill a baby seal, so why is it ok to kill a baby tree?
I love it! It looks like a dream come true. I hope you and your family live happily ever after.
WoW<3 ! So NeaT...VeRy CReaTiVe....Is iT ToRNADo PRoOF ? Ya, ...I LiVe iN KANSAS~^j^~<3 !
Some people have a vision and realisation which has to be truly appreciated .........simple beautiful n artistic n brilliant !!
LOVE IT!!
I am SOOOO creatively inspired to see this...Ii can close my eyes and feel myself inside this beautiful home......I can smell the fire.....so inviting.......thank you for holding your vision for the rest of us to enjoy and expand with.......
Bless You !!!!
Deborah Galler
I see this as my next home......
Simon is a-m-a-z-i-n-g!! What imagination, determination, and 'elbow-grease'! ...and Jasmine and boys make for a great-looking family. Congratulations!!
The house I have always dreamed of living in... GREAT inspiration for me. Nature at its finest as a home and your photography is awesome. I recogized the Yosemite scenes, especially the meadows. I live in Modesto, California.... just west of Yosemite, a very magical place. Thank you for inspiring me and others who have the same fondness for Shire/Hobbit home. Anna (photographer/visionary.)
This place is wonderful! You would be assured of living your life in creativity, you are surrounded by creativity and can breathe it in, and feel it always. You are taking very little to have your home, and you're not in an extraodinary over large space that you hardly use, and all space is used well.
Thank you for being so creative.
Billie Slade
THIS IS A DREAM COME TRUE! FANTASTIC! CARRY ON SIMON!
The Hobbitses will be angry my Precious!!!
very cool, but I noticed the bathroom is missing??? No way I would have two small children without a shower or toilet. Could you imagine potty training in the winter? " Here son, just take this shovel and dig a little hole in that snow mound over there."
Truly amazing, thank you for the inspiration.
how lovely. Thanks for sharing this.
Sorry, my Welsh spelling is atrocious!
Fabulous, Simon and Jasmine. Dioch xx
dude lives in the shire!!!
maybe the coolest thing i've ever seen. inspiring. moving. absolutely fantastic.
How wonderful! I just love the fact that our visions can be realised! It is so uplifting to hear stories of individuals roling their sleeves and getting on to create something that makes them haappy. I magine if we all had the courage to be happy and self sufficient in a creative yet practical way!!
beautiful home and vision, thank you Simon and Jasmine for adding more to the world than trying to take. This is the future we can look forward too!
This is wonderful! The home looks very cosy and inviting. I'd love to see Habitat for Humanity embody some of these design principles. They could build so many more homes! I look forward to checking out the web site and moving myself toward a more sustainable living environment. What an inspiration!