EAxis House of Phail: January 09

[Kyna]

Pescado has posted that method several times.  I suspect the LJ poster got the idea from here.

[witch]

Pescado has posted that method several times.  I suspect the LJ poster got the idea from here.

Yeah, that's how come I knew it could be done. I'm just, you know, too lazy to copy/paste it at the time and too lazy to look when I need it. 

[Lorelei]

Gorgeous house makeovers, everyone. I'm impressed.

[Vespinito]

Hey there. New member, first post - although I've lurked around here for a while. Here's my interpretation of this months House of Fail:








(EDIT:)Here's some interior pics:




Download: http://www.box.net/shared/boxplqk6c9 (EDIT: I forgot to say I have all EP/SPs including AL and M&G and I have included Sims Store items.)

[Somerset]

Wow, this months entries are fab.

That Casbah house rocks!

@ Salixtree: Can't wait to see your finished witchy retreat.

@ Jim: You always do such nice interiors.

@ Batelle: That house would fit right into my RL hometown!

@ Emma: I love how you got the two story window in there.

@ Faizah: I love houses in the woods! Reminds me of happy holidays.

Anyway, great entries all. And it's nice to have a little house that is more playable to my style as the basis.

[SalixTree]

Evilcat, how adorable! Such pretty colors, must have. Wowsie!
Batelle, that's a cool house, just how I imagine a typical American house might look.
Everyone's houses are fantastic this month, isn't this house fun?
My house is turning into more of a crazy-old-coot house, the Sim I have living there is out of her mind! I get distracted just playing her, must finish building!

[Goggalor]

Wow. Not only are there so many entries already, they are also really impressive. I really wanted to do a bit more commenting this month, I hope I haven't missed anyone. I'll wait with the unfinished ones when the are posted completely.
I have included both positive and negative criticism, but that doesn't mean I don't think the houses are mostly awesome. It's just that I like it myself to get other peoples likes/dislikes.


Nepheris: Nice cozy feel. The outside/inside transition is really nice with the little fountain and the flowerpots in the sunroom and also the aquarium that all sort of mirror the pond area. I would prefer more than one bedroom though.

mistyk: Cute with the gazebo on the pond. I like the idea of mixing the modern and more romantic styles, but it feels a bit disjointed in places.

Minena: I hear you about the cold . I would love to be in that place right now. The style is very well carried out through the place. My only objection would be the lone bedroom again.

CaponeSim: Another nice sunroom. The layout of the house looks very practical and playable. I'm not so fond of the tiny ponds in the front yard.

Jorganza: Very well translated to the eastern style. That arch fence is hard to use as it easily looks dull. But with those lights and wall-hangings on the poles it looks great. I like to have a bit more activities on my community lots though.

kattenijin: The stone cottage look is great and not used very often. The landscaping is very nice and that grilling area in the back is super cute. There's a definite need for a hack to take care of the hedges and bushes.
 
Faizah: Those balconies with the lights on the sides look really good. I like the pool-house as well. With common areas on both the roof and the ground there could be a lot of traffic problems with that one staircase.

Silvain: The interior and facade of the house is perfect for a vampire family. The dark stone path fits in well but I've never been fond of the orange-reddish color of those flowers against that particular grass color.

crunk: The green and white exterior gives a very peaceful feel to the place. I have a severe allergy to the floor used in the kitchen .

Emma: Love the exterior of the house. The two-storey window overlooking the pond with balconies on each side looks awesome. As does the fenced in yard. On the top floor I'm not to fond of the splotchy repeating floor pattern in such a large area.

jim: Path or not, it has a nice medieval/fantasy town feel to it. The interior is stunning with lots of nice ideas. Perhaps the timbering on the exterior could be varied slightly more.

Batelle: This would make a lovely seaside home. The details and decorations inside look great. I especially like the master bedroom with the shelving over the couch. Again a bit repetitive floor pattern in a large area.

Faizah #2: Nice unusual combo with the brick and wood siding. Love the pool room. Otherwise the interior might be a bit on the plain side.

Vespinito: That lush garden look great against that warm facade. very creative carpeting. Fun idea to mix the flat and leaning roof, but the proportions look a little bit off to me.

Phew. I still can't quite believe how many great houses there is already. It is already the best month in my opinion and it's only the 6th!

[Faizah]

I've done another one already... I'll stop now, really.

This one costs around $140,000. Suitable for a large family. I present to you, 1097 Old Road



Ground: Kitchen, master dining, servant dining, throne room, The One Desk, two bathrooms.

Yard is ideal for expansion, or for gardening. (Gah. Now that everything is uploaded, I'm thinking I should've planted a hedge maze.)

Mid Level: Master bedroom, nursery, two bathrooms, chess, books.

The nursery rooms can be converted into bedrooms if needed, they could each fit two singles or a single double.

Upper Level: Two double bed bedrooms, servants' quarters.

I didn't install the sleep clocks, they didn't fit the theme, but there are sufficient end tables in the servants' quarters to utilise all beds.

Throne Room:

The thrones could be swapped out for witchier thrones, if desired.

I have all EPs, and a handful of older SPs (Holidays, FFS, GLS, Celebrations, H&M)

Get it here. (EDIT: Or download it with a hedge, two posts down. Both versions have different file names, so you can have both.)

[tryclyn]

 A hedge maze is definitely perfect for that yard.   damn
 

[Faizah]

Okay, I've gone and made a hedged version too: 1097 Old Hedge Road costs about $150,000.





I have all EPs, and a handful of older SPs (Holidays, FFS, GLS, Celebrations, H&M)

Download it here. (It has a different name to the original, so you can have both, if you want.)

[Strangel]

I like! I think I'll be redoing the hedge maze with a fake-hedge fence I picked up somewhere. I's too lazy to make sure they hire gardeners or actually do the trimming. xD

[starlady]

Everyone's houses look really good this month. I'm still working on mine, and I've got two versions going. I'm not sure I like either very much, though. It's a very challenging house to work with. When I finish off my versions, I'll post them. In the mean time, here's a picture of the front of my second version of the house.

[originalhalf]

As you can see, Cecil and I need to playtest it first.




(crap I hope I did this right)

[Emma]

I like the concertina-style wall above the door.

[Silvain]

Silvain: The interior and facade of the house is perfect for a vampire family. The dark stone path fits in well but I've never been fond of the orange-reddish color of those flowers against that particular grass color.

Thanks, the 'vampire' or 'goth'(not 'gothic' so much as 'black-and-red-never-quite-lost-that-teenage-rebel-attitude-with-eyeliner-thing', if that makes sense) feel was sort of what I was aiming for. I can see what you mean with the flowers, too, though I'm not sure what I'd be able to use otherwise (at least until I can get Mansion and Garden stuff....), I might try the other possibilities with the house sometime tomorrow... or something. I've never done much with gardens, so I just sort of picked one that didn't seem to totally kill what I was aiming for...

[kattenijin]

kattenijin: The stone cottage look is great and not used very often. The landscaping is very nice and that grilling area in the back is super cute. There's a definite need for a hack to take care of the hedges and bushes.

Well, this being MATY, I tend to assume we all live with the Director's Cut installed. Isn't "perfectplants" part of that? I loose track.
Anyhow, I discovered that I used some SimsStore items, but didn't include them in the lot file, so you'll most likely be missing some plants and the wall fountain in the grilling area if you don't have them in your game. 

[Kyna]

[Well, this being MATY, I tend to assume we all live with the Director's Cut installed. Isn't "perfectplants" part of that? I loose track.

Perfectplants is by TwoJeffs, not Pescado.  Pescado has the dailygardener hack.

[Vespinito]

Vespinito: That lush garden look great against that warm facade. very creative carpeting. Fun idea to mix the flat and leaning roof, but the proportions look a little bit off to me.

It's funny you should compliment the garden since it was the part I put the least thought into, I tend to get bored by the time it comes to landscaping and I just throw together a few plants and hope they look right. And creative carpeting is somewhat of a specialty of mine. What do you mean by the proportions being off though?

[witch]

@Vespinito: A very tropical look, I love the wood detailing you've done with tiles. I like the garden as well.  The main bedroom - with all the purple and mirrors - wow!

@Faizah: I was halfway through making a castle, but it kept wanting to turn into something else. I do like the throne room - and the maze.

@originalhalf: I'm really keen to see the inside of this, it looks good from the outside. I do like the modern look.

[J. M. Pescado]

Well, this being MATY, I tend to assume we all live with the Director's Cut installed. Isn't "perfectplants" part of that? I loose track.

Perfect plants is too convenient and cheaty, and thus non-Awesome. We just make you pay for the gardener!

[jim]

I needed to do another lot for this month, this time with a path. I sat there staring at the path, not wanting to do another house as boring as the last, and this lot just built itself. I don't think it's boring, but it is garish.

It's a community lot, a children's playground.  The Traveller family have tested it (as they've not yet been evicted from the January house, just next door), and they like it, adults and children alike. Why there's only one child in that family is beyond me. They start all their testing sessions with a nice long bonk and keep right on going from there.

Sample pictures (I did mention garish, didn't I?)
Front:

Ground floor:

Roof:


Slideshow here: http://tinyurl.com/7kdpb4
Download here: http://tinyurl.com/9cycxe

I have all EPs and M&G SP.

[Somerset]

I did mention garish, didn't I?

I take back what I said about your interiors!

[jim]

I grant you it won't suit every hood. Children don't really do tasteful.

[kalina]

jim, this is really cute! 

[rosess]

Ha!  That's the sort of house that makes the neighbors cluck disapprovingly while everyone at the house is having fantastic fun.  Love it.