House Build Challenge #7 - Magnolia

[Lapaige46]

Wow! You really expanded it. Are you including the porches or is that just the house? I don't know off-hand what mine is before or after.
 

[MrsFlynn]

Yep, that includes porches and car port or whatever that is called on the left side of the house.

[Lapaige46]

Porte Cochiere - French for Coach Door.

[MrsFlynn]

Ah okay.  I'm laughing at myself. I've seen some of those types of things attached to houses, but never really knew what they were called.

[Lapaige46]

You weren't wrong. In today's world they are car ports. But in Magnolia's posh world, it's a porte cochiere.

[Mpart]

Okay, so this house turned out to be a much bigger project than I expected and will probably take me a few months to complete. Reading what worked for you guys and what didn't work helped me A LOT when I was struggling building this house, so if you see any similarities, it is likely because I learned from you guys! I didn't mean to copy or anything, I just know that the Sims 3 can offer some building challenges and I like to take notes on what works and what doesn't work.



This is the current exterior of the house. I plan on landscaping and trying to follow the original houses's landscaping as much as possible. I tried to go for a roof pattern that made the clipping of the two roofs less noticeable and I think I achieved that? I'm not sure.



This is the first floor of the house. It's HUGE. I overestimated the size that I wanted this house to be in an effort to follow the original layout (which I ended up tweaking anyways). If you guys have any ideas for what to do with all of this space, let me know. This house gives me dynasty vibes, but I'm not sure if I want it to be specifically geared towards that.



This is the second floor. I haven't done much to it yet.

The takes you guys have on the Magnolia house are GORGEOUS! They have been really inspiring to see. I wanted to go for a more traditional interior like Lapaige did, but wasn't able to pull it off, so kudos to you, Lapaige! The interior is absolutely stunning. I also love how cozy Mrs. Flynn's take on the house looks. It makes my heart happy.

[MrsFlynn]

Thank you for the progress report!! lol  It's turning out quite lovely!!

I love what you've done with the roofline!!

The area in the livingroom could be another sitting area or skill area maybe?  The room behind the fireplace I left empty, but thinking it could be a study/office or bedroom for baby. And of course a sundeck to the right of the livingroom where your gardening Sims could grow produce all year round.

To the left of the house front room is the diningroom and what could be a butler's pantry in the kitchen. I opened it all up and have a breakfast nook, kitchen and dining with a little sitting area in front of the front windows.

Bedrooms are mostly upstairs, but you could put an office/library/skilling along with kids, teen and a couple of rooms with a double bed in them. Depending on how many bedrooms you have in the upstairs. I'm sorry I can't really tell. *Blush*

[Lapaige46]

It's looking really good, Mpart. May I make a couple of suggestions to make your shots a little clearer?
If you type the "G" key, you'll turn off the grid within the house. It makes it a bit easier to see the interior.
Also, of you make your screen shots while you're in landscape mode, you lose the grids there too.

Those are just my initial observations so now I'll go and take a good look.

[Lapaige46]

For me, my interpretation was to focus on the elegance of the era and that involves a lot of "stuff" (I can see MrsFlynn cringing.)
 Everyone has a different design esthetic and in real life I'm a designer and builder at heart and a collector in fact. You could say my many real life homes are not exactly what you'd call minimalist. 
I see you have no problem using CC. I have a serious CC addiction so my builds are loaded with it. I think it adds character, but that's just me.

The large living room needs a "quiet" space in the front. A reading area with an elegant bookcase and cozy chairs, maybe a chess set. I'd place a sideboard with some candles and ornaments. I think I see where a grandfather clock would go.

Using MOO you could double up one of the long tables and create a very formal dining room with a china cabinet and a couple of sideboards.

MrsFlynn suggested a butler's pantry in the kitchen and that's what was on the original plan so I'd fill in some of the kitchen space with that. I'd also put a couple of cozy chairs in front of the fireplace in the kitchen.

On the original plan, the room behind the livingroom shows a back-to-back fireplace and you have lots of room in there. You can eliminate the chimney on a second fireplace by using MOO and in "buy" mode, use the hand tool to removed pieces of the chimney. I'd make that a family room with couches and a tv.

Because I made my house smaller than I'd have liked, I eliminated the closets upstairs. I just realized I didn't get many pictures of the upstairs. My suggestion would be to eliminate the chimney piece that is plugging up that one bedroom unless you want to keep it authentic.
The room in the back corner on the right is actually a screened sleeping porch rather than another bedroom. Lots of room for a study up there.

And in case you hadn't noticed, I tend to get a bit carried away....

Edited to add: Maybe you aren't using CC and some of the objects you've used are from different EPs or SPs that I don't have. My apologies if that's the case.