'Hobbit Hole' Friends Build Home Movie Theater in Backyard Cabin
Ashley Yeates and Alec Wright built a homemade movie theater in Bedford, U.K.
-- Two friends from Bedford, United Kingdom, not only have quite the imagination, but also enjoy making it come to life.
Ashley Yeates and Alec Wright originally made headlines last year when they built a real-life hobbit hole under a dead apple tree in Yeates’ backyard.
Their original eye-catching creation, inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy world, was a hit with the kids in the neighborhood, who she said “literally spent the whole day in there -- just shutting themselves inside and playing,” during a party she held shortly after it was completed.
But now the dynamic duo has moved onto another fantastic backyard feature, completely destructing the hobbit hole and instead, “building something entirely different in its place.”
Behold the backyard movie theater.
“It's essentially a completely bespoke home-cinema stacked full of features and designed in an authentic cinema style, but hidden away in my garden,” Yeates wrote to ABC News of the silver screen viewing station, which is located directly above where the hobbit hole used to be.
The cabin is equipped with a starlight ceiling, a personal snack counter, a 3-D projector with surround sound and sub-woofer speakers under the seating platforms.
“There's even authentic theatre seating from the York Royal in Leeds -- the full works essentially,” she explained.
The space seats seven adults “very comfortably,” Yeates said. “I could have made space for another four if I wanted, but I thought I'd sacrifice capacity for leg-room and comfort.”
The building process of the backyard movie theater began in February. The bulk of the project was done in about two months, but then it took another few months to finish decorating the interior because “I like things to be done well, not quickly,” she explained.
The idea for the movie theater came after Yeates had completed the magical hobbit hole, because she “wanted to do something more commercial.”
“I love building these things so if I could make a living from it then even better, so I plan to make my outdoor cinemas available to those who want them,” she said of her latest endeavor. “It's not quite as wacky as the hobbit hole, but certainly up there I'd say!”