18 Stafford Terrace - Victorian Townhouse (up to NL required)

Description:
This splendidly-appointed residence is available fully furnished. The ground floor contains the formal dining room and morning room, where the lady of the house may interview servants and receive callers. The entire first floor is given over to the drawing room, with double fireplaces and a private nook for the master's easel. The second floor contains the principal and second bedrooms, with full bathing facilities. The principal bedroom opens onto the balcony. There is also a spacious and well-lit attic, ready for use as a nursery, or as servants' accomodation. There is a small yard at the rear of the house.

There are water closets on all the main floors. Kitchen, pantry and scullery are to be found in the basement, which has the benefit of ample daylight. There is no external access to the this floor, keeping the comings and goings of the servants firmly under the eye of the mistress.

The house is decorated in fashionable style, with William Morris papers and lavish furnishings. The latest telephony and burglar systems are installed.


Historical Notes:
This middle-class Italianate townhouse was built in the early 1870s. From the website: "The arrival of an artist at no.18 Stafford Terrace was a novelty. The young couple decided to furnish their home in the fashionable 'aesthetic' or artistic style of the period. They lived in the house for the next 36 years and, although they made some alterations, the basic decorative scheme remains the same today." Today, the house is open to the public as a splendidly-preserved example of its time. Much of the furniture and decor are original.

I have built the lot as closely as was practicable to the plans of the real house. Service areas including kitchen, pantry and scullery are in the basement. These and the attic floor are not available for inspection online. However, good plans are available for the three main floors, with detailed descriptions and photos of the interior.

A quick tour of the original rooms: the hall is decorated with dark green paper, with brown linoleum on the floor. The garden door, visible beyond the hall stairs, has a design of stained glass. The colours in the dining room are also dark greens. Shelves of blue and white china decorate the walls of this room (not represented here, in the interests of keeping CC to a minimum), and there is a tall sideboard. There are many paintings and knick-knacks in every room. The morning room is papered with blue and cream William Morris (I used green again, to maintain the colour scheme). The room contains a fashionable laquered Japanese desk. The first-floor landing includes a mini conservatory,known as the Water Garden, which replaced the lower part of the original window. The drawing room contained Linley's easel and other messy equipment, in the bay window which could be closed off from the rest of the room when not in use. I have moved the site of this 'studio' to the front end of the house, still in a curtained alcove. The two white marble fireplaces hint at the removal of an original partition - it was fashionable to combine two rooms into an enlarged drawing room.

Notes for Players:
I used Numenor's Unlevelled walls to make the basement more visible in play. You can install his custom wall separately (follow the directions on the thread). If you do not have the wall installed, the game will cope - either replacing that part of the structure with black iron fencing, or with standard walls. The house should NOT crash.

Likewise, Crocobaura's open stairs. If you install them as per the creator's instructions, you will have them properly. If not, they will work fine in this house, but you will not be able to use them in your own building.

A clone of this house was tested for several days by Matthew Littleton (seen in the view of the drawing room) and his wife. They found it a very satisfactory design, and are looking forward to putting their first child into the crib in the principal bedroom. Linley had a nursery in the attic, but the Littletons don't want to be separated from their little darling so soon.

Lot size 1x2 (Sunnyside Mini)
Cost $123, 946.
Unfurnished, the house still costs over 30,000 simoleons, so it will never be a starter. Sorry; I like to build starters, but this is a different kind of project.


Custom Content Included:
- Steadfast Stairs Open Underneath by crocobaura
- Oasis floor tile by Parsimonious
- Garden Bay Window by macarossi
- Classic window with Round Pediment by Marina
- Classic Window with Round Pediment Large by Marina
- Classic Window Round Pediment (diagonal) by Marina
- Decorative Round Pediment for doors by Marina
- White Brick wall by LyricLee

Additional Credits:
Thanks to Numenor for his custom walls (http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=59793), and also for the BasegameStarter Pro, which allows as many players as possible to use this house.

Thanks to the people who maintain the wonderful information and online tour of Linley Sambourne house - http://www.rbkc.gov.uk/linleysambou...ral/default.asp