'We love The Lord of Rings so much we spent £500k and seven years building our own Hobbit homes in Mid Wales'

A Mid Wales couple obsessed with The Lord of the Rings spent £500,000 building their own Hobbit holiday homes.

Phil and Sam Kilv spent seven years constructing the Middle-earth inspired properties.

The underground holiday homes are set into the hillside near the Cambrian Mountains.

The one- and two-bedroom themed cottages boast log burners, four-poster beds and flat-screen TVs.

Phil, 60, said: "Sam and I have always had a passion for Tolkien and read all the Lord of Rings books to our kids growing up.

"It's been a dream come true to actually build our own Hobbit homes and bring the fantasy on the pages to life."

Phil and Sam, 53, who also have a pirate-themed inn, are hiring their Bilbo Baggins-style homes out from £180 per night.

Phil added: "These Hobbit homes are a real labour of love and we can’t wait to open them later this year.

“Each of the houses has been painstakingly crafted with curved architecture, log burners, hand-built interiors and its own unique character and all sit within our beautiful, tranquil woodland setting.

“Tolkien’s love of Wales and the Welsh language is well-documented and has provided a wonderful inspiration for these holiday homes."

The couple moved to their home more than 20 years ago with Phil earning a living restoring classic motorbikes and Sam pursuing a career in marketing.

They wanted to open theme-based holiday cottages and, after renovating an old cow shed into a pirate's inn, began their Lord of the Rings project.

They spent more than seven years building the Hobbit homes using local blacksmiths to create authentic bed frames and even thrones which were installed outside the hillside homes.

The Pen Y Bag cottage takes visitors back to the year 1601 of the Third Age - the year of the Shire-reckoning when the Shire was founded and the Hobbit calendar system began.

Guests can also stay at the one-bed Rhiw Ty’r Maes house which promises to let Tolkien fans "immerse in the magical realm of a Hobbit" while enjoying mod cons including a 60-inch smart TV, walk-in shower, wi-fi and underfloor heating.

The third Middle Earth-style cottage, named Crucywel, boasts it is "something out of a movie" with views overlooking the rolling hills of Ceredigion.

Phil said: "We think Lord of the Rings fans are going to fall in love with them as much as we have while we’ve been creating them.”

The couple, who have four children aged between 10 and 32, built the adult-only hobbit homes at their 24-acre site of Coed Y Ddraig, near Tregaron.