Suburban Dream

If the Standard American Suburban look is your dream...here it is:

It has all the elements: Boxy, "modular" shape, mixed-media exterior, wrap-around side porch, varied-pitch rooflines, and perhaps a severe case of flowerbox abuse. (Hey, I LIKE flowerboxes! )

On the other hand, if the Standard American Suburban look is your nightmare...here it is.

But whether it's a dream or a nightmare, this is actually a nicely playable little house. Or not-so-little, really. Although the footprint is rather small, sitting on a 3x3 lot with plenty of room left over, it has a surprising amount of open, sunny interior space.

The front:


The back:


The two-story foyer feeds into a horizontal gallery-style hall, nice for displaying artwork. To the left is a powder room and the entrance to the master suite, which occupies its own wing and is nicely-appointed with a large private bath that features a separate shower and bathtub and a dual vanity. Straight ahead, through an arch, is a nicely-sized living room with a fireplace, one full-stone wall, and niches ready for "built-in" bookshelves:


To the right is the kitchen, which can be accessed either from the living room, via a nook, or the gallery hall. The kitchen is flanked by a roomy formal dining room with wood flooring and a bayed window (a nice spot for a window seat) as well as an informal eating nook with a two-seat snack bar:


Upstairs, there are three more bedrooms, one of which is very big and would make a nice game room, play room, or media room if a 4th bedroom isn't needed. There's a balcony overlook into the foyer, a nice spot for a chess table or for a collection of potted plants. The two smaller upstairs bedrooms share a jack-and-jill style bathroom that can also be accessed from the hall.

The house also features nice outdoor living/recreation areas. The small front porch is covered. The side porch is also covered, comes with a couple of hanging plants, and it wraps around the kitchen. It can be accessed from either the dining room or the nook, and it steps down to a small, paved patio. The highlight, though, is the roomy 3-season screen porch on the back of the house, which is accessed from the living room.

The back yard is fully fenced and has room to add whatever you'd like, even a pool if you're into pools. (I'm not. ) There is a driveway that has parking for two cars. There is fairly minimal, low-maintenance landscaping in front, with plenty of space to add more if that's your thing. The exterior is also nicely lit all around.

Now, the notes:

1) Like most of my lots, this one comes with all counters/fixtures/appliances in place in the kitchen and baths, a phone, and at least one light fixture in each room. THERE IS NO OTHER FURNISHING. Because I'm bad at interior decorating, I'm afraid. You will do far better with that than I. Trust me.

2) Except for an invisible driveway recolor (Unless you LIKE the ugly concrete driveway/extension piece), you shouldn't have to download anything for this lot to show as it should. Both master objects for the Georgian windows/doors are included here. However, if you already have Phoenix_Phaerie's Georgian windows and doors in your game, you might want to pick those out of the CC list when you install this because you don't need to have them twice.

3) HOWEVER, in order for the flowerboxes to be white, you need a white recolor of the Maxis country window because plasticbox's modular flowerbox picks up the box texture from the Maxis window and any recolors of it that you have. I've included plasticbox's recolor as a separate file in the rar file but NOT in the package. If you don't already have a white recolor of the Maxis "Country Window," you'll want to separately copy that file to your Downloads folder. Otherwise, the flowerboxes will be oak-colored and won't match the windows. I'm actually not sure if you'll have to manually recolor them or if they'll show as white automatically once you have a window recolor in your game.

4) The CC ash tree included is NOT Seasons-enabled, so it won't drop leaves and turn color in the fall, and snow won't sit on it in the winter. This doesn't bother me at all, but if it will bother you, by all means change it out or delete that file from the package before you install the lot. I like that tree because it's realistic-looking and TALL, nicely in scale with this 2-story house.

5) The white-trimmed roofs are not CC. I have default-replaced my Maxis roofs using Phaenoh's mod. If you haven't/don't want to replace your roofs, this lot will have standard grey roof trim, and it won't look nearly so nice. So do yourself a favor and replace your roofs!

And...I think that's it! I hope that you will find this lot useful. I use it often, myself.

Lot Size: 3x3
Lot Price: 63253

Custom Content by Me:
- 12" Ceramic Tile in Black
- 12" Ceramic Tile in Putty
- Full Tile Wall in Arctic White

Custom Content Included:
- Backless Tub/Shower by HugeLunatic
- Screen Walls by rebecah
- Georgian Round Window by phoenix_phaerie
- Georgian Short Double Window by phoenix_phaerie
- Georgian Short Shutterless Window by phoenix_phaerie
- Georgian Short Shutterless Double Window by phoenix_phaerie
- Georgian Tall Shutterless Window by phoenix_phaerie
- Georgian Entry Door by phoenix_phaerie
- Georgian French Door by phoenix_phaerie
- Georgian Window by phoenix_phaerie
- Double Midnight Ride Window by leesester
- Independent Expressions Privacy Window by MaryLou
- Independent Expressions Single Arch by MaryLou
- Independent Expressions Double Arch by MaryLou
- Independent Expressions Door by MaryLou
- Country Flowerbox 2 by plasticbox
- Country Flowerbox 1 by plasticbox
- Victorian Porch Fence in White by Holy Simoly
- Colonial Fireplace without Chimney by mia86
- Outdoor Lantern by Numenor - MTS
- Wood Fence #13 by Piggi
- Japanese Ajisai Shrub White by reica15
- Small Macrame Hanging Fern by CTNutmegger
- Ash Tree by Murano
- Medium Shrubby Shrubs by HystericalParoxysm
- Small Shrubby Shrubs by HystericalParoxysm
- Limber Timber Deck Flooring, White Recolor by Reyn
- Recolorable Deck Stairs by Numenor
- White Deck Stairs Recolor by Patty3428
- Lush Grass Terrain Paint by 4 Ever Simfantasy
- Dark Ashlar Walls by sarah*rose
- Aura Interior Paint with Crown in Jojoba by reflects
- Aura Interior Paint with Crown in Urban Nature by reflects
- Unexpected Sidings in Gray by HoneyWell
- Unexpected Sidings in Gray by HoneyWell
- Unexpected Sidings in Gray by Honeywell
- Cool Dusk Paint with Crown & Base by Danikat
- Laurel Mist Paint with Crown & Base by Danikat
- Vanilla Custard Paint with Crown & Base by Danikat
- Aura Interior Paint with Crown in Granite by reflects
- Country Window, White Recolor by plasticbox