They call it the Hobbit House.
It’s about the right size and certainly seems like something a hobbit would call home.
This unique piece of art sits at the entrance to the Zajac Norgate House building on West 16th Street in North Vancouver. But how did it get there? No, it didn’t arrive special delivery from Middle Earth by Bilbo Baggins.
The Hobbit House was brought to life by resident Peter Hartung, a retired tile layer and mason. After years of walking past a unique-looking stump near Mosquito Creek, Hartung decided to ask the municipal parks department if he could cut out the stump and keep it.
“It was always on my mind. I thought, it’s going to be something,” says Hartung.
Because it was on the border between the city and the district, it took some time to figure out who to talk to, but eventually the city’s parks department agreed to help Hartung cut out the stump.
“They said ‘What are you going to do with that?’” recalls Hartung. “I said, ‘I will recycle it. I will bring it to life.’”
With some help from his family, he then loaded the stump onto his truck and used a shopping cart to put it in its new place at the front of his building. He then added the details, including bark shingles for a roof, a stone chimney, and even some mushrooms on the side.
“The work itself is not a big deal,” reports Hartung, adding it only took a day to finish. But gathering the materials took longer.
“It’s almost like treasure hunting,” he notes and says you have to know where to look. “I know my neighbourhood. I know where to find things.”
