chuggnutt.com

My mom mentioned this yesterday, though I didn't see it online and I'm too lazy to do a deep search: there is now apparently one realtor for every 200 people in Bend, according to The Bulletin. Wow.

I figure this should be good fodder for the newish Bend, Oregon Housing Bubble blog.

Now this is some kind of crazy:

The hobbit holes will hold lawn mowers instead of diminutive, barefooted halflings from J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, but The Shire aims to bring some Old World styling and a fantasy setting to Bend's east side.

"We call it the place of enchantment, and we are building to that (motto)," said Ron Meyers, the developer whose business card identifies him as Lord of The Shire....

The application submitted to the city for development calls for a mix of 31 cottages and townhomes on 6.2 acres off Benham Road east of the Parrell/Sisters Mobile Home Park. The project also will have 1.5 acres of common open space that will include trails, ponds, landscaping and an amphitheater, some of which are in place.

Hobbit holes already are cut into the side of the hill, and Karl Anthony, whom Meyers describes as a "spiritual artist," held a concert at the amphitheater a few weeks ago.

It will be the homes themselves, however, that give The Shire its unique look.

Cottages will evoke English country homes. Townhouses will be built to look like medieval city streetscapes.

Yeah. Good luck with that.

...actually, I'd be real curious to see what it looks like when they're done. Jeez, just when I thought the real estate market around here couldn't get any weirder...

One thing the Bulletin forgot: the web site address for "The Shire." Kind of important, there.

But that's okay, I found it: The Shire of Bend, Oregon.

I just heard about this at work today, people claiming that Donald Trump said the number one place to invest in/develop/buy/smoke real estate is Bend, Oregon. One guy—a local land engineer even—claims that Trump said this on Larry King Live. He may even be developing something here!

Folks, it just ain't true. Someone's blowing smoke up your ass. It's a rumor someone started to get people talking about Bend real estate. There's no information online alluding to this, and even the transcripts of the Larry King Live episode in question don't bear it out. Bend is not even on Trump's radar.

Let's move on now, m'kay?