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More tea, Gandalf? Man fulfils childhood dream with back garden ‘Hobbit house’

Watch: Wood artist builds incredible ‘Hobbit house’ in his back garden

If you visited Ali Hughson's house, you'd be forgiven for thinking you'd stumbled into the actual Shire, thanks to the amazing 'Hobbit House' he's built in the back garden.

The 47-year-old wood artist from South Queensferry, near Edinburgh, has been a fan of JRR Tolkien since he was a teenager and always dreamed of one day building a Hobbit themed workshop.

Hughson said he wanted to make something more magical than a typical garden shed to house his workshop and tools.

In total, the father of two spent six months and £2,000 building the two-metre-tall shed which even features the iconic round, green door made famous in the Peter Jackson films.

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Ali Hughson has built a Lord of the Rings themed Hobbit House as a workshop in his back garden. (SWNS)
Hughson fulfilled his childhood dream by building a Hobbit house as a workshop. (SWNS)
Ali Hughson has built a Lord of the Rings-themed Hobbit House as a workshop in his back garden. (SWNS)

"I've been a fan of Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings all my life, I just love all that magical stuff," he says.

"I always liked the idea of the Hobbits' houses, the whole idea of being underground and surrounded by nature is cosy.

"There were illustrations in the books so I kind of had an idea from my younger days, then the movies brought it to life.

"I just wanted to make something more magical than your normal garden shed."

Having previously had a shared garden in Edinburgh, Hughson didn't have a chance to create his Hobbit-themed workshop until moving to his home in South Queensferry.

"There was already a shed in the garden, but it had seen better days, so I decided then to make it more special," he explains.

"I needed a workshop, so I decided to knock the shed down and build it there in the garden, and designed it to fit the space."

"We designed it to the shape of the garden."

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Ali Hughson has built a Lord of the Rings themed Hobbit House as a workshop in his back garden. (SWNS)
Hughson fulfilled his childhood dream by building a Hobbit house as a workshop. (SWNS)
Hughson fulfilled his childhood dream by building a Hobbit house as a workshop. (SWNS)

Hughson says he started planning the garden over three years ago and it took six months to finish.

"It's a timber-framed building, we started off by putting posts into the ground and putting a level bedding on it," he says of the build.

"We then used low-cost wood for the cladding and spent weeks sanding it down."

The biggest challenge of the entire project was fitting the round door.

"It took some figuring out how to install the door," he explains. "We started with an octagon shape framework then I bent wood round to make the circular frame.

"It was a relief when I realised it would fit."

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While the workshop looks small from the outside, Hughson says it is deceptively spacious.

"It looks really small at the front, but it's got an extra metre at the back," he explains.

"We've slanted the roof so it's got good head height in it, it's certainly not just for hobbits.

"It's about two metres high, and two to three metres in width."

Now that it is complete, Hughson is thrilled with his Hobbit-house workshop.

"I do most of my work in there now," he says. "And my youngest son loves playing in it."

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Ali Hughson has built a Lord of the Rings themed Hobbit House as a workshop in his back garden. (SWNS)
Hughson fulfilled his childhood dream by building a Hobbit house as a workshop. (SWNS)
The shed is now Hughson's workshop. (SWNS)

While the house would certainly appeal to any Lord of the Rings fan, Hughson still plans to add some further finishing touches to the quaint house, including turfing the roof, planting flowers on top to attract bees and installing a log burner and chimney in time for winter.

"The last couple of years we have been too busy to put on the finishing touches,” he adds.

"But I'm really proud of it."

To see Ali's artwork visit www.Facebook.com/TheWoodartWorkshop

Additional reporting SWNS.