House For Sale

[Eledhwen]

From the BBC website:

Hobbit's home on sale for £1.5m

The house where the celebrated author JRR Tolkien is reported to have written The Hobbit and part of Lord of the Rings has gone on sale for £1.5m.
Number 20 Northmoor Road, Oxford, was home to the writer and his family from 1930 until 1947.

The large detached brick property was one of many built to house some of the county's leading academics in the 1920s, says Carter Jonas estate agents.

Tolkien's study was in the drawing room of the period building.

His family first lived at number 22 but later he acquired the lease of the house next door, which has a larder, breakfast room and six bedrooms.

Selling agent Mark Charter said: "We are very lucky to be instructed to sell number 20 Northmoor Road.

"It has got an amazing history having been built for Basil Blackwell, the famous Oxford publishers, and then the principal Oxford home for the Tolkien family."

Viewing sessions are due to begin next week.

[alorien]

I heard about this a while ago. I wonder if anyone's bought it yet...

i would... if only i had that $$

[Eledhwen]

I suspect it was snapped up. I remember that address most, because it's where Father Christmas addressed most of his letters to (Letters from Father Christmas - JRR Tolkien).

[HLGStrider]

I hope whoever buys it will let it be open to the public at least on occasion.

[Eledhwen]

If they do, it would be the first paying attraction in Oxford that even mentions JRR Tolkien. Would you believe that 'The Oxford Story', a tour through Oxford's literary and academic history, doesn't even mention him? Lewis Carrol gets a look in, but not Tolkien. In a way, it's nice - to look for a taste of JRRT in Oxford you have to drink in his pubs, visit Magdalen College, or his grave, or drive past his former homes. One tribute stands, though; two trees have been planted - one with golden yellow flowers and one with clustering white flowers. I don't think the varieties they chose will grow very tall though (are there any extravagently blossoming trees that do?). It seems to me that Oxford is one of the last bastions of that Englishness that ignores greatness - like the hobbits who ignored Frodo after he returned from his quest. If Tolkien had only written about myth, in time honoured academic fashion, instead of creating his own; there would probably be a statue or a plaque commemorating him, and people would walk past and ask 'Who was that?'

[Barliman Butterbur]

...It seems to me that Oxford is one of the last bastions of that Englishness that ignores greatness - like the hobbits who ignored Frodo after he returned from his quest. If Tolkien had only written about myth, in time honoured academic fashion, instead of creating his own; there would probably be a statue or a plaque commemorating him, and people would walk past and ask 'Who was that?'

Do you suppose there's any sense in organizing a write-in campaign to the head honcho at Oxford, guilting them into putting up a statue of Tolkien?

Barley

[Snaga]

When the sale goes through, you are all invited to the house-warming. Its as good as mine. (I've bought my lottery tickets. :rolleyes: )

[Eledhwen]

Do you suppose there's any sense in organizing a write-in campaign to the head honcho at Oxford, guilting them into putting up a statue of Tolkien?

BarleyI think Tolkien himself would prefer to see something more subtle. The two trees are a start (though taller-growing varieties might have been sought). I would like to see an edifice with a map of Europe showing Oxford as Hobbiton, and indicating where in Europe all the other Middle-earth places might lie, with some Elvish wording, translating into a short tribute to Tolkien alongside maybe a bronze relief of the professor himself.

I think they'd just stick their noses in the air and ignore me if I suggested it, though. They've hardly pushed the boat out so far, have they? I think PJ's contribution has probably made them think Tolkien's work is even more plebby than they thought it was before (A film? Good grief!).