Alpine Meadows: Images as suggestions: cottages

[Sleazy_Writer]

After posting some suggestions for chateaux/castles for the 3rd sim here, I also want to post some suggestions for the smaller cottages/farms. I found some mid/west European cottages in SL, they're "okay", not especially great, I think. At the bottom of my post I've also added three rural houses from southern Europe which I think would be suitable for the CN-side of Alpine Meadows. I don't know squat about southern Europe, so maybe someone else has better ideas.

Note the thatched roof and the obvious stone brickwork. I think the square shape of this cottage is rather boring. When our plots are 512 sqm or larger we can do something better than this 'box'.

CottageByJackFeaverInDidugua(47-72-56)SnapshotBySleazyWriter.jpg (53.8 KiB) Viewed 5872 times

The porch and ivy makes this a bit less boring. Note that the roof has a rounded shape. I think that's a cottage/farm feature, different from our Fachwerks.

CottageByEsmeeIsbellInKusawa(225-180-47)SnapshotBySleazyWriter.jpg (48.31 KiB) Viewed 5856 times

Note how half, hollow cylinders are used for the thatched roof. The thatch textures were also quite low-res: 256x256 or 128x128, but still the roof looks rather good.

CottageByCaliandrisPendragonInNumbakullaSimSnapshotBySleazyWriter.jpg (36.42 KiB) Viewed 5841 times

Then the rural houses that are more suitable for the CN-side of the 3rd sim:

A cottage in the Italian hills of Tuscany. Uses natural stone, some mild colors for plastwork or paint, probably some wood too. The terracotta roof tiles have darker mixed colours. ( (c) Dilys & David Cordingley)

This house, also in Tuscany, is rather large, but it has a nice terrace, interesting arches and some different colors.
(Photograph is copyrighted, probably by latroba.co.uk)

A bungalow in Bulgaria, with the same features as the Italian houses. But I think it shows bungalows can be nice when they consist of several parts. Also I think woodwork works well with this type of houses, although it isn't shown on the photographs. ( (c) by http://www.dowin.ch)

Looking forward to your replies and additions, --Slz.

[Moon Adamant]

I had a look at wikicommons on 'Alpine Huts'. I must say right away that i am not very keen on this alpine style myself, but it is a valid style for the cottages.

This one looks nice:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... isse03.jpg
(in Public Domain).

First of all, it is slightly asymmetric (always a strong point for me . Then, observe the steep roofs (which can usefully link with the NFS characteristics), and observe also how wood is a very important part of the build, all the second floor being made of it. This difference in materials can also avoid the 'box' look.

Bear in mind that the second floor has an important reduction in area because of the steep roof - so if you will build something like this, the ground floor print must be somewhat larger to provide for a larger useful area on the second one.

[Moon Adamant]

A completely wooden house in Tirol:

[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... hütte.jpg[/img]

(Pleisenhütte (1757 m), Karwendel, Tirol, Österreich (7. Mai 2006) Photograph: Luidger)

Notice how a stone embasement is made to make allowance for the slope. Also, this typology very often features terraces, which can be useful to add asymmetries to the facade and build - besides providing a nice social space.

[Sonja Strom]

In the same spirit as these other entries, here is a view of a German-speaking village and its landscape in South Tyrol, in northern Italy:

And in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland:

[Nikki]

Here is a cottage that I find cute, and might be of interest:

It can be purchased at Tiny Dancer Designs, in The Keep at Enseha (Enseha 161,173,27). There are also a couple of other styles offered.

[Moon Adamant]

One thing that i find interesting is the use of areas of colour when building. Colour areas can be perceived as making a difference in volumes (generally darker colours will *narrow* the space). It can also be used to visually *break* a wall that is too large, or it can be used to accent details.

Also, darker colours absorb sun heat - so it makes sense to use them in colder climates. Also in snowy areas, a patch of dark or btight colours can make a house more visible.

This is a swiss chalet:

I quite like the way the black accents the wood, though i think it a tad too modern for what we have in mind.

[Moon Adamant]

This is a house on the French Pyrenees. Notice how the slope is resolved by having different levels on the house. On the right, the house has 3 levels, one being a basement that is only accessible by the lower ground. On the left, the house has two levels.
Also, the volumes of the house, while being very simple, are very proportionate, which makes the ensemble very pretty.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image ... nnelle.JPG

(image is too big to post here)