The cottage — seen here from the rear garden — is stepped downward to follow the grade of the land, enhancing the impression of having grown organically out of the old stone wall. "The location ultimately selected was perfect in that the original stone wall had become a retaining wall at that point, with a change in grade of about 4 feet," Archer says. "This allowed the building to have a more human scale at the front, while on the side and back the roof sits at about 4 feet above, giving an amazing scale, almost a miniature and certainly appropriate to a hobbit."