Development inspired by Lord of the Rings

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This article was published 22/10/2006 (6927 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ONE neighbourhood to rule them all. That’s the dream of the creative masterminds behind The Shire, an imaginative new housing development in Bend, Ore., inspired by the architecture, spirit and places in The Lord of the Rings.

In addition to borrowing its name from the J.R.R. Tolkien novels — The Shire is the mythical home of protagonist Frodo Baggins — the subdivision recalls the trilogy through such features as faux thatched roofs, medieval signage, fireplaces with Rohan carvings, an irrigation canal dubbed Brandywine Brook and maintenance sheds built into the hillside to look like hobbit holes.

Although the first units don’t go on sale until winter, with prices ranging from about $646,700 to $948,000 Cdn, reservations have already been accepted from people anxious to secure a piece of Middle Earth.

“It’s a community that comes more from the heart than the head,” says developer Ron Meyers, alias Lord of the Shire. “When I’m looking at this environment, I want to feel warm and fuzzy. I want to feel like I’m home and that I’m in some place special.”

The development’s website (www.bendshire.com) reads more like a manifesto than a residential sales pitch, extending an invitation to share in “creativity, artistic expression, cultural activities, rituals and celebrations.”

The lay of the land is described in loving detail, from its curving cobblestone pathways and garden features to towering pines and twisted juniper. And an excerpt from The Fellowship of the Ring reveals The Shire’s literary origins, a topic Meyers admits he’s unable to discuss with any authority.

“I’ve never read The Lord of the Rings,” he says, explaining that his knowledge of the books is based solely on the movies they inspired.

“A part of me says, ‘Go read them,’ while another part of me would rather remain innocent.”

Last week, The Shire saw 6,000 people visit its Bend sales office in just six days. Paul Kewene-Hite, a friend and business associate of Meyers, was among them.

“People really respond to this place,” says Kewene-Hite, a Harvard-educated Tolkien fan who’s contemplating moving to The Shire with his family.

“It takes you back to a time of more peaceful innocence I it’s about loving where you live and wanting to be part of a community and knowing your neighbours.”

Patti Freese, a retired entrepreneur from San Diego, has already laid claim to the neigbourhood’s first cottage and attached guest house.

“In this crazy market, you have to buy something unusual, something that has appeal, something that has charisma and personality,” says Freese, who isn’t a big Lord of the Rings fan. “That way if you decide to sell later, you’ll have five offers within a week.”

A condition of the purchase was that Meyers could continue to use the cottage as a model home for the next 30 months, leaving Freese without a permanent place to live until early 2009.

“There was a lot of competition and I had to do whatever I could to make it mine,” says Freese. “You must want a property really, really bad if you’re going to allow a 30-month leaseback.”

–CanWest News Service