By the way, do you know what Loconte, Rowan Williams (former Archbishop of Canterbury), Guite, and Ward all have in common?

They wrote books on C.S. Lewis ...

... and they are in the trailer to this project.

I am starting to see a pattern here

I've been in the Kilns (with Olwe) and it was an amazing experience, and I think it is a great use of his home. Seeing the wardrobe for example... man. Great stuff.

I can totally understand the desire to have the same experience with Tolkien's home. I don't see that happening in this case, sadly - the home left Tolkien's hands over 70 years ago, and has been completely remodeled more than once. Sure, it can be remodeled again to look somewhat similar to the few photographs extant of what it used to be, but I feel like I would get more joy from looking at the photographs then walking through such a re-creation.

The dream they are advertising and what is attainable are far removed from each other, based on current evidence, in my mind.

God, if Tolkien could get something similar to the Kilns I would sell a kidney, a foot and half my liver to be able to donate! Something to dream of!

"Upstairs, we would transform the bedrooms into aspects of his Middle-earth cultures (...)"

When did Tolkien change the bedrooms? Was that 1941 or 1946?

I have tried where possible to inform people of our discussions here and at least make them aware of some of the concerns but it seems this project hits people in the 'gagas' and all semblance of rational goes out the window.

The BBC are now reporting this story so no doubt it will gather more steam.

I still don't understand how his house will help deliver all these lofty aims. It's just one of the places he lived. I also don't find anything about Tolkien's personal life that interesting. So much of who he was & what he created was about his internal life, his imagination. His house is not worth this amount of money. Maybe they could ask Amazon tho'...

Khamûl wrote:

I still don't understand how his house will help deliver all these lofty aims. It's just one of the places he lived. I also don't find anything about Tolkien's personal life that interesting. So much of who he was & what he created was about his internal life, his imagination. His house is not worth this amount of money. Maybe they could ask Amazon tho'...

It won't deliver anything useful, IMHO, except to the people having real-estate purchased for them by a gullible public.

Putting this here (thinking out loud to myself and open to input)

Open questions I would like to discuss with the directors/trustees of Project Northmoor:

• Who are you working with to run your courses, seminars and exhibitions, and what is their background in Tolkien studies?
  
• The project homepage states "You can help create the first centre in the world dedicated to Tolkien." How will this new centre differ from (for example) The Bodleian archives, Marquette University archives, The Wade Center archives, or (to a lesser extent) the Greisinger Museum in Switzerland, which already exist, and already offer courses, seminars and museum exhibitions about Tolkien and his works?
  
• Why does the Signatry donation form state that "Project Northmoor is not currently eligible to receive tax-deductible charitable contributions in the United States"? When will it be eligible?
  
• How, exactly, are US donations going to get to Project Northmoor, and when, and through what intermediate organizations, and what percentage of the original donation will each of these intermediaries be keeping for their efforts?
  
• Your FAQ states "Donations made through any other means [i.e. not PayPal] may not be refundable based on local tax rules in your locality", but the Signatry donation page clearly states "Your donation to the Fund is an irrevocable and nonrefundable donation". Why is this information not made clear in the FAQ for US based potential donors?
  
• In multiple places (website homepage, Julia Golding's website) you refer to Project Northmoor as "the campaign to save Tolkien’s house". Save Tolkien's house from what?
  
• Your fundraising milestones hint at plans to build additions (a Hobbit house, a flet in "Tolkien's tree", and a lair). Do you have or expect to get clearances for these additions from the proper authorities for this neighborhood and for a Title II property?
  
• All of your donation level rewards use the word "could" - ("If you donate xxx, you could receive yyy"). Can you clarify under what conditions donors will definitely receive these benefits? Can you rephrase them to make the rewards definitive - ("if you donate xxx, you will receive yyy"), and if not, why not?
  
• A lot of confusion has been raised by decisions that (as stated by you in the FAQ) were made because other options would take a few days or weeks longer (for example, JustGiving is taking 10-14 days to process your application). Why did you not just wait the two extra weeks and have your preferred structures in place, when you have told multiple press organizations that the fundraiser will be running through March 15th?
  
• Your Charity Governing Document states "TO ADVANCE THE PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE AND APPRECIATION OF THE LIFE, FAITH AND WORKS OF JRR TOLKIEN AND THE INKLINGS". Also, the description of the Project Northmoor Fund on the Signatry donation page states "The Signatry supports the work of Project Northmoor and is working together with Project Northmoor to increase appreciation for J.R.R. Tolkien’s life and faith." Why was the word "faith" dropped from the website description of your goals?
  

I will probably add more soon.

Urulókë wrote:

Save Tolkien's house from what?

The answer is rhetorical. They're clearly looking to Make Tolkien's House Great Again by

Stu wrote:

having real-estate purchased for them by a gullible public

Their "donation progress meter" on the Donate page of their site says they have raised 9% of their $6M goal as of December 4th. That implies they have more than half a million dollars raised.

I would love for some of the reporters that have breathlessly published the press releases for this endeavor to be asking some (any?) of these questions. Or any questions at all, really.