A December 2012 Daily Mail (UK) article describes the hermit life of Emma Orbach. The title and bylines:
Meet Mrs Bilbo Baggins: Oxford graduate quits society to live a hobbit-style existence in a mud roundhouse in Welsh hills.
- Emma Orbach, 58, has shunned society, living in a mudhut she built herself
- The Oxford graduate named her home Tir Ysbrydol, which means ‘spirit land’ in Welsh, where she has banned technology
- She fetches water from a stream and keeps three goats, seven chickens and two horses
More from the article:
Nestled in the mountains of West Wales, she named her home Tir Ysbrydol, which means ‘spirit land’ in Welsh.
When her children, who are in their 20s and 30s and live in London, Bristol and Brighton, visit, they, like all guests at the roundhouse, are banned from bringing technology such as phones or laptops with them.
It is all a far cry from the conventional trappings of Mrs Orbach’s background. Her father was a violinist and her mother a librarian.
After graduating from Oxford with a degree in Chinese, she married architectural historian Julian Orbach.
The article includes video and photos.