Visitors were in awe as they stepped inside a hobbit house during the Ryder Lake Ramble in Chilliwack on Saturday.
The small home, built by resident Jacob Hegeman right into a grassy hill, was one of many stops on the 23rd annual self-guided tour in Chilliwack on June 15.
"I started digging when I was 10 years old and then it kind of evolved from there," 27-year-old Hegeman said.
It's an ongoing project and the actual structure of the house took about 10 years to complete, he added.
"It's been many years in the making," said wife Chalet.
Open the round blue door, step down two steps and you're inside the cosy, quaint hobbit house. Inside there's a fireplace, homemade chairs, pantry, wood stove, tile flooring, books, chest, interior garden, pizza oven, water barrel and a candle-style chandelier.
It's about 70 to 80 square feet, and there's enough room for a few people inside at a time, or for someone to even lie down and have a rest.
"I sometimes go in and have a daytime nap, read a book," he said.
People on the ramble were describing the hobbit house as "amazing," "fun," and "incredible."
The Ryder Lake Ramble is a one-day, self-guided tour of farms and gardens in the historic farming community of Ryder Lake at the southeast end of Chilliwack. This year's event included 14 venues and three trails/drive-bys. Other stops on the ramble included sights like an English-style garden, purebred Katahdin hair sheep, a 20-foot tunnel of a handmade twig arbour, horses, pottery and more.
