The Hobbiton Movie Set was a significant location used for "The Lord of the Rings" film trilogy and "The Hobbit" film trilogy. It is situated on a family run farm in Waikato, New Zealand, and is now a Tolkien tourism destination, offering a guided tour of the set.

The Alexander family moved to the 500-hectare (1,200-acre) property of rolling grassland where the set is located in 1978. Since then it has been a livestock ranch with 13,000 sheep and 300 Angus beef cattle. The main sources of income from farming are mutton, wool and beef.

When Peter Jackson (New Zealand film director, screenwriter, and film producer) began to look for suitable locations for The Lord of the Rings film series, he first saw the Alexander Farm during an aerial search in 1998 and concluded that the area was "like a slice of ancient England".

After suitable negotiations with the owners, work commenced in transforming part of the farm into sets for Hobbiton.

Guided tours of the 5.5 hectares (14 acres) movie set site commenced in 2002 and continue to be provided daily.

More Info: en.wikipedia.org