Hobbit cave houses, Dietikon

The Earth House Estate Lättenstrasse (Erdhaussiedlung Lättenstrasse) in Dietikon, near Zurich, is a group of nine homes hidden under grass-covered mounds, nicknamed the hobbit houses because they look like the homes of the Shire in The Lord of the Rings. Designed by the Swiss architect Peter Vetsch and completed in 1993, the houses stand in a U shape around a courtyard with a pond and a small wetland.

Vetsch built the curved shells from sprayed concrete and covered them with earth and plants, so the houses have no right angles and need little energy for heating. The project was controversial at first and was approved in a local vote in 1992 by a margin of only 22 votes; today the estate is counted among the most unusual buildings in Switzerland and attracts architecture fans from all over the world.

The houses are private homes and cannot be visited inside, but they can be seen from Lättenstrasse; please respect the privacy of the residents. The estate lies a few minutes’ walk from the Bruno Weber Park, so the two are easy to combine.