OMG, these are my favorite contest/challenge/thingies. I loved the one I did on RealPollyMog's foundation and then again with my friends in #create. It's been too long. I was thinking about starting one of these myself, but its way more fun to build than judge as I've recently found out. Though judging is fun too. And *technically* I'm not *officially* qualified to run a contest... whatevs.

Ok, I swear I wasn't copying Whiterider, I had this house built by yesterday afternoon but taking the pictures took me a lot longer and I couldn't get back to till for another 12 hours. I promise. I took one look at that silly octagon shape and thought it would be perfect for an in-ground hot tub. After trying it out in game I realized I needed a 5x5 space so that was out, but I really liked the half and half this house provided. White must have seen the same thing because our floor plans are nearly identical.

Let me introduce you to Tyler Gravel (in my game he's going by Jason Graham, after I made him he just looked more like a Jason). He's recently graduated college after having played on the basketball team every year. He joined the sports fraternity while he was there and he proudly displays his Greek letters on his house. He was recruited shortly after graduation so that accounts for the nice house and the nice car. He didn't want the fanciest car out there, because he knows the ladies think only self-centered boys drive Hunkas. He set up a hoop in his driveway to help keep himself grounded.


He loves having the guys over to watch the games, he usually can't get them to come watch the replays of his own games, but that's ok with him. He's got all his basketball trophys and memorabilia around him and he absolutely loves his big screen.


When his parents and little brother come into town for his games they have their own suite. His little brother has a day bed just inside the guest balcony so it can be used as a couch as well. He loves shooting hoops with his big brother outside, and even wins a few of the games (though Mom and Dad think Tyler/Jason is letting him win).


His home gym is perfect for keeping himself toned. He has a full wall mirror so he can check out his muscles and fine tune his technique. Next to it he has a shower and a steam room where he can go to rinse down and relax. He enjoys the large windows and because they are half height, he doesn't have to worry about flashing the neighbors, though there is a hott little blond number down the street that secretly wishes he would - damn that's some fine abs!


He's finally got that pool he always wanted. Its great for keeping himself in shape and for working through injuries. It's also kick ass for summer cookouts. He likes to surf and snowboard when he isn't playing ball so you can find some of that sprinkled through the house as well. Just off the patio is a shaded relaxing porch, it is open to the backyard and has candles and a little fountain. All the deck furniture is teak so it can withstand the elements and looks pretty too.


And lastly, what kind of bachelor pad would be complete without a swanky bedroom. He's got more romantic touches in his bedroom than most single guys, but then, he is a romantic, and he really likes touching


And just something that was fun, Jason's One True Hobby is Sports, so my incarnation of him really really loves living here. He and the other three families will make lovely additions to Desdirata. Jason's house is right in between the Spark! Sports Park and the FreeTime Recreation Center. He's in heaven. It's now available for download as well!

I like this challenge since I always wanted to make houses for fun since I love decorating the inside but building them... not so much x,x.So here's my first entry, with the Montenegro family.

Thanks for two more wonderful entries, Phaenoh and lunajumper44 After a few quiet days it's lovely to see a bunch of new entries!

Remember, everyone, Round 2 is now open!

Tyler Gravel is sure the Sporty type, but he has a modern side as well. From his spacious bedroom to his swankin' new living room, to his detached gym, his home is bursting with a modern loft atmosphere. Outside is a wonderful exercise pool, with fountains pouring over it for decor. Out front on the rare granite driveway stands a mint-condition Shelby Cobra.

This house surely fits the gymnast, as well as brilliant interior to wow anybody who comes inside.







Tyler's comfy new couch and his top of the line home theater system is a must.



A little reading never hurt... Or did it? Where did the bookshelf go?



A roomy bedroom. Wow! Is that.. Is that a bed with stairs?



For when his family visits, Tyler's gym easily converts into a little bedroom, where he can stay while his parents occupy the Master bedroom. How nice...




NOTE: During the construction of this house, I realized I can use as much CC as I want, and since I don't use CC in my houses I upload, I decided to have a treat and go all out on the next few houses in this contest, especially round 3 and 4. I am happy to say that all of the furniture in this house except less than 10 pieces is CC.

... I'm...hmm... not sure what I am exactly! lol! At first I though the overlapping of rounds was a great way to fit the contest into the allotted time frame while still allowing plenty of time to do all the work. Now, I'm not so sure; because, as a judge I'm seeing things in the round two entries that bothered me in round one. They probably would have been changed by the contestants after receiving the judging notes. I really don't want to penalize the second round designs since they won't get the round one info for almost another week...

Well, I had a thought about that. Probably a bad idea, but I think it's worth mentioning. What if wgroome still gives us (the contestants) the foundation plan a week before the current round ends, but we aren't allowed to post our entry until the previous round's scores come in? That way we still have ample time to work on our lots, but it also ensures that we have the chance to look at our reviews before posting the final product.

I don't know. Maybe it's too complicated. I mean, that would be a lot of dates to remember. Well, it's just an idea. Either way (whether it's an official rule or not), it's probably wise to wait to see the scores before posting the next round. Although, to be honest I wouldn't have thought about it until reading your remark.

I covered up my chimney in the first round with walls so I could recolour it and was considering doing so again this round. Can I just clarify that it won't be counted as 'living space' - nothing (except the odd bird) live in chimneys and no more tiles have been used than the standard chimney would have used. I think the problem is that 'living space' hasn't really been defined. When asked about friezes, which in my mind are purely decorative, or on the same note, decorative walls which are not full height the answer seemed like a 'no' but these cannot be used as' living space'. Can we have a definitive answer on that? Even if they are purely used on the top of the house only?

I wanted to give myself a challenge and I chose Gravel family for the first round. I have not built modern in a long time, and the foundation seemed most unsuitable for modern - so of course I picked that for round one!

The house is an experiment in other ways too. Trying to keep within the given restrictions and requirements, the house may not be romantic in a way it would seem obvious. My Tyler loves strong colours that go together in a harmony. His home is kept clean, and he likes to collect art and enjoys taking care of his indoor plants. He found a statue of Simmene -the goddess of love and caring- on his trip to Rome, and it now watches over him in his livingroom.

Home gym is included of course, and I also gave him a pool and a hot tub. First floor contains the livingroom, kitchen and dining, and a big bathroom. There is also a small terrace with barbecue. Second floor hall is the exercise area, and leads to two bedrooms. Tyler's bedroom is a bit bigger, and has a desk for work and a little en-suite. The guest bedroom may be a bit smaller, but still has some room for seating, and a balcony too.

Right, so enough with the blabber, you probably want to see the pics too. Here you go!

Front:

Back:


First floor:

Livingroom:

Kitchen and dining:


Second floor:

Tyler's room:

Guestroom:


Pictures are taken in beautiful Jericho. Foundation has not been altered - only rotated to suit my needs. Everything is playtested. Custom content is made by me.

sandy, since you're doing TS3, did you consider using armi's CAStable Chimneys?

kattenijin, I thought of that - it's why I'm not going to post entries until the judging for the previous round is done. I can build the house, even take pics, beforehand - and then take any suggestons by the judges into account and tweak if needed. It's an easy solution, and I don't think we need to turn it into a rule; if particular people decide not to wait, because they're not going to be online during the "middle" week or just think their house cannot be anythng but perfect , then it's up to them to penalise themselves.

kattenjin, Buckley & whiterider... Obviously, I overlapped the contest rounds because I wanted each round to last for 3 weeks, but 12 weeks overall seemed like a little too long. I guess it entirely depends on how you want to do this contest; if you're in it to win it and want to appeal to the judges - you can wait until the judges give their scores and feedback. If you're in this contest just for the fun - or you just want to compete without aiming your entries towards the judges' tastes, you can submit your entries as soon as you are ready. So if it's okay, I'm not going to chance the rules for that reason. That way you can start building once the foundation is released, and then hold out for the judging if you want to tweak your entry to pick up some extra marks. If I'm honest, I haven't seen much that would require people to change their entries. I hope you all get what I mean by this, I'm not trying to imply that people who want their feedback are just trying to pander to the judges, but some people do just want to play along without really worrying about feedback or scores.

sandymdh... as for your fireplace, other people have left their fireplace uncovered. I will make sure the judge do not take off any points, however you may want to consider whiterider's suggestion for future rounds as, whilst your walls do not add any extra space, they still do overhang the foundation. This has nothing to do with them providing more "living space" - which for definition, is just any inside space created by full height walls, or balconies and porches etc. As for your friezes question, you can use half-walls instead in place of fences, but other than this all walls should be part of a room (they should fit together to make the edges of a home and combine to make the edges of the house) or sloped roof walls on the top floor (created as part of the roof tool.) I hope this explains it, but if you still aren't satisfied, PM me some screenshots of your idea in-game.

Decided to give this a try- for the first foundation I decided to make the house for Tyler Gravel. I wanted a lush feel as well as modern, since I built it on my tropical island of Morikipo , so I used a lot of plants, and sionelle's African pattern set. Also appearing are Armiel's DIY build set, her buy set, and hudy's modern line windows.

Front street view is highly landscaped, with a wild and overgrown style that contrasts with the tidy hedge walls:


First floor, with the unique foundation shape- it has a side entry and a breezeway, with Tyler having his small gym in a sun room that is separate from the house, giving him a bit of private space to train should he ever settle down (no one's holding their breath, but in the meantime it also keeps that tracksuit fug out of the main living areas). The kitchen and dining area is small, with most larger parties held out on the back patio, which is vast, and helps make up for the rest of the gardens by ensuring no one has to bother mowing much lawn.


Second floor has the blue guestroom, and a contemporary master bedroom and bathroom in brilliant colors, with exotic flowers to help the mood out a little more when a 'friend' stays over.


The rear of the house has more, and larger, windows than the front does since there's open space behind instead of a street or neighbor's yard-- giving clear views of the landscape beyond.


Some more detailed views of the gym, guest bedroom, master bedroom, and living area, where romantic movies can be watched with that special someone:

Quick question-

Do we need to build on a foundation, or if we use the foundation's shape and size, can we just build it on the ground?

bakafox... You do have to build the foundation.

Mike and Meadow had always dreamed of a log cabin in the woods. So when they found this idyllic plot of forest for sale, they immediately snatched it up and began building their dream home.

A beautiful, homey cabin, nestled among the trees. With meandering trails out back, perfect for insect hunting, leading to the pond and a campsite.




The first floor features a high ceilinged great room, eat-in kitchen and half bath


Second floor has Master bedroom and bath. Small "balcony" overlooks the great room.


The lovely fireplace is the focal point of the great room. Beautiful flowers decorate the room, also a specimen from their insect collecting.


The homey kitchen features pine cabinets and a windowed "breakfast nook"


The handmade quilt and crocheted throw add to the Americana charm of the bedroom. Also has a cozy reading area and desk.


The master bath features two sinks and an antique claw-foot tub. Pretty floral boarder breaks up the paneling in the room.


The woods out back have lovely trails, perfect for insect hunting, which lead to the small pond and campsite, for those nights when it's just too nice to sleep inside.

The Barkworths are finally living blissfully in their dream home!


*just a little note, the lot has many insect spawners to supply the Barkworth's hobby

Ok, I have never done this before and have no idea how to make the screenshots appear in the actual post. So I hope this ^^^^ is ok...

You can add inline images (in the post) by typing (img)http://www.urlofimage.com/whatever.jpg(/img), but replacing the () with []. Get the urls of your pics by clicking the thumbnails with the scrollwheel/middle mouse button to open them in a new tab.

You can also click Reply on any post with images, to see the image code, so you can copy it into your own post.

ok, thanks

Just to clarify, I wasn't asking for any kind of rule change, it was more of an "Ok, I see this happening, WTF do I do about it now?" kind of thing.

If you have a steep-pitched roof, are dormers allowed for aesthetics as long as they are not livable space? (I am working with Uni+NL in TS2, I can't alter individual roof slopes or do the non-standard roof shapes.)

katalina522.... No, you can only have full height walls on the first two levels, the third floor walls can only be those created by the roof tools (i.e. sloped.)

Hencing, I love the exterior of your house. It looks so homey and perfect. I just comment because I didn't realize how much I missed that cabin stuff from TS2 until now! The TS3 cabin walls are no comparison. :P

Nervously entering my first contest here, trying to improve my very average building skills and this seems like a good way to do it. Not sure which was more challenging building the house or trying to take decent photo's of it, anyway it was very fun and I'm looking forward to trying the second round.

I choose Tyler Gravel for the first round. Contemporary Californian in style with clean lines and a modern feel, this spacious home features 2 bedrooms, 1 1/2 baths, home gym, eat in kitchen, living area, solarium and a full lap pool. The 2 car driveway allows for both Tyler's around the town sports car and his SUV for transporting equipment and teammates. In addition there is a small but fully stocked pond for recreational use and a massage area for taking care of those overused muscles or getting that special someone in the mood.

Front view:


First floor:


Second floor:


Side view:


Kitchen:


Living area:


Pool:


Massage area:

Mike and Meadow Barkworth both love the outdoors. They have a beautiful log cabin home at the ocean shore, that they can come back to after a long day of hiking and insect collecting. Meadow has decorated the house with a lot of home made items, and has restored a lot of furniture found from various second hand shops with Mike's help. While flowers do not grow well on sand, Meadow has still a lot of plants and flowers to take care from, and they are like babies to her.

The beauty of the nature, the relaxing feel of their home, and thousands of different bug species living on the shoreline make this house a dream home for Mike and Meadow.

Front:


Back:


The house is spacious for the two of them, and has enough room to entertain a few guests too, all though they would have to enjoy sleeping out in tents or so. But what is there to complain as the surroundings are pretty and the weather on the beach warm.

First floor:

Sitting area:

Kitchen and dining:


Second floor:

Big bedroom:


The outdoors provide lovely views any time of day, that Mike and Meadow can enjoy from their porch or pier terrace.



I suppose the round 2 foundation would have been more ideal for a big family, but meh, it called for this house on my case ^^

All other custom stuff by me except the paving on the pier terrace which is by Merrye Makers. Foundation has not been altered - just slammed on the shoreline. Playtested as usually.

Looking forward to see what kinda foundation you have for the next round xD

Wow, mine looks terrible now