Back in 2015 -- 8 years ago -- I wrote, "In the old days, people built their own houses" when I saw a build while cruising around Zoe, one of the Ancient Sims. For some reason this blog post came up as something hit by a reader today and I recalled I wanted essentially to say it again.
So now, yes, 8 years later, I had the same reaction when finding someone who built their own house recently in the Zoe/Clementina area. It truly is a wondrous thing to build your own house. To "turn your own wrenches" as this interesting Wired account about the van life phrased it. I turn my own wrenches a good deal in SL, but I'm only an amateur builder who generally has to just add my prims or sculpties or prefab mesh pieces to someone else's build to modify it. Even so, it is one of the greatest satisfactions of virtual life; I would say really THE greatest satisfaction.
Not every house that Jack built look so great but I always encourage tenants who want to build their own house to do so because it is the greatest thing! Back when I was a wee noob, I built my own kind of Greek/Mexican/adobe/sort of house on an account that doesn't exist any more. It was inspired by Garth Fairchang's mini Greek villa in part, with stairs on the side and roof life as part of the conception. (Recently I noted to Nomad's owner, who put his forest house on sale at half price at The Outlet, that the reason the stairs were on the outside of the building of his virtual house -- as they were on nearly ever real house I ever lived in Upstate for the first 18 years of my life -- was so that the owners could rent out the top half to someone who would want their own entrance, because nobody could afford the mortgage or taxes on their own. He instantly agreed although I don't think he's from Upstate.) And pretty soon renting houses became more interesting to me than building them.
I gave up house building after a protracted session where Builder Bob -- remember him? -- tried to teach me how to build using basic sort of building block concepts even simpler than Ivory Tower of Prims, which I always found too wonky, confusing, and unsatisfactory -- and still do.
So...I started my own rectangular house with a long deck. I left the plywood out on the lawn for weeks (it's still in inventory somewhere), and then suddenly had an epiphany about how annoying that was to other people. I was mortified and covered in shame. I just hadn't thought....And that's how you understand there are only two kinds of people in SL, those who are ashamed they have blighted the view with their untextured plywood for weeks on end, and those who don't care, and leave it out for even 16 years if they feel like it.
Like that Amazon guy who was given an industry free account -- I swear to God there had to have been such a program and that's why there are so many odd 512s and 1024s with ugly unfinished builds on them -- but this time, I know the guy, have met him in RL, and even talk to him now and then on Facebook. At what point can I ask him to come inworld, where he has not logged on for years, and remove that neon glowing hulk behind my rentals in Moraine? When is the RIGHT time to have that conversation? I haven't found it in the last few years. He's a fairly big deal; I don't want Industry Guys to be discouraged by Net Nannies in a virtual world; he is free to do WTF he wants on his land, of course, WTF. This is a sacred Linden-endowed inalienable right...So....
That's part of why I like it when someone not only builds their own house, but builds a GOOD house, like this one also in the Zoe area, though not sure if it is the same guy as the one in 2015 but it looks like a similar parcel, I'm too tired now to give it the proper geolocation shakedown.
This builder is not some prim purist; he has mesh furniture inside but I think the exterior is all hand built prims that possibly he meshified, but maybe not. It's his name as the author and owner both.
Lovely, clean design and textures and building with the site as it is, without overstuffing it with mesh terrain stuff. I actually don't always like those big-deal kick-ass landscapers nowadays that lard up lots with all kinds of underpinnings to hide the ancient Mainland textures -- because so many people don't like them. I liked them and still do and have always been part of the "build with the land" movement. If the Lindens hand you a baked-in lump on your Mainland which only terraforms up or down 4+/-, then you build with it, as we did for example in Brown where terraforming is turned off.
Fly out and see this beauty in the Zoe and Clementina area, and while you're there, if your wings are not too tired, stop and see Areal Loonie's memorial put up by his girlfriend DrFran who mourns him. There was a lot said about this on Twitter already and better photos so I won't digress on this - just go and see right away because his tier was likely only paid up to X date before he died....
Do not ask for the SLURL because I didn't capture it nor would I invite even 10 people who might read this to glom on to the guy. Part of the charm is to go out there and visit the old Clementina Park, Ivory Tower if you must (I never do for all kinds of reasons), and old/new skilled builds like this.
