A transformative Middle-Earth adventure awaits you at The Brothers Greenhouses about 30 miles north of Gig Harbor — and it’s so worth the trip.
BONUS: No need to worry about reservations or tickets — exploring the Hobbit House is free during shop hours (more on that below).
The Hobbit House
Once you park and walk aaall the way through the nursery (it’s big) to the back, Kitsap’s famed Hobbit House is located outside, behind and to the east of the arched-topped greenhouses.
Once you spot the mystical marvel, it will be difficult to stay away. But before you rush through its iconic round door, make sure to wait your turn.
Because there’s likely someone there before you – exploring and taking pics inside and out. For example, we waited while the cutest ladies everrr took pics in elf ears and richly colored yellow and green cloak costumes. And I wasn’t even mad about it.
After the group ahead of you clears out, you and your littles can walk the stone path to its entrance, push open the big round creaky door (no mystery key needed), and escape into its quaintly decorated interior.
You’ll find a little stone fireplace, tools at the hearth, a bristly straw broom, and a water jug — everything your kids (or you!) need to make-believe to your heart’s content. Circular windows and carved seating complete the surprisingly finished interior, which looked so cozy under the warm light of an electric lamp perched upon a tiny shelf.
When we first visited in November 2021 (which is why the kiddos are wearing masks in these photos), Clara and Wyatt enjoyed opening and closing the slatted wood door, pretending to haul the jug to the outside watering hole (there’s not a real one), and preparing to cook dinner outdoors. They were also keen on looking out the windows for little visitors. A wizard with a staff and a cart-full of fireworks, perhaps?
A Vision
Since the Hobbit House’s 2014 construction, it’s made its mark on the Kitsap Peninsula. But it’s also become internet-famous for its fairytale charms that continue to draw in folks from all over. From travel giant Tripadvisor.com to a host of newspapers and magazines, the attraction is a bucket-list favorite among the media as well.
Owners Marilyn Davis and Cheryl Pelkey built the house as a way to draw folks in after they purchased the nursery in 1996. The gals wanted to make the former wholesale business, established in 1969, finally accessible to anyone who wanted to visit.
They even go as far as declining requests for birthdays, weddings, and other private events at the house because such activities “inhibit regular visitation rights for the public … the Hobbit House is a public attraction for all to enjoy.”
The sentiment just makes me like them even more!
When the owners flipped the property’s wholesale model into year-round public retail for all types of plants and art, they also rebranded it as The Brothers Greenhouses. It’s a shoutout to the Olympic Mountains’ distinctive double summit of the same name, stretching out along the horizon outside its entrance.
The Shop
Remember how I said the Hobbit House is in the back of the nursery? That means you walk through a whole
lotta CUTE before reaching it, including the most enchanting gift shop stocked to the brim with:
ceramic, glazed, and clay pots of all kinds
fairy garden accessories, including teensy fairy doors for your yard
a miniature train that travels through a tiny tunnel
tons and tons and tons of plants
windchimes and art
all sorts of cute pots
The nursery boasts a wide selection of “perennials, annuals, houseplants, tropical plants, ferns, cacti, succulents, vegetables, herbs, fruit trees, evergreen trees, natives, groundcovers, shrubs, vines, planters, baskets, and seasonal favorites,” according to its website.
There’s also a guest book and photo album that shares a few behind-the-scenes details about making Hobbit House. Such as: how it gets its long rounded structural footprint from a 14-gage culvert steel pipehidden beneath its plank-lined walls inside and stones stacked with plants on the outside.
The roof is an actual functioning garden, too, displaying plants the nursery sells each season.
When we adventure to a local business, I always like to buy at least one thing. So we purchased a snail planter. And a hedgehog planter – for good measure. Ok, and some fairy garden doors. 🙂
Hobbit House visit: free; no reservations needed; open to the public year-round during shop hours. Remember to sign the guestbook inside on the podium.
Tonya Strickland is a Gig Harbor mom-of-two, longtime journalist, and Instagram influencer in the family and travel niche. Her blog, Two in Tow & On the Go, was recently named among the 10 Seattle-Area Instagram Accounts to Follow by ParentMap magazine. Tonya and her husband Bowen recently moved to Gig Harbor from California with their two kids, Clara (9) and Wyatt (7). When they’re not adventuring, Tonya stays busy navigating how umbrellas are unacceptable life choices now, giant house spiders exist but only in September, and that salted parking lots are absolutely not weird at all. Find her on Instagram and Facebookfor all the kid-friendly places in and around Gig Harbor.
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House. Such as: how it gets its long rounded structural footprint from a 14-gage culvert steel pipe hidden beneath its plank-lined walls inside and stones stacked with plants on the outside.
