Love the history behind the name Tenebraea and what a beautiful build this is. The Southern plantation style is elegant and stately and the balconies give superb decorative effects, I particularly like the bird bath area, this is such a fabulous feature
Thanks, @masajo . I remember laughing to myself that the gazebo/birdbath thing was the most glorified garden gate in the history of simmish back yards, but I really do love the effect.
Tenebraea looks splendid! I love the wrap around verandas and you are right, those round elements added to the sides of the house give it extra character and they work so well. I really the idea behind the house, that despite its bright looks, it also has a dark history and you the history of the house also help you design the interiors, like the kitchen being so different to the rest of the house as you imagined it to be a servants room. Great design all around, and a very fitting house me thinks for Quentin.
Thanks, @rosemow , @Laebeth , @lotlot80 ... everybody.... And thanks to @masajo again for the nomination. This is my first non-challenge build to get the Maxis fav, and I'm tempted to pull a Sally Field: "You like me! Right now, you like me!"
Edit: My goodness there are a lot of comments on the build already. I can't even.
Congratulations on the Maxis Fave for Tenebraea! Such a gorgeous home with the curved porches! The landscaping is beautiful and your interiors are stunning! Loved reading the background on this fabulous home!
Oakenstead is the last of the five major houses of Willow Creek, and it's a style which I find pretty mysterious. It's not quite neoclassical, and it's not quite gothic revival. It's familiar enough as the same sort of style as the Blue Velvet nightclub, which looks very very New Orleans. But ... I always got the sense that this was sort of an evolution from the more traditional neoclassical, with influence from the newly available ironwork of the Industrial Revolution--so I can't just do the same thing I did with Tenebraea. Or, if you want to be a snob about it, say that it's a "poor man's neoclassical", the sort of thing you'd build if you wanted those Graeco-Roman colonnades but didn't actually understand them ... and that got me to thinking that maybe this house is a step down the social ladder from Tenebraea. Possibly it's more of a rough-and-tumble farmhouse, gentrified over the generations but now too big for the current family's financial standing....
All right then. Old Glory. It's an old farmstead, once prosperous, that's now renting out rooms to paying guests to make ends meet. Any magnificence about it will have been handed down from an older generation. We want to emphasise "country charm" because that's what gets the guests in. I still don't understand all the rules attached to this style, but I think I can run with what I see.
One of the distinct features of Oakenstead was the back courtyard held in the elbow of the L-shaped building. Of course I had to keep that.
And also the balcony along the side of the extension. I imagined that balcony (at least on the ground floor) as more of a worker's entrance sort of deal, so that's where I put stuff like the gardening planter boxes and the worktable and the garbage bin.
More exterior shots here. This place has grounds and then there's the gazebo, which gave me this awesome idea for a swimming pool.
The approach to the gazebo. With a freestanding column just because. And you can just see the top of the stairs going down to the sunken pool.
A random little meeting place among the flowers, with a view to the playground. There are actually two easels in this build, and this is one of them.
Here's an element I've never used before: the wedding arch. Well, why not, it's not like I didn't have the room, here.
And here's a view from the pool looking to the gazebo.
The first storey: layout, living room, dining room, kitchen.
I had a similar problem here as with Tenebraea, in that I felt hamstrung by the need to keep that symmetrical facade with the regular-spaced windows. The plan that seemed to work best left me with what I thought were too-big rooms, but I guess things worked out. It was an opportunity to use the cupcake machine, which I've never done before.
The living room. With the idea that this might be a guesthouse, I envisioned the furniture as being organised in a few small, discrete groups rather than as one big party. Also, we had to have a bar.
It was while laying out the dining room that I got the idea for the predominant colour scheme of the house. I'd already put down the parquet flooring, and the tables and chairs were wood by default ... on a whim, I tried the brown/gold wallpaper, and that's when it all came together in my head.
There's that rose wallpaper, which always says "sentimental granny" to me. I put exposed brick on a couple of walls, thinking to maybe get some of that awesomeness from Summer Sweetness, but I don't think it really came together quite as well here as there.
The second storey: layout and bedrooms.
Admittedly, I would have preferred a more efficient upstairs hallway, but I wasn't able to get that while also a) using those Wooden Prairie-Style Two-Panel Doors that I've fallen in love with, b) maintaining the regularity of window placement outside, and c) getting rooms that made sense.
One of the two adult bedrooms. They're very similar in terms of what they have, how they're organised, and how they're coloured.
The nursery. Well, maybe the family has toddlers. Otherwise it would have been another adult bedroom ... and, well, I can say all I like that in my head, this is a guesthouse ... but that's not how it's going to work in gameplay, for me or for anyone who downloads it. A toddlers' room is probably more useful.
And the kids' bedroom. Same rationale as for the nursery. And look ... it's not green even though there's a science table in there! Well, it's blue, which is close enough to green ... but still! Not green! (It's possible that a lack of green wallpaper finishing might have something to do with it. Maybe Maxis just has our sims' best interests at heart ... apparently green wallpaper in Victorian times often contained enough arsenic to make you sick. Someone think of the children!)
I won't be simming for a couple of weeks starting tomorrow, but I'll still be checking the forums. In the meantime, have fun, y'all.
The exterior of Old Glory looks very nice! Very nice upper and lower front and back porches! Nice seat bench sitting areas on the porches for sims to enjoy resting there looking out at the outdoors views. The way you have used the roof trimming looks very nice. The open shutter windows look nice in the build, and the left and right front steps looks nice. Very nice outdoors dining courtyard! Sims will enjoy cooking and eating meals at the umbrella covered table there. The flowers look very pretty on the courtyard edges and in the stairs nook. It is nice that there is an outdoors alcove area for sims to enjoy growing plants in the planter boxes or do woodworking on the workbench. Kids will enjoy playing on the monkey bars. The gazebo and sunken pool looks so very great! The area has been very creatively designed! The design of the gazebo looks very nice and the sunken pool patio is great! The flowers in the outdoors areas look so very pretty! It is a special touch that you have created a wedding nook in the home. It is a very pretty setting for sims to get married in the midst of the flowers. Very nice play area for kids to have fun playing on the pirate ship.
The layout of the levels of the home looks very nice. Very nice living room! Nice armchairs sitting nook near the windows for sims to relax there and chat, whilst sunshine comes in onto them through the windows. The fireplace will keep the room warm. Nice music corner nook. Sims will enjoy resting on the sofa listening to the piano music being played. The curtains in the room gives a nice look to the room and the brown and green colour scheme is very nice. The ottoman looks nice placed in the middle of the room. Very nice dining room! The brown and gold colours look nice. The ceiling lights look pretty . The roosters and clock are homely touches on the fireplace ledge, and the crockery cabinets look very nice in the room corner nooks . Very nice kitchen. The combination of flower wall paper and the brown brick gives a very nice look. The cabinets look nice how they are placed on the wall. It is great that you have used the cupcake machine in the build. Very nice furnishing of the bedrooms ! The wall patterning and colour schemes look nice. The blue colour of the kids bedroom looks very nice The teddies look cute in the toddler /nursery and kids rooms, Kids will enjoy doing experiments on the science table, reading books and doing artwork on the activity table. The bunnies and clouds look nice on the walls.
It is a very nice home!
Thanks, @rosemow ! I'm particularly pleased with the swimming pool/gazebo setup, and I'm thinking I should bring that idea over to other builds in the future. I wanted to stick to the base game for this build, otherwise I'd drape half those walls with the ivy or climbing plants from Get Together. It would look even better then!
Old Glory looks wonderful, and I enjoyed your inspiration behind it. I think the light paintwork on the house looks fantastic against the dark pillars and door/window frames, great contrast! And that sunken pool looks amazing, love it! Great job on the interiors as well, I especially like the colour scheme in the living and dining rooms.
@Xinqun! Buddy! Friend! thought maybe I had forgotten you..? THINK AGAIN!
Just been a tad busy and had to make some hard choices in terms of what to spend my time on.. haha! But never fear, I would not miss out on the latest build in this rebuild/re-imagine extravaganza!
Old Glory. Well, I love how you have characterized this as a "step down the social ladder" from Tenebreae I get what you are saying though. And having two buildings like this who are quite similar in style, it's not easy to give them a distinct look and feel to set them apart from one another.. yet somehow you have managed to do exactly that.
Love the column and railings, it adds a lot of personality, but the color choice is really nice. Using the brown really helps distinguish it and give it it's own style. Oh and that sunken pool and gazeebo looks incredible! The living room looks great... wait.. is that a hobo that has snuck in and is stealing some warmth from the fire? The dining room looks stunning by the way, love it!
Haha, thanks, @Laebeth . No worries, we are all of us busy at times. I'm taking a break from simming for a couple of weeks (though as you can see, I can't quite leave the forum alone) so I guess I'm also technically "busy" at the moment.
Thanks, @illusie ! The architecture seems to be one of those "intermediate/evolved" styles that kind of develop independently from the ones you find in your textbook, so I was a little uncertain if I was doing it right.
Thanks, @illusie ! The architecture seems to be one of those "intermediate/evolved" styles that kind of develop independently from the ones you find in your textbook, so I was a little uncertain if I was doing it right.
@The_Dismal_Scientist Thanks! I was just looking through yours as well, and you've got some great builds there too. Excellent sense of materials, and I think I'll be taking a few lessons from your landscaping.
Old Glory is such a Gorgeous home! The grounds are absolutely magnificent! Beautiful gardens everywhere. Love the way you decorated your interiors. So very Pretty!
Thanks, @WrathofCath . It doesn't seem to be getting the same sort of love most* of my other large builds have got on the gallery, though, so I'm wondering, am I doing something wrong? What would you do differently? Hm, maybe that should be a new thread....
(* - I'm pretty much resigned to Ophelia Redux never doing well on the gallery: its gallery image looks like a formless black blob, after all.)
Comments
Gallery Link
Sims 3 Studio
http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/817478/hello-come-and-introduce-yourself
http://tinyurl.com/OneRoomOneWeek
http://tinyurl.com/rosemow
My Showcase thread https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/948861/rosemow-s-rooms-showcase
My Sims 4 Twitter
My Sims 4 Showcase
My Sims 4 Gallery
#EAGameChanger
"Creativity is intelligence having fun"
________________
♥♥---->>> Please Leave A Comment On My NEW Builds Thread !! --- I'd Really Appreciate It. <<<----♥♥
________________
________________
Edit: My goodness there are a lot of comments on the build already. I can't even.
Oakenstead is the last of the five major houses of Willow Creek, and it's a style which I find pretty mysterious. It's not quite neoclassical, and it's not quite gothic revival. It's familiar enough as the same sort of style as the Blue Velvet nightclub, which looks very very New Orleans. But ... I always got the sense that this was sort of an evolution from the more traditional neoclassical, with influence from the newly available ironwork of the Industrial Revolution--so I can't just do the same thing I did with Tenebraea. Or, if you want to be a snob about it, say that it's a "poor man's neoclassical", the sort of thing you'd build if you wanted those Graeco-Roman colonnades but didn't actually understand them ... and that got me to thinking that maybe this house is a step down the social ladder from Tenebraea. Possibly it's more of a rough-and-tumble farmhouse, gentrified over the generations but now too big for the current family's financial standing....
All right then. Old Glory. It's an old farmstead, once prosperous, that's now renting out rooms to paying guests to make ends meet. Any magnificence about it will have been handed down from an older generation. We want to emphasise "country charm" because that's what gets the guests in. I still don't understand all the rules attached to this style, but I think I can run with what I see.
One of the distinct features of Oakenstead was the back courtyard held in the elbow of the L-shaped building. Of course I had to keep that.
And also the balcony along the side of the extension. I imagined that balcony (at least on the ground floor) as more of a worker's entrance sort of deal, so that's where I put stuff like the gardening planter boxes and the worktable and the garbage bin.
More exterior shots here. This place has grounds and then there's the gazebo, which gave me this awesome idea for a swimming pool.
A random little meeting place among the flowers, with a view to the playground. There are actually two easels in this build, and this is one of them.
Here's an element I've never used before: the wedding arch. Well, why not, it's not like I didn't have the room, here.
And here's a view from the pool looking to the gazebo.
The first storey: layout, living room, dining room, kitchen.
The living room. With the idea that this might be a guesthouse, I envisioned the furniture as being organised in a few small, discrete groups rather than as one big party. Also, we had to have a bar.
It was while laying out the dining room that I got the idea for the predominant colour scheme of the house. I'd already put down the parquet flooring, and the tables and chairs were wood by default ... on a whim, I tried the brown/gold wallpaper, and that's when it all came together in my head.
There's that rose wallpaper, which always says "sentimental granny" to me. I put exposed brick on a couple of walls, thinking to maybe get some of that awesomeness from Summer Sweetness, but I don't think it really came together quite as well here as there.
The second storey: layout and bedrooms.
One of the two adult bedrooms. They're very similar in terms of what they have, how they're organised, and how they're coloured.
The nursery. Well, maybe the family has toddlers. Otherwise it would have been another adult bedroom ... and, well, I can say all I like that in my head, this is a guesthouse ... but that's not how it's going to work in gameplay, for me or for anyone who downloads it. A toddlers' room is probably more useful.
And the kids' bedroom. Same rationale as for the nursery. And look ... it's not green even though there's a science table in there! Well, it's blue, which is close enough to green ... but still! Not green! (It's possible that a lack of green wallpaper finishing might have something to do with it. Maybe Maxis just has our sims' best interests at heart ... apparently green wallpaper in Victorian times often contained enough arsenic to make you sick. Someone think of the children!)
The layout of the levels of the home looks very nice. Very nice living room! Nice armchairs sitting nook near the windows for sims to relax there and chat, whilst sunshine comes in onto them through the windows. The fireplace will keep the room warm. Nice music corner nook. Sims will enjoy resting on the sofa listening to the piano music being played. The curtains in the room gives a nice look to the room and the brown and green colour scheme is very nice. The ottoman looks nice placed in the middle of the room. Very nice dining room! The brown and gold colours look nice. The ceiling lights look pretty . The roosters and clock are homely touches on the fireplace ledge, and the crockery cabinets look very nice in the room corner nooks . Very nice kitchen. The combination of flower wall paper and the brown brick gives a very nice look. The cabinets look nice how they are placed on the wall. It is great that you have used the cupcake machine in the build. Very nice furnishing of the bedrooms ! The wall patterning and colour schemes look nice. The blue colour of the kids bedroom looks very nice
It is a very nice home!
http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/817478/hello-come-and-introduce-yourself
http://tinyurl.com/OneRoomOneWeek
http://tinyurl.com/rosemow
My Showcase thread https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/948861/rosemow-s-rooms-showcase
http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/817478/hello-come-and-introduce-yourself
http://tinyurl.com/OneRoomOneWeek
http://tinyurl.com/rosemow
My Showcase thread https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/948861/rosemow-s-rooms-showcase
Gallery Link
Sims 3 Studio
Just been a tad busy and had to make some hard choices in terms of what to spend my time on.. haha! But never fear, I would not miss out on the latest build in this rebuild/re-imagine extravaganza!
Old Glory. Well, I love how you have characterized this as a "step down the social ladder" from Tenebreae
Love the column and railings, it adds a lot of personality, but the color choice is really nice. Using the brown really helps distinguish it and give it it's own style. Oh and that sunken pool and gazeebo looks incredible! The living room looks great... wait.. is that a hobo that has snuck in and is stealing some warmth from the fire? The dining room looks stunning by the way, love it!
A non green kids room?
My Sims 4 Twitter
My Sims 4 Showcase
My Sims 4 Gallery
#EAGameChanger
"Creativity is intelligence having fun"
Showcase | NSBC story
Don't worry about it. It looks great!
Showcase | NSBC story
(* - I'm pretty much resigned to Ophelia Redux never doing well on the gallery: its gallery image looks like a formless black blob, after all.)