Tolkien’s old home is for sale. ‘Lord of the Rings’ cast has a vision to transform it
The home where J.R.R. Tolkien wrote “The Lord of the Rings” is about to be put on the market, and you can join an effort to help save it.
Ian McKellen and Martin Freeman — stars from the film adaptions based off Tolkien’s books — are among the celebrities a part of the crowdfunding effort to buy the author’s former England home. Their hope is to convert the home into a literary center in honor of Tolkien.
Dubbed Project Northmoor, a reference to the home’s address of 20 Northmoor Road, the initiative is attempting to raise $5.4 million just to buy the house. If they raise $6.45 million dollars, the extra funds would go toward renovating the home, restoring its garden, building a hobbit house in the garden and starting a fund to help low-income people come to the house for courses or events.
“We cannot achieve this without the support of the worldwide community of Tolkien fans, our fellowship of funders,” said McKellen, who portrayed Gandalf in the “Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” movies. “We will only succeed if we do this together as a fellowship.”
Tolkien moved into the Oxford home in 1930 and lived there for 17 years with his wife and their family. It’s at that home where he wrote “The Hobbit” and later “The Lord of the Rings.”
The books are among the best-selling novels of all time and led to the successful movies directed by Peter Jackson.
Organizers of the project hope to renovate the home “so that the guest can experience what it would have been like to call on the Professor in 1940,” the website states. “Upstairs the bedrooms would reflect the cultures he invented and the garden would be restored to a beauty which the inventor of Sam Gamgee would be proud.”
Instead of making it into a Tolkien museum, organizers want to honor the author by using it as a center to inspire future generations of writers.
Those who donate to the fund will receive a special certificate and an array of benefits depending on how much they give.
Author Julia Golding negotiated a 3-month fundraising window with the current owner to secure the money to purchase the home.
“To raise 6 million dollars in three months is a huge challenge,” Golding said in a news release. “However, we need only to look at Frodo and Sam’s journey from Rivendell to Mount Doom, which took that same amount of time — and we are inspired that we can do this too!”
To donate or to learn more, visit ProjectNorthmoor.org.
This story was originally published December 3, 2020 at 3:01 PM with the headline "Tolkien’s old home is for sale. ‘Lord of the Rings’ cast has a vision to transform it."