Help Restore the Hobbit House, Damaged by Hurricane Helene

On September 28, the winds and waters of Hurricane Helene swept through Western North Carolina, washing away roads, trees, hillsides, homes, and, yes, even people. The casualties were many and great. One of those casualties was my home, the iconic Hobbit House at Earthaven Ecovillage.

The Hobbit House was built in 2003 by Rod Rylander with the help of friends and experiential learning volunteers, using all natural cob, rammed earth, and vernacular methods. I visited the Hobbit House that year, and immediately fell in love with it, befriended Rod, and have dreamed of living there ever since.

Just one year ago, in 2023, that dream finally became a reality. I bought the Hobbit House from Rod, and began preparations to renovate it. It was the culmination of a dream I nurtured since the late 1990's—to move to Earthaven, live a permaculture and communitarian lifestyle with kindred spirits, and more fully walk my talk while working for environmental regeneration and social justice.

The plan was to make the Hobbit House the community center for an entire 10-acre neighborhood of natural homes supported by organic gardens, and a natural building education and nature-based healing center.

Those plans were brought to an abrupt halt when, during Hurricane Helene, a large tree fell on the Hobbit House. The roof and upper level were crushed. Flooding brought mold and water damage to the lower level. Because the Hobbit House still needed renovations to meet code, it was not insured.

(Photo while Juanpa was removing the tree)

(Old photo, shortly after the Hobbit House was built, and before the upper levels were added)

(Photo of Hurricane Helene tree-fall damage)

As a single, late-career nonprofit consultant and community organizer, who has always provided services on a sliding scale and often pro bono/volunteer, I'm on my own financially. There's little time, runway or options to recover from this loss.

The Hobbit House is located in an off-grid ecovillage, whose bridges and stone and gravel roads were washed away after serving the community for 30-years. Dozens of large, downed trees and mudslides blocked passage between our homes, to the main roads, and into town, for the first days after the storm.

We all labored every day since the storm struck, helping to clear roads and bridges, manage the impacts our lives and community, and bring in food and other supplies to sustain ourselves and our neighbors.

Now that the community triage is done and the people in our immediate area are housed, fed, and secured, I am attending to and grieving the damage to my home. It's overwhelming.

The damaged roof and upper level will need to be removed, the house redesigned, and a new roof, staircase, and 2nd floor installed. Water damage will need to be managed, mold mitigation accomplished, and French drains repaired. None of this is within my means.

(After the tree was removed the roof patched into place to keep out the rain)

I am deeply grateful for any assistance offered, and will pay it forward by helping others during this disaster and beyond, as I have always done in this life. Thank you, in advance, for your support to help restore the Hobbit House and my ability to focus on the social change work I came here to do.

Please donate if you can do so comfortably, and please share this GoFundMe on your social media and with folks you believe would like to contribute to this effort.

In Gratitude,

Amy Belanger

Black Mountain, NC