Gympie Hobbit House to close to public after three years

An inspired replica of The Shire from Tolkien’s Lord of The Rings became an accidental tourist destination, but has closed its doors after three years.

After becoming a tourist destination Gympie Hobbit House is closing to the general public.

When the Gympie Hobbit House owners designed their garden as an inspired replica of The Shire, from the Lord of the Rings, they never thought it would end up a bustling tourist attraction.

“Created to hide an ugly hill on a private rear street frontage,” states their introduction on Facebook.

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What they have done is transform a nondescript garden into the magical realm of The Shire from JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.

The garden is inspired from characters like Frodo and Bilbo Baggins, who live a peaceful existence but have a love and passion for their home that results in them embarking on risky and dangerous journeys to protect it.

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After becoming an accidental tourist destination, the Gympie Hobbit House is now closing to the general public.

Their Facebook photo album shows the garden’s transformation from a stony hill into a bustling hobbit garden, and the owners generously sharing their garden with the public over the years.

That is coming to an end now, especially after theft and property damage in the past week. This has not been the first time the garden has been targeted by vandals and thieves.

This time though, the perpetrators were identified and the property returned.

The owners now want to move on from the incident.

For now, that means closing up and taking some time for themselves.

“After three years we do need to sort out how to close,” said one of the Gympie Hobbit House owners.

“We are a private garden and very visible from the road, people often just walk in.

“We’ve got the closed sign on the gate.”

“We might just do private functions, or an open day, or pick a weekend, rather than people just wandering through our yard,” they said.

The garden before it was transformed into the much loved Gympie Hobbit House.

The Gympie Hobbit House has hosted numerous events and contributed to the Gympie gardening community. Halloweens, Australia Days, community group meet-ups, nominations for prizes by Better Homes and Gardens, and building butterfly gardens are just to name a few, in addition to becoming a national tourist destination.

The garden will be sorely missed while its owners take the time to enjoy their own private Shire.

The owners hint that while this may be a disappointment for some, it certainly is not the end of the journey.

“Watch our Facebook page,” they said.

Originally published as Gympie Hobbit House to close to public after three years