Secrets - Bainbridge Island's Hobbit House

BY KERRIE HOUSTON REIGHTLEY

Rather than Middle-earth, Bainbridge Island’s “Hobbit House” is more middle island. Located just off High School Road, it is an affectionate homage to the cozy dwellings depicted in J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Hobbit,” “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, and the Hollywood blockbusters that followed.

Given the unconventional curves and mathematical problem-solving that went into its design and construction, builder and contractor Chris Whited is an unwitting testament to the possibilities of learning from a lifetime of on-the-job experience rather than a formal education.

Whited grew up on Bainbridge Island, working alongside his builder/contractor dad. Over the years, they worked together on projects ranging from high schools and health clinics to developing Bainbridge Island’s Commodore Lane to rebuilding an Alaskan hydropower plant. At 21, for just two weeks, he attended Bates Technical College for traditional vocational training. “The professor needed his garage remod- eled,” Whited said, “and he’d just check on us every now and again. When they wanted tuition, I moved on and got married.”

His inspiration for building Hobbit House was a garden shed he saw at Cannon Beach in Oregon. “It had funky windows and a V-shaped roof. I took a photo and drew up my own plans. I went to City Hall, and the structural engineer said, ‘How are you going to do this?’ He finally said, ‘Check this, this and this,’ and a couple months later, I had a permit.”

The many varying angles were a particular challenge. “Because of the curves, every rafter is at a different angle,” he said. “One day, while building it, a tour bus stopped at the house. A carpenter walked up with his family in tow. He looked up at the rafters, and exclaimed, ‘Now, this is math!’ I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I used tape measure, string, squares and levels, and how I’d have to figure out each angle, every time.”

Whited recalls that his wife said, “’You’re only building one, right?’ But, after we got going, she really enjoyed it.”

So, are there more Hobbit Houses in his future? “Maybe,” he said, coyly.

For the first year, Hobbit House was an Airbnb, lodging patrons from around the world. For the past five years, it has been on a long-term lease to “Perky Paul” Siegel, who operates Hobbit House Gourmet—home of epicurean delights like Tart Lemon Rhubarb Jam and Sweet Peach Habanero BBQ sauce— from a miniature hobbit house next-door.