David Lee is not a hobbit.

He once built a cottage shaped like a mushroom, but he assures people, it's very practical.

For nearly 20 years Lee and his wife Jenny have lived in a 4,800 square foot mystical marvel that doesn't quite match up with the surrounding real estate. Over the years, curious onlookers have passed through King Phillips Trail in East Boothbay to catch a glimpse of an unconventional homestead.

“We get lots of visitors, in fact, when I'm sitting at the computer sometimes there will be flashes from the road from people who stop to take pictures. This happens many times during the day,” Lee said.

The house rises from a woodsy grove. Log shavings called “shakes” fortify the outer walls. The roof is layered with sinuous waves of shingles, running steeply to a watch tower. Bony stones surround the foundation. This place, of course, is Millennium Lodge.

Walking under the wooden archways in Millennium Lodge is like walking through a kaleidoscope. Inside, the floors are painted like a turtle's back. Every hinge on every door and cabinet is hand carved. Ambient lights glow in glass shard lanterns, and everywhere you look, there's a secret waiting to be found. Walk by too fast and you might just miss the baby dragon sleeping in the crystal lair.

Lee said when he read J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy series, “The Lord of the Rings,” he was inspired by the Middle Earth style, which expands on the mystical motif.

Lee is not an eccentric millionaire, nor is he some kind of Dungeons and Dragons nerd. He is a 68-year-old Renaissance man who builds intricate dioramas that eventually become full scale art. Simply put, he is an “artist builder.”

An artist builder doesn't build homes commercially, Lee said. He buys property and builds art to live in.

“Houses, boats, whatever. I take a situation and design something for it,” Lee said. “How am I going to build this thing? Those challenges are what drive me.”

As an apprentice machinist in his late 20s, Lee learned the ins and outs of mechanical engineering, physics, fluidics and thermal dynamics. He then set out to build his first house.

“Over time I figured out different building processes and methods that work better and are oriented towards doing it yourself,” Lee said. “That's been my whole gig.”

Lee built Millennium Lodge in 1994 in the span of six months. Four years later, he built and sold the eastern guest house many have called Mushroom Cottage. The two houses have aged with a very natural weathered wood patina, and now he’s looking to sell Millennium Lodge. 

Lee said he combines his Middle Earth style with something called “Story Book,” a fairy tale architecture created by Marie Antoinette that later was popularized by Walt Disney. The style features steep skinny gables, mismatched doors and windows and cobble stone walkways. But what really gets Lee excited about the architecture is the functionality behind the method.

“Everything in the house has a purpose and is practical,” Lee said.

The 47-ton stone fireplace spreads heat from the basement's wood furnace into vents that keeps the house warm for days. The curved roll roofing can be cut in and installed in any shape that can last longer than 20 years. The rugged wood shakes protect the house from winter's winds and summer's radiant heat — and also makes the walls bullet proof.

“When I build my houses, I've had ideas that I wanted to try that are practical and beautiful at the same time,” Lee said.

Whether it’s the homemade windowpanes of colorful glass that are designed to induce a cheery mood and keep the warm air flowing, or the observation tower that stores three gravity-fed water tanks on tap for power outages, Lee maintains an efficient, low maintenance system based on the belief that “form follows function.”

Lee has built 25 Middle Earth style homes from scratch, by himself, since 1975. He continues to build up his collection, each more gnarly, mystical and functional than the last.

He also writes for Backwoods Home, a magazine that promotes do-it-yourself home building. He recently finished his first science fiction novel, and is looking forward to the maiden voyage of the 37-foot epoxy encapsulated plywood trimaran boat. The man knows how to stay busy.

When asked if he'll ever stop building art, Lee grinned and said, “God no. If I stop, I will die.”