Belli vibes

[Nika Talaj]

I'll definitely pick up a stilt at some point, if only for the content pack, but I've been trying to figure out if I will keep one.  Still don't know (spoiled rotten by some of our catches in the past), but in musing about it I began thinking about the differences between the various homes.   I came down to feeling that, in terms of interior spaces, tho the moles are very inventive there's only so much you can do to create distinctively different ROOMS in 1024-sized homes.  For me, the difference between the themes comes down to their vibe, the feeling I get from the gestalt of the home and the surrounding landscaping.

Each theme seems to invite me to a slightly different lifestyle.  For me, it's:

Trads - middle-to-upper class suburbia

Houseboats - Boho on the water.  Great she-sheds and mancaves.

Trailers - Boho in the woods.  Again, great she-sheds and mancaves.

Vics - I've found two vibes that make me confortable in a vic.  1.  Screamingly modern  2. The slightly shabby old house you inherited from your GreatAunt.

Log Cabin - Country life

Stilts - Margaritaville, baby!

Chalets - Storybook

These invitations are just the echoes the homes start in my own mind, of course.  I lived near a person who 'decorated' their log home very sparingly, but had a well-appointed sex dungeion in the sky.  Different strokes!

We had a vic surrounded by sunny flowers and a pond, and the alts homed on that parcel seemed to insist on a rather dark, nearly gothic, decor.  Go figure.

Do you feel that different themes invite you to different lifestyles?

 

[Kat Shadow]

Absolutely! Love my distressed wood, rustic hand me down & hand made feels of the décor in my Logs. My antiques (Apple Fall <# ) in my Victorian & going very fun, casual. modern femme beach life in my Stilt. I got a house for every Big Mood  

[Robin Kiyori]

1 hour ago, Nika Talaj said:

We had a vic surrounded by sunny flowers and a pond, and the alts homed on that parcel seemed to insist on a rather dark, nearly gothic, decor.  Go figure.

 

 

😧
 I have been called out.  [Decorating their vic in a gothic manner]

But yeah each theme suceeds in invoking a different mood quite well.  Even with similar themes like the campers/cabins and houseboats/stilts invoke differint moods.

[Cinnamon Mistwood]

I agree that the house styles invite some personal vibes.  We all have grown up in different areas surrounded by different cultures.  For me:

Trads - middle class housing

House boats - a luxury and more like vacation housing not full time living.  My current SL houseboat is set up in a space theme, though. Very sterile and clean.  Alien plant life is abundant.

Trailers - small houses for daily living.  Could be boho or shabbier furniture.

Vics - middle to upper class.  In my RL area the old Vic neighborhoods are very expensive to live in so decorating could be old antique or very modern.  My SL Vic has some steampunk vibes.

Logs - extreme survivalists or boho artists retreats

Stilts - you may be right on it with Margaritaville.  With as open as it all is, I kind of hope people don't hide themselves on their parcels.  It would be fun to boat around and wave at people having barbeques on their decks and be invited over for drinks and swimming.  Won't happen if I can't see anyone though.  The stilts invite social living.

Chalets - I haven't formed an opinion on these yet.  No vibe 😟

[Karl Herber]

I get a more middle-upper class vibe from the Vics than the Trads.  I think the Trads can spread the whole range depending on how you decorate them, but the Vics just look "posh" no matter what you try to do.  I'd like to do a full Steampunk theme with a Vic at some point. I think that would look awesome. And I can see where the goth idea comes from too. Since Steampunk is basically what you get when goths discover brown.  There's one Trad (Adams) that looks very English to me, it wouldn't be unusual to see a house looking exactly like that in a modern English housing estate. (Amusingly, there's a major housing company in England called Linden Homes).

The vibe I get from the houseboats is either ultra-modern or boho. I tend towards modern minimalist with mine. Trailers, more shabby-chic, and lower class than the boats. I saw a trailer once that was decorated like real trailer-trash style with cheap furniture, packing crates, junk in the yard... I'm sure the neighbours weren't happy but it looked brilliant.

Logs, definitely the country farmhouse with a rustic, arts-and-crafts style. They remind me a lot of "Cottage country" in Canada.

Stilts, I'm thinking these will be more lower-class, shabby-chic again. Their style is a blend of Trailer and Trad. I'm not sure what "Margaritaville" implies, but they make me think of the shotgun-shack neighbourhoods around the Gulf coast. 

Chalets - hard to tell from just the one demo area but I'm leaning towards the same rustic feel as the Logs, more European (German/Swiss/Dutch) than Canadian/American. If there's an option for the exterior beams to be black instead of brown, they'll also do English Tudor well too. I think they also have potential for a medieval fantasy style.

 

[foneco Zuzu]

Vics cause they remind me of my family country house (one) and the other cause of its location.

Logs cause they remind me of my family Mountain one and also due to their location.

Trads cause they allow for a vast array of modifications without incurring on the wrath of Covenant rules.

House boats cause the one i got now is located on my personal favorite spot.

 Stilts cause if i got one over water; it will remind me the luck i have.

 

[Milk Pixelmaid]

Vics - posh

Trad - nice regular American neighborhood

Houseboat - Vacation on the water

Camper - vacation in the woods

Log homes - Fugitive hideout

Chalet - no running water

Stilts - beach neighborhood 

 

[Elena Blossom]

Both my campers give me a feeling of freedom, of connection with Nature; one of them is actually 'my home', my hideout. I had a log home I loved for a while, but I didn't feel it as much as country as the camper, they were more rustic/mountain home to me. 

My Victorian is a cozy, homy place, and the Trad is the standard home. Although the vibe I get with the Trads depends a lot on location. 

[Robin Kiyori]

I should probably state the vibes each house gives me.  With the disclaimer that I'm irish so some of it is probably a whee bit different from those across the pond.

• Traditional: As yes, The one  House in every movie set in America.
• Victorians: proper posh English house or the Addams' family. There is no inbetween
• Log Home:  A ski resort in Summer.
• Houseboats: Fancy modern boats.  probably someone's  fifth holiday location
• Camper: " fook me that's  a fancy ass caravan."
• Stilts:  Ah yes the  American movie house but this time in the water. Margaritas aplenty.
• Chalets:  The house I want  in RL but could never afford. GIMMIE.

[Cinnamon Mistwood]

9 hours ago, Karly Kiyori said:

 

I'm not sure what "Margaritaville" implies, but they make me think of the shotgun-shack neighbourhoods around the Gulf coast. 

 

Margaritaville - a chosen lifestyle based on a mellow, easy going, party lifestyle.  No stress.   Definitely Gulf coast/Florida Keys

It's all this guys fault Jimmy Buffett - Margaritaville (Lyrics) - YouTube 

[Ellie McGregor]

Trads- I tend to decorate them in line with their name, traditionally, with a nice fireplace, soft comfy sofa and a cosy feel.
Houseboats- relaxed, informal furniture and nautical themed objects and a little row boat moored outside. And lots of wine and cheese for some reason.
Trailers- Bohemian feel, relaxed and colourful inside and an abundance of flowers and greenery outside, barbeque and garden chairs. I have a very private one beside a river that I don't expect to ever give up.
Victorians- originally I called mine Villa Diodati and filled it with gothic style furniture and Victorian patterned wallpaper. Dotted around were photos of Bram Stoker and scenes from Frankinstein etc. Then I found I didn't like the dreary darkness so I went with the traditional but modern bright decor. I guess I would never have suited being a goth, I like colour too much. I've had my Victorian since it was released last December and doubt I will give it up any time soon. I have had others I have loved but can't keep them all.
Log Cabins- I always seem to go with lots of indoor plants, leather sofas and big cosy fireplaces. I love autumn decor at the log homes and a profusion of flowers in the garden in summer. 
Stilts- I'm not sure yet. I might lean towards similar deco to the houseboats but maybe I'll try something a bit different this time. I know I love the feeling in these homes and the noises of gulls and waves. There will be a table on the balcony with wine and cheese on it no matter what the other decor (wine and cheese is always my vibe). Somewhere to sit listening to the soothing lapping of the waves and watching the sun go down over the sea.
Chalets- I see these as a bit fairytale so maybe time to dust off my fairy wings which haven't seen the light of day for a decade. I see natural wood furniture and patchwork quilts. A bit like Snow White's house I think.

[Prokofy Neva]

On 12/22/2020 at 8:28 PM, Nika Talaj said:

I'll definitely pick up a stilt at some point, if only for the content pack, but I've been trying to figure out if I will keep one.  Still don't know (spoiled rotten by some of our catches in the past), but in musing about it I began thinking about the differences between the various homes.   I came down to feeling that, in terms of interior spaces, tho the moles are very inventive there's only so much you can do to create distinctively different ROOMS in 1024-sized homes.  For me, the difference between the themes comes down to their vibe, the feeling I get from the gestalt of the home and the surrounding landscaping.

Each theme seems to invite me to a slightly different lifestyle.  For me, it's:

Trads - middle-to-upper class suburbia

Houseboats - Boho on the water.  Great she-sheds and mancaves.

Trailers - Boho in the woods.  Again, great she-sheds and mancaves.

Vics - I've found two vibes that make me confortable in a vic.  1.  Screamingly modern  2. The slightly shabby old house you inherited from your GreatAunt.

Log Cabin - Country life

Stilts - Margaritaville, baby!

Chalets - Storybook

These invitations are just the echoes the homes start in my own mind, of course.  I lived near a person who 'decorated' their log home very sparingly, but had a well-appointed sex dungeion in the sky.  Different strokes!

We had a vic surrounded by sunny flowers and a pond, and the alts homed on that parcel seemed to insist on a rather dark, nearly gothic, decor.  Go figure.

Do you feel that different themes invite you to different lifestyles?

 

I think the Lindens definitely guide you into these vibes with these styles. 1950s suburbia with the hamburger grill at the campers or Adirondack chairs and blanket boxes in the log houses or the horsey set with Pim's cups at the Victorians. 

So that's exactly why I made my Victorian into an opium den, which was actually a cover for a British spy station. I think I will start one now with a lot of naturalist's stuff, rock collections and butterflies in jars and such.

Edited January 2, 2021 by Prokofy Neva

[Eirynne Sieyes]

Campers - No, no. No.

Vics - Oh!  The lush landscaping is beautiful and mine feels so private, right on the sea. A keeper!  I'm looking for a good contractor to tear out a few windows in favor of huge glass panes (to better see that lush landscape) and knock out a couple walls and ceilings to lend height and an open concept feel.

Trads - The beachy sand trads are the perfect summery vacation homes on the shore or a barrier island. Its warm, never hot, a little cloudy, and just a little windy. Every now and then a rain storm will transform the sky into a dark purply-gray swirl. I want to add a skylight.

Logs - A lovely, wildly green low-mountain ski resort in the off season. The water is sparkling clear and the fishing is great!

House boats - An ideal casual weekend retreat, not far from home. Relax and let down your hair. The kids have been shipped off to a camper with their grandparents, who will be delighted to spend time with them.

Stilts - Margaritaville to some maybe, but those huge Tortuga windows and generous decks make this the house I want the contractor to build in Vic Land.

Chalets - Another place to ship the kids off to. 😉

 

Edited January 2, 2021 by Eirynne Sieyes

[Frigga Freidman]

22 hours ago, Prokofy Neva said:

So that's exactly why I made my Victorian into an opium den, which was actually a cover for a British spy station. I think I will start one now with a lot of naturalist's stuff, rock collections and butterflies in jars and such.

Check out this site for a tremendous collection of natural history images that work well as framed prints: https://www.flickr.com/photos/biodivlibrary/albums

[MilleBliss]

Fascinating to read the responses to this thread... here is my take, after having lived in each of them (except a Chalet of course)...

 

Trad - Farmhouse, Shabby Chic or the Burbs... great for driving around, feels the most "homey" to me

Houseboat - Classy marina, seagulls and nautical decor, excellent base to set sail from

Camper - Glamping by the lake, outdoor activities, fun to explore because of the variety of camper styles

Vic - Loooove the settings, landscaping... elegant or shabby decor, can go full out gothic for Halloween

Log - Beautiful mountain/woodsy setting with modern log homes... nice for horseback riding

Stilt - Beachy/boaty with coastal decor... doesn't really lend itself to boating though and kind of all looks the same

Chalet - Looks promising but so much depends on the final landscaping and setting

 

I would say my faves are Trad, Houseboat and Camper. I gave up my much loved Trad to get a Stilt which I thought was my dream, but ended up not really loving it. Go figure.

[Rabid Cheetah]

Trad - Yucky, bland, WASPs eating toasted mayonnaise sandwiches with the crust trimmed off.  Everything looks the same.  Cookie-cutter.

Houseboats - Varies from cram 'em in like a can o' sardines to some nice spots.  The sandbar strips with houseboats jutting off of them look too unreal.  But the area has nice water and lighthouses.  Still, few bother to build underwater, and some even "pave over" their water with decks right up to the parcel boundaries.

Vics - House style and colors too bland, but the area is the most beautiful.  Willows, lakes, parks, bridges.

Campers - Some pretty areas, parcels not dominated by huge houses, but the parcels are too small and only half the prims.  And what to do with the extra 512 m2?

Logs - I want to like them.  The area is nice.  But the houses themselves.  Yuck.

Stilt - It's too uniform.  And people often fence-in the stilt area.  The ones completely over land with no roads near them look out of place.  But it's those all-water ones sitting in the middle of the ocean that look the most unrealistic.  And then people tend to "pave-over" the water, like with houseboats. That said, I like the ones with all land underneath but near a road, a mix of land and water, or the ones off a pier.  Roads are rather pointless, though, because you can't drive more than a block before hitting water or a no-cars boardwalk.  It also feels very unnatural, having the stilt area out in the middle of nowhere.  This would have been so much better if it had been connected to the rest of Belli, with a gradual terrain transition.  Instead, it just looks like a string of servers clumped together.

Overall, I think the LH's don't offer enough variety.  Everything starts to look the same, what with the limited number of house types and outside colors you can rez in each category.

Edited January 18, 2021 by Rabid Cheetah

[Marisa Starbrook]

@Rabid CheetahI got a chuckle out of your description of the Trads. I guess that’s why @Patch Lindendescribes the Linden homes as “starter” homes. In my case, they’re retirement homes, after 14 years in SL. I love discovering the unique touches in landscaping that  the Moles and Lindens have made. I stumble across hidden gems, as I roll for the “perfect” home for that week (or day or month). 

[Abnor Mole]

Something to think about when choosing a theme is how much of a connection to the outside community you desire. One thing we wanted to do is avoid the penchant for residents to "wall in their gardens" like they often tend do on mainland. The Covenant is written in a way to dissuade people from building high walls and screens that detract from the overall feel of a community, but we also try to not give residents a reason to want to wall themselves into a prison of their own making by placing our own trees and visual breaks between homes where and as much as we can to break up direct sightlines between parcels.

Trads are semi-private with hedges and things that help give a feeling of privacy. Houseboats not so much, but you are living in a marina, so it isn't something you would expect in that environment. Campers are meant to bring the feeling of being in a campground in a national forest. Victorians are a bit more open, but the view is generally pleasant and nostalgic. Log homes offer the most built in privacy with more trees and screening between parcels, taking advantage of views of mountain lakes where possible. Stilts are very open and geared toward open views of the surroundings (if privacy is what you want, a Stilt home is probably not for you). Chalets will be an amalgam of Traditionals, Victorians, and Logs with a more old world German/Bavarian taste.  

We try to give residents options. Each home theme is different, not just in the home itself but also the environment in which they are nestled in as well. 

Edited January 20, 2021 by Abnor Mole

[LittleMe Jewell]

4 minutes ago, Abnor Mole said:

Trads are semi-private with hedges and things that help give a feeling of privacy. Houseboats not so much, but you are living in a marina, so it isn't something you would expect in that environment. Campers are meant to bring the feeling of being in a campground in a national forest. Victorians are a bit more open, but the view is generally pleasant and nostalgic. Log homes offer the most built in privacy with more trees and screening between parcels, taking advantage of views of mountain lakes where possible. Stilts are very open and geared toward open views of the surroundings (if privacy is what you want, a Stilt home is probably not for you). Chalets will be an amalgam of Traditionals, Victorians, and Logs with a more old world German/Bavarian taste.  

I should maybe give the Log Homes another try.

[Abnor Mole]

1 minute ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

I should maybe give the Log Homes another try.

There is variety within the theme of course, but in general they offer the most screening around parcels. 

[Cinnamon Mistwood]

Logs are my favorites!  I love the uneven terrain, the kinds of trees in logland and rocks and bushes used for more natural borders that don't look like fences or manicured hedges.   There are just enough lakes, streams, and rocky hills to make the hunt for perfection fun! Whoever chose that theme to build has my gratitude.  Right now I have a log home tucked into the bend of a lake (so water on 2 sides) and it doesn't even have a road passing by so the mailbox is on the lake not a road.  Thank you, Moles, for your creativity and hard work.

[Cougar Sangria]

4 hours ago, Abnor Mole said:

Something to think about when choosing a theme is how much of a connection to the outside community you desire. One thing we wanted to do is avoid the penchant for residents to "wall in their gardens" like they often tend do on mainland. The Covenant is written in a way to dissuade people from building high walls and screens that detract from the overall feel of a community, but we also try to not give residents a reason to want to wall themselves into a prison of their own making by placing our own trees and visual breaks between homes where and as much as we can to break up direct sightlines between parcels.

Trads are semi-private with hedges and things that help give a feeling of privacy. Houseboats not so much, but you are living in a marina, so it isn't something you would expect in that environment. Campers are meant to bring the feeling of being in a campground in a national forest. Victorians are a bit more open, but the view is generally pleasant and nostalgic. Log homes offer the most built in privacy with more trees and screening between parcels, taking advantage of views of mountain lakes where possible. Stilts are very open and geared toward open views of the surroundings (if privacy is what you want, a Stilt home is probably not for you). Chalets will be an amalgam of Traditionals, Victorians, and Logs with a more old world German/Bavarian taste.  

We try to give residents options. Each home theme is different, not just in the home itself but also the environment in which they are nestled in as well. 

I want to personally thank you moles and LL for all the work you have done to give we the residents a wide variety of homes to choose from.  Each model has its charm and I look forward to seeing new reveals.  Keeps my fingers and toes crossed for an updated Meadowbrook eventually.