You can help create the first literary centre in the world dedicated to Tolkien. There is no literary centre devoted to Tolkien studies anywhere in the world – a remarkable fact considering the writer’s importance and continuing popularity. This is the perfect house to set this right. It is on the market now so we have to move quickly to secure it before it goes into private hands and the once-in-a-generation opportunity is lost. If you help achieve this, you can join the community centred around the house and keep in touch with our Tolkien-themed activities for years to come!

Why this house?

20 Northmoor Road is his former home in Oxford where he wrote The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. J.R.R. and Edith Tolkien moved into 20 Northmoor Road with their young family in 1930. Over the next 17 crucial years the house was the heart of the Tolkien home. It was here that J.R.R. Tolkien wrote The Hobbit, which he had begun as a bedtime story for his children, and followed that with another unexpected journey. That book became The Lord of the Rings.

What will we create?

We set up the not-for-profit Project Northmoor to achieve this. A significant part of the capital has already been raised but we need a new push to achieve our target. If the house is secured for Tolkien fans, it will be renovated so that the guest can experience what it would have been like to call on the Professor in 1940. Upstairs the bedrooms would reflect the cultures he invented and the garden would be restored to a beauty of which the inventor of Sam Gamgee would be proud.

You would then be able to be a guest at the Centre by booking into its programme of writing seminars and other cultural events, or join in virtually with the online programme.The creative courses will focus will be on inspiring a new generation of fantasy writers, film makers and artists. Other courses will introduce visitors to Tolkien and his circle, including visiting the places that inspired him.

The house has seven bedrooms already, including one with disabled access. The floor plan is unchanged since Tolkien’s time. It is perfect for small groups to stay. Downstairs, Tolkien’s study is the largest room, stretching the width of the house, and would provide an inspiring teaching space, just as he used to welcome students at home.

The house will be financially self-sustaining once purchased, thanks to income from visitors. The courses on offer will range from creative writing for fantasy writers, screenwriters and illustrators, to ones about Tolkien and his circle, including ‘Walking and Writing in the Shires’ which follows in his footsteps to the places that inspired him. The activities would also be online with virtual visits, webinars and online courses.