L.A.'s famous 'Hobbit Houses' have a new owner. He calls himself the 'King of Storybook'

[ad_1] Within the architectural age of minimalism and millennial grey, a wild and eccentric antidote product of previous clinker bricks and jumbled shingles sits on a quiet road on the fringe of L.A. and Culver Metropolis.

Formally, the spellbinding property is called the Lawrence and Martha Joseph Residence and Residences, named after the Disney artist and his spouse who obsessively spent three a long time constructing it. However locals name them the Hobbit Homes — becoming, since they appear straight out of a J.R.R. Tolkien novel.

The complicated seems comically misplaced amid Culver Metropolis’s industrial hall alongside Venice Boulevard. It’s surrounded by fashionable condominium buildings, boxy and inoffensive, constructed to mix in with immediately’s style.

<img class="image" alt="A bathroom in one of the Hobbit houses in Culver City adorned in glass tiles and ornate fixtures." srcset="https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/21f81a3/2147483647/strip/true/crop/7109x4836+0+0/resize/320x218!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fce%2F03%2Fc8ab0e094fabb089f659fb41b8c8%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-12.jpg 320w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/7b569d2/2147483647/strip/true/crop/7109x4836+0+0/resize/568x387!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fce%2F03%2Fc8ab0e094fabb089f659fb41b8c8%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-12.jpg 568w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/1ef93ed/2147483647/strip/true/crop/7109x4836+0+0/resize/768x523!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fce%2F03%2Fc8ab0e094fabb089f659fb41b8c8%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-12.jpg 768w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/04031fd/2147483647/strip/true/crop/7109x4836+0+0/resize/1080x735!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fce%2F03%2Fc8ab0e094fabb089f659fb41b8c8%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-12.jpg 1080w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/51f1b77/2147483647/strip/true/crop/7109x4836+0+0/resize/1240x844!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fce%2F03%2Fc8ab0e094fabb089f659fb41b8c8%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-12.jpg 1240w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/e153355/2147483647/strip/true/crop/7109x4836+0+0/resize/1440x980!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fce%2F03%2Fc8ab0e094fabb089f659fb41b8c8%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-12.jpg 1440w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/f749f18/2147483647/strip/true/crop/7109x4836+0+0/resize/2160x1470!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fce%2F03%2Fc8ab0e094fabb089f659fb41b8c8%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-12.jpg 2160w" sizes="100vw" width="2000" height="1361" src="https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/e217ade/2147483647/strip/true/crop/7109x4836+0+0/resize/2000x1361!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fce%2F03%2Fc8ab0e094fabb089f659fb41b8c8%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-12.jpg" decoding="async" loading="lazy"/> A rest room in one of many Hobbit homes in Culver Metropolis adorned in glass tiles and ornate fixtures.

Amid that city blur, the Hobbit Homes beg in your consideration.

An electrical lamppost sparkles, mimicking fireplace. The tree within the entrance yard contains a face, with eyes and a nostril. The houses are stuffed with quirky leaded glass home windows, uneven angles and heaps of wooden shingles, resembling a thatched straw roof.

This 12 months, the property hit the marketplace for the primary time. Affords poured in, and it offered to maybe essentially the most becoming potential purchaser exterior Bilbo Baggins himself: actual property agent Michael Libow.

At $1.88 million, Libow didn’t have the very best bid. His most important qualification was that he owns and lives in one of many best examples of Storyboook fashion within the area: the Witch’s Home, a medieval-looking masterpiece that's extra befitting a “Hansel and Gretel” adaptation than the streets of Beverly Hills.

The dealer, seeing his connection to the fashion, promoted Libow to the vendor, an out-of-state financial institution belief. The Hobbit Homes had been his.

<img class="image" alt="Michael Libow peers through a heavy wooden door of a Hobbit house that he purchased in early 2025." srcset="https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/cee9ecc/2147483647/strip/true/crop/7988x5206+0+0/resize/320x208!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F90%2Fde%2F01504db7408b934bcbed5167f1f2%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-11.jpg 320w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/19e4d77/2147483647/strip/true/crop/7988x5206+0+0/resize/568x370!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F90%2Fde%2F01504db7408b934bcbed5167f1f2%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-11.jpg 568w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/f6f608f/2147483647/strip/true/crop/7988x5206+0+0/resize/768x500!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F90%2Fde%2F01504db7408b934bcbed5167f1f2%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-11.jpg 768w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/491f1bb/2147483647/strip/true/crop/7988x5206+0+0/resize/1080x704!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F90%2Fde%2F01504db7408b934bcbed5167f1f2%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-11.jpg 1080w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/1fba675/2147483647/strip/true/crop/7988x5206+0+0/resize/1240x808!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F90%2Fde%2F01504db7408b934bcbed5167f1f2%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-11.jpg 1240w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/0041a5e/2147483647/strip/true/crop/7988x5206+0+0/resize/1440x938!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F90%2Fde%2F01504db7408b934bcbed5167f1f2%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-11.jpg 1440w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/403744f/2147483647/strip/true/crop/7988x5206+0+0/resize/2160x1407!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F90%2Fde%2F01504db7408b934bcbed5167f1f2%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-11.jpg 2160w" sizes="100vw" width="2000" height="1303" src="https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/c3377e3/2147483647/strip/true/crop/7988x5206+0+0/resize/2000x1303!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F90%2Fde%2F01504db7408b934bcbed5167f1f2%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-11.jpg" decoding="async" loading="lazy"/> Michael Libow friends by way of a heavy picket door of a Hobbit home that he bought in early 2025.

“It’s like a companion piece to my own residence,” Libow stated. “It’s a little bit oasis in a metropolis that’s been overdeveloped.”

Now that he owns each, Libow has declared himself, tongue-in-cheek, the “King of Storybook,” and stated he intends to guard the property and be a spokesperson for the fashion.

“That is my legacy: bringing a little bit little bit of pleasure to as many individuals as I can,” he stated. “It’s about preservation, nevertheless it’s additionally about bringing a way of awe and surprise to the world.”

The Hobbit Homes are one in every of Southern California’s best examples of Storybook structure, a fantasy fashion that fittingly emerged in L.A. within the Nineteen Twenties across the begin of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Impressed by cinema setpieces and centuries-old European cottages, architects designed playful houses with turrets and gables on the skin and nooks and crannies on the within. When executed nicely, the completed product seems lifted from a fairy story.

<img class="image" alt="A cat digs around on the roof of a Hobbit house in Culver City." srcset="https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/fc167cf/2147483647/strip/true/crop/7231x5109+0+0/resize/320x226!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fb1%2Fcf%2F3155fc7d45b9b259fa3b74fa4a36%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-06.jpg 320w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/8301025/2147483647/strip/true/crop/7231x5109+0+0/resize/568x401!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fb1%2Fcf%2F3155fc7d45b9b259fa3b74fa4a36%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-06.jpg 568w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/7b87e23/2147483647/strip/true/crop/7231x5109+0+0/resize/768x543!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fb1%2Fcf%2F3155fc7d45b9b259fa3b74fa4a36%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-06.jpg 768w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/ed0b744/2147483647/strip/true/crop/7231x5109+0+0/resize/1080x763!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fb1%2Fcf%2F3155fc7d45b9b259fa3b74fa4a36%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-06.jpg 1080w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/b64fbcc/2147483647/strip/true/crop/7231x5109+0+0/resize/1240x876!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fb1%2Fcf%2F3155fc7d45b9b259fa3b74fa4a36%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-06.jpg 1240w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/2a191df/2147483647/strip/true/crop/7231x5109+0+0/resize/1440x1017!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fb1%2Fcf%2F3155fc7d45b9b259fa3b74fa4a36%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-06.jpg 1440w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/85e1cf8/2147483647/strip/true/crop/7231x5109+0+0/resize/2160x1526!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fb1%2Fcf%2F3155fc7d45b9b259fa3b74fa4a36%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-06.jpg 2160w" sizes="100vw" width="2000" height="1413" src="https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/517c2fa/2147483647/strip/true/crop/7231x5109+0+0/resize/2000x1413!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fb1%2Fcf%2F3155fc7d45b9b259fa3b74fa4a36%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-06.jpg" decoding="async" loading="lazy"/> A cat digs round on the roof of a Hobbit home in Culver Metropolis.

Disney artist Lawrence Joseph constructed the Hobbit Homes from 1946 to 1970. Over time, the property developed a lore all its personal. He rented out spare models to Hollywood tenants akin to actor Nick Nolte and dancer Gwen Verdon, and the place additionally housed one of many males who kidnapped Frank Sinatra’s son (authorities discovered a lot of the ransom cash Sinatra paid, $240,000, in one of many models).

Lawrence died in 1991, and his spouse, Martha, started working defending the property. She obtained landmark standing in 1996 and donated an easement to the Los Angeles Conservancy, guaranteeing that it may possibly’t be reworked or torn down.

The property, which incorporates 9 models throughout 4 buildings, wanted some work when he purchased it, so Libow and his property supervisor, Ben Stine, have spent the previous few months enjoying a developer’s model of “Minesweeper,” making an attempt to make small enhancements for the tenants — electrical work, a tankless water heater — with out disrupting something protected by the L.A. Conservancy easement.

The Hobbit Homes got here with a 15-page report detailing all of the issues protected on the property: not simply the buildings themselves, but in addition the facade, panorama options and the interiors, together with the customized furnishings that Lawrence carved himself. Even the wallpaper can’t be touched.

“Protections inside a construction are very uncommon. I’ve by no means seen something prefer it,” Libow stated.

<img class="image" alt="Detail of the flooring inside a Hobbit house in Culver City." srcset="https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/29ebb19/2147483647/strip/true/crop/8192x5464+0+0/resize/320x213!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fbe%2F0f%2F68ad0a60416697b7b4f802fe2a4b%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-08.jpg 320w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/675cbb1/2147483647/strip/true/crop/8192x5464+0+0/resize/568x379!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fbe%2F0f%2F68ad0a60416697b7b4f802fe2a4b%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-08.jpg 568w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/974f059/2147483647/strip/true/crop/8192x5464+0+0/resize/768x512!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fbe%2F0f%2F68ad0a60416697b7b4f802fe2a4b%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-08.jpg 768w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/4a4ffe8/2147483647/strip/true/crop/8192x5464+0+0/resize/1080x720!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fbe%2F0f%2F68ad0a60416697b7b4f802fe2a4b%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-08.jpg 1080w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/520d3cb/2147483647/strip/true/crop/8192x5464+0+0/resize/1240x827!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fbe%2F0f%2F68ad0a60416697b7b4f802fe2a4b%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-08.jpg 1240w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/ffb668f/2147483647/strip/true/crop/8192x5464+0+0/resize/1440x960!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fbe%2F0f%2F68ad0a60416697b7b4f802fe2a4b%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-08.jpg 1440w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/98fc7d2/2147483647/strip/true/crop/8192x5464+0+0/resize/2160x1441!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fbe%2F0f%2F68ad0a60416697b7b4f802fe2a4b%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-08.jpg 2160w" sizes="100vw" width="2000" height="1334" src="https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/b968db3/2147483647/strip/true/crop/8192x5464+0+0/resize/2000x1334!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fbe%2F0f%2F68ad0a60416697b7b4f802fe2a4b%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-08.jpg" decoding="async" loading="lazy"/> Element of the flooring inside a Hobbit home in Culver Metropolis.

Which means for renters, a lot of the furnishings is included with the lease. The most recent vacant unit — a two-bed, one-bath with a den — consists of bar stools and a rocking chair that Lawrence carved.

The home is wrapped in clinker brick, a time period for when clay bricks are set too near the flames when being fired in a kiln, giving them distorted shapes and colours. Such bricks had been generally trashed in older architectural eras, however lately, they’re prized for the distinctive look they convey to buildings, and completely pure for Center Earth structure in Culver Metropolis.

Inside, Lawrence’s crusing background shines by way of with nautical-themed interiors. A ship’s wheel serves because the chandelier, hanging above vertical-grain boat-plank flooring that result in a galley-style kitchen with a curvy bar.

“The concept behind Storybook is to have one thing fanciful and eccentric, which entails motion slightly than rectilinear rooms,” Libow stated. “There’s barely a proper angle on your complete property. All the things’s amorphous in form.”

<img class="image" alt="Detail inside a Hobbit house in Culver City." srcset="https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/9584160/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5464x8192+0+0/resize/320x480!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F0a%2F5c%2F47dfacf340f68e9b2df240f92b7b%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-21.jpg 320w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/ce59bb2/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5464x8192+0+0/resize/568x852!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F0a%2F5c%2F47dfacf340f68e9b2df240f92b7b%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-21.jpg 568w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/9ae047b/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5464x8192+0+0/resize/768x1152!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F0a%2F5c%2F47dfacf340f68e9b2df240f92b7b%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-21.jpg 768w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/b3b9a12/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5464x8192+0+0/resize/1080x1619!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F0a%2F5c%2F47dfacf340f68e9b2df240f92b7b%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-21.jpg 1080w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/3ef3de1/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5464x8192+0+0/resize/1240x1859!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F0a%2F5c%2F47dfacf340f68e9b2df240f92b7b%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-21.jpg 1240w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/89b47b6/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5464x8192+0+0/resize/1440x2159!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F0a%2F5c%2F47dfacf340f68e9b2df240f92b7b%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-21.jpg 1440w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/dc5225b/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5464x8192+0+0/resize/2160x3239!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F0a%2F5c%2F47dfacf340f68e9b2df240f92b7b%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-21.jpg 2160w" sizes="100vw" width="2000" height="2999" src="https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/4777512/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5464x8192+0+0/resize/2000x2999!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F0a%2F5c%2F47dfacf340f68e9b2df240f92b7b%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-21.jpg" decoding="async" loading="lazy"/> Element inside a Hobbit home in Culver Metropolis.

There aren't any knobs to be discovered; doorways open with hidden latches and levers. A built-in fold-down desk pops out in the lounge. In the main bedroom, a “cat door” slides open to offer easy accessibility for felines that grasp across the property.

The 9 models vary from 200 sq. toes to 1,200 sq. toes. The vacant unit, which spans round 1,000 sq. toes, hit the market a couple of months in the past for $4,500 per 30 days.

It’s a excessive worth for the neighborhood — most two-bedroom residences close by fall within the $3,000 vary — however renters nonetheless swarmed.

“These aren’t your typical tenants that want 4 partitions and a sink. We get lots of people within the artistic trade,” Libow stated. “You’re renting a way of life right here.”

Libow stated like his own residence, which serves as an everyday cease for Hollywood tour buses, the Hobbit Homes are an everyday resting level for individuals strolling by way of the neighborhood.

“Development employees will stroll by on their lunch to have a look at the turtles within the pond. It’s a break from actuality, even when only for a minute,” he stated.

<img class="image" alt="Michael Libow outside one of his Hobbit houses in Culver City." srcset="https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/20f1781/2147483647/strip/true/crop/8192x5221+0+0/resize/320x204!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ff7%2Faf%2F14aaafd44f44be7a9a77d2bb8e19%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-26.jpg 320w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/9404c88/2147483647/strip/true/crop/8192x5221+0+0/resize/568x362!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ff7%2Faf%2F14aaafd44f44be7a9a77d2bb8e19%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-26.jpg 568w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/ec946ee/2147483647/strip/true/crop/8192x5221+0+0/resize/768x490!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ff7%2Faf%2F14aaafd44f44be7a9a77d2bb8e19%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-26.jpg 768w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/ecc4e9d/2147483647/strip/true/crop/8192x5221+0+0/resize/1080x689!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ff7%2Faf%2F14aaafd44f44be7a9a77d2bb8e19%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-26.jpg 1080w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/108f44d/2147483647/strip/true/crop/8192x5221+0+0/resize/1240x791!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ff7%2Faf%2F14aaafd44f44be7a9a77d2bb8e19%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-26.jpg 1240w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/bc8d18b/2147483647/strip/true/crop/8192x5221+0+0/resize/1440x918!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ff7%2Faf%2F14aaafd44f44be7a9a77d2bb8e19%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-26.jpg 1440w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/f076faa/2147483647/strip/true/crop/8192x5221+0+0/resize/2160x1377!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ff7%2Faf%2F14aaafd44f44be7a9a77d2bb8e19%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-26.jpg 2160w" sizes="100vw" width="2000" height="1275" src="https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/12f68d3/2147483647/strip/true/crop/8192x5221+0+0/resize/2000x1275!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ff7%2Faf%2F14aaafd44f44be7a9a77d2bb8e19%2F1529721-me-hobbit-house-culver-city-cmh-26.jpg" decoding="async" loading="lazy"/> Michael Libow exterior one in every of his Hobbit homes in Culver Metropolis.

Libow and his property supervisor spend quite a lot of time on the grounds, in search of tasks or small enhancements they’re allowed to make beneath the conservancy. However for Libow, who purchased it as a collector’s merchandise as a lot as an funding, it’s a labor of affection.

“It’s not essentially the most practical fashion of structure, however it's the coolest,” he stated. “It’s bizarre, however I’m bizarre myself. I join with bizarre.”