How I built my new deep water (grotto) Home!

[Alma Palmira]

About a month ago on another thread I reminisced about owning a deep water grotto that I once lived in. After thinking about it, I decided it was time for a change and and purchased a deep water location for my new home. After sharing the process of how I built it, It was suggested that I post it in the community forums. It's really nothing spectacular, but for better or worse here it is.

Step one: I thumbnail sketched on my iPad what I roughly wanted to accomplish. 

Step 2: I purchased a deep water mainland plot and prim sketched it to fit. I then saved it and imported it into Blender as a .dae file. 

Step 3: Part of my Idea was to create a dome with a quasi-organic feel to the lattice work. I created this in Adobe Illustrator, saved as a .SVG file, imported it into Blender and used the vector as a projected knife cut onto my dome. 

Step 4: I created a "duck blind" based on my SL 3D sketch that would match my parcel location and texture. 

Step 5: Underneath the "duck blind" I integrated the grotto and dome as well as a few architectural accents. 

Step 6: I textured the dome and lit inside of the grotto. 

Step 7: Furnished and finished. I was lucky enough to have 90% of my furniture in inventory so furnishing it went quickly. I went with a eclectic Art Studio feel, that had a few conversation areas and places to hang up selections of my RL illustration portfolio as well as a few paintings that I really like. 

I love my new home! Feel free to ask questions or visit in World. (Located in my picks in Profile.)  It will never be really finished. I will constantly be diddling with new things. But it feels great to be secluded under the sea!

Edited August 9, 2021 by Alma Palmira
clarification

[Stephanie Misfit]

That looks amazing!

[So Whimsy]

That is absolutely amazing and something I'd love to live in myself! There's too little underwater home options

[Kathlen Onyx]

Nice! It looks cozy.

[Alma Palmira]

47 minutes ago, So Whimsy said:

That is absolutely amazing and something I'd love to live in myself! There's too little underwater home options

Thank you and I agree. I also didn’t want anything hard science fiction like, nor did I want a mermaid lagoon, nor a sunken relic. I wanted something organic that looked like it belonged on the ocean bottom, integrated with it instead of built on top of it and I wanted warm cozy comfort. I’ve built plenty of things that missed the mark, but it was nice how this came together almost effortlessly. I’ll be happy to call this home for a few years. 

[Rabid Cheetah]

 

But still worthy of a

Edited August 10, 2021 by Rabid Cheetah

[Zero Starchild]

Absolutely love this.

[Katherine Heartsong]

Stunning.

[Candide LeMay]

I like it. It seems deep water parcels are quite rare.

[Rabid Cheetah]

On 8/9/2021 at 11:48 AM, Alma Palmira said:

 

 

OK, see, this could ALSO be an underground bunker, because of the rock you built.  Or something to put on a mountaintop if you flatten the top of the mountain a bit.

Today's my 15-year rez-day, and I STILL can't build beyond basic prims.  So well done, dude. 

[Rabid Cheetah]

5 hours ago, Candide LeMay said:

I like it. It seems deep water parcels are quite rare.

 

They're out there, but most just put a deck on top of it and build a house.  Few build below the waters.  And the rarest of all are when it's the Lindens who've built a highway underwater.

 

[Alma Palmira]

8 hours ago, Candide LeMay said:

I like it. It seems deep water parcels are quite rare.

They can be, and expensive too. I found one that had an astronomical price on it, and made a fair counteroffer. We negotiated a bit and then it was mine. I love how dark it gets at these depths. Also, like a sky box there are rarely neighbors sucking up FPS. 

[Alma Palmira]

3 hours ago, Rabid Cheetah said:

 

They're out there, but most just put a deck on top of it and build a house.  Few build below the waters.  And the rarest of all are when it's the Lindens who've built a highway underwater.

 

Where is this? I would love to explore.

[Alma Palmira]

3 hours ago, Rabid Cheetah said:

OK, see, this could ALSO be an underground bunker, because of the rock you built.  Or something to put on a mountaintop if you flatten the top of the mountain a bit.

Today's my 15-year rez-day, and I STILL can't build beyond basic prims.  So well done, dude. 

Thank you very much. My last home was a fallout bunker buried beneath a grove of pine trees. I guess I have a thing for secret hiding places. 
Building has always been a great way for me to self medicate. Very zen-like. I still love to cobble prims togethers. My inventory object folder is full of “object” builds that go nowhere. Lol. BTW, happy Rez-day! They should give us awards at 15 years. 

Edited August 11, 2021 by Alma Palmira

[Shard Soyinka]

1 hour ago, Alma Palmira said:

Where is this? I would love to explore.

That tunnel is located along Route 9 on the eastern side of the Jeogeot continent. Specifically it goes through the sims of: Juho, Jeolla, Rason and Seoraksan.

[Rabid Cheetah]

1 hour ago, Alma Palmira said:

Where is this? I would love to explore.

It's become a bit more built up since those pictures were taken.  First with stuff I've added:

[Rabid Cheetah]

Then by a whole lot of building activity by some new neighbors:

 

[Rabid Cheetah]

 

[Rabid Cheetah]

[Rabid Cheetah]

Anyhow, It's a small multiregional lake on Jeogorut or whatever the "J" shaped continent is called:

 

South End Slurl:

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Seoraksan/54/12/59

 

North End Slurl:

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Dongyeongju/214/162/51

 

Or, to get to the part of the Linden Underwater Tube that's by my place:

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Seoraksan/39/252/4

 

Note that this is one of the few spots where the tube is phantom, so you can walk right through to my parcel.

Or, if you'd rather go direct to the above-water part of my parcel, on the dock (as I've yet to get around to furnishing the inside of the lighthouse):

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Seoraksan/19/248/21

 

Lighthouse by the Linden Underwater Tube

"This is the second lighthouse built here, as the first was destroyed when it was hit by debris from FlyUs flight 561."

 

There are a few treasures to see if you walk, drive, or swim along the route.  Here's one of my favorites:

 

And YES, @Feorie Frimon, the Route 9 pods occasionally DO travel this underwater highway! 😲

Edited August 11, 2021 by Rabid Cheetah

[Feorie Frimon]

5 hours ago, Rabid Cheetah said:

And YES, @Feorie Frimon, the Route 9 pods occasionally DO travel this underwater highway! 😲

I'm totally doing this in my PODs cast today!!!!! Now I just have to figure out which one is the right one to ride....

Edited August 11, 2021 by Feorie Frimon

[Chroma Starlight]

How'd you manage to pump out the water?

Edited August 11, 2021 by Chroma Starlight

[Alma Palmira]

3 hours ago, Chroma Starlight said:

How'd you manage to pump out the water?

Ah… well, by circulating water from outside, through my water columns inside, I create a positive pressure envelope that effectively keeps me warm and dry. 
as a side note… if you are “flying/floating” underwater in my home and your AO includes a swimmer, you will breaststroke from chair to chair. SL is all about embracing compromises 🙂

[Feorie Frimon]

On 8/11/2021 at 3:02 AM, Rabid Cheetah said:

And YES, @Feorie Frimon, the Route 9 pods occasionally DO travel this underwater highway! 😲

WOO HOO! I got some abandoned land here too!! What a super cool spot for some lucky mermaid to call home.  

[Rabid Cheetah]

2 hours ago, Feorie Frimon said:

WOO HOO! I got some abandoned land here too!! What a super cool spot for some lucky mermaid to call home.  

Wait, so you're now my neighbor?