The £150 hobbit hole: Farmer builds a cosy cob home using materials he recycled from skips… and the tenant pays the rent in MILK

Daily Mail – by DAVID WILKES

It looks like something straight out of Middle Earth – and the story behind it is almost as fantastical.

This cottage cost just £150 to build, using only natural or reclaimed materials, and is now rented out for a fee of fresh milk and cream.

And with no mains electricity, gas or water, the bills don’t come to much either.  

Cob house: Michael Buck built this house at the bottom of his garden for just £150 using natural or unwanted materials he found in skips

Interior: Mr Buck rescued the floorboards from a neighbour’s skip and used the windscreen of an old lorry to create several of the home’s windows

Inside: Although the cottage has no electricity it does have free running water from a nearby spring and walls painted with a chalk and plant resin mixture

Homely: The cottage has a kitchen and dining area, along with a bunk-style bed to maximise space below

Smallholder Michael Buck spent eight months constructing the house using the ancient technique of  cob – building with a mixture of sand, clay, straw, water and earth. He taught himself the method by reading a book, even shaping the walls without a single power tool.

He also made the simple wooden roof frame and thatched it himself with straw from his fields. The 300 sq ft of floor space features floorboards rescued from a skip, while an old windscreen from a lorry provided glass for the windows.

With no central heating, you might think it would be a bit chilly, but he says the cob walls and thatched roof make it incredibly well insulated – and the ceiling is stuffed with sheep’s wool from a nearby farm to help keep the heat in further.