Four sisters from Bosnia-Herzegovina initiated a unique project to promote their hometown of Kresevo and introduce their culture, forming a hobbit village of five houses in a real-life nod to "Middle-earth."
With their dazzling architecture, the half-buried houses will open their doors to visitors in the summer.
The project takes its inspiration from the fantasy world of J.R.R. Tolkien, the renowned author of "The Lord of the Rings," depicting the fictional race of hobbits who lived in Middle-earth. Benefiting from the fantasy world, the sisters aim to both contribute to tourism and offer an unusual experience to tourists by creating a hobbit village.
Marija Milicevic, who came up with the idea, stated that she is a geological engineer and received the greatest support from her family and sisters during the planning and construction process. Explaining that each of the sisters bought a house that they decorated around a concept, Marija said that two of the houses are almost complete and the remaining ones are about to finish.
"We wanted to do something different. Then we came up with the idea. We took the hobbit houses built in New Zealand as an example, but we strive to reflect the spirit of Kresevo in every house," she added.
Noting that she named one of the hobbit houses "Ober," Marija said: "My inspiration was the Cave Ober where mercury was once extracted. Within that frame, all the details in the house reflect something about mercury and its ceiling is designed similar to a cave."
Another sister, Milijana Milicevic, who is an architect, said that she named her house "Linden," a plant associated with an innocent childhood and pure nature. Milijana said that people these days are looking for something "different" and embarking on a journey to the past with hobbit houses is certainly different.
As round wooden doors are not common in the region, the craftsmen working on the construction of the hobbit houses were very surprised by the project.
The third sister, Vedrana Milicevic, takes her inspiration from the city of Katarina, also one of the queens of Bosnia.
