Hi there. I am looking for some feedback on my newest build, an old, somewhat run down witch's house. When I started building this lot, I was hoping to create a creepy, spooky atmosphere, but the house turned out much more tame than I intended. Which is fine too I guess. (However, if you have any suggestions on how to make it a bit scarier, I'd love to hear them!)

The house was inspired by a family in my current legacy town, an old healer woman (a witch) and her nature loving daughter (also a witch). It has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a hidden alchemy room. In my world, magic is looked upon as a threat and something to be feared, so all the supernatural creatures have to hide their powers. That's why most of the house appears pretty ordinary, if a bit old-fashioned, and all the magical elements are confined to the secret room (hidden behind a bookcase).

I don't know if the lot is unique enough to upload though. It was a quicker project than my other ones, and it looks a bit like one of my other houses (still a WIP, found here). If anyone has any suggestions to make it more interesting (and less boring), I'd love to hear them! Also, I know the terrain painting and landscaping need work, but I'm terribly, terribly stuck right now. I tried painting the hill rocky, but it looked AWFUL! So, landscaping advice is also much appreciated.

Exterior:

Interior Layout:

Interior: (I had trouble getting good pictures because the rooms are kind of small.)

Thanks for looking! Any advice/suggestions are appreciated!

Oh golly!

The outside is just magnificent, nothing to change! I love the sloped roof, and the tudor style tower was inspired.

The interior is equally as remarkable! You ma'am are a genius!

The only thing I would suggest is making the upper story of the tower accessible by spiral stairs from the alchemy chamber, after all the witches had deep belief in stars, and a telescope out one of the windows in the tower would be marvelous.

Don't worry about time lengthwise, it shows effort and that's what matters. Two weekends ago, before I had to study for 5 tests, I, in a burst of creativity, drafted 3 entire houses on paper in 1 and a half hours, and built all three in another 4. They look good from my perspective, I do plan to upload them later :P

I like it a lot! The only thing I'm not sure about is the square tower. Maybe take it down one storey? Or, make it bigger. Also, I'd lower the main roof a bit so it's not quite so high. To make it spookier outside you could use brambles and the dead trees - maybe some headstones. Although that's a bit cliche. Inside you could try darker, splotchier colors / peeling / cracked paint. I really like the wood tone on the floor. Do you want the chess table in the "hidden" room? It might fit nicely in the living room. Do you know how to use the "buydebug" cheat? If so, there are some items there that might help to add clutter - even a skeleton! I love how you did the curved roof in the front. For the terrain paints, if you don't like the rock, try dark grasses, maybe the gravel, or more dirt. Some of the "nature trail" terrain paints work well, if you have them. Excellent start!

The exterior is great, I particularly like your roofing with the sloped roof running on from the gabled roof section. The interiors look well done too, the only thing I'd change is the rug in the master bedroom...the birds on branches seems to cheery for the rest of the room/house in my eyes (but I've been wrong before).

@Riptide- Thank you! I'm so glad you like it. I *just* realized you can stack spiral staircases on top of each other! This is a huge revelation for me, lol. I like your idea about making the tower accessible, but there are two issues. First, if I put a spiral staircase up to the top, I still can't place a telescope up there. Not enough space in the tower unfortunately. Also, the windows are all wrong for viewing the stars, but that's an easier fix. Second, and more importantly, placing a spiral staircase in the secret room would not leave enough space for an alchemy set. So, to fix that I was thinking about turning the secret room into a mini-library with a desk and bookcases and the like, and then creating another room in the basement for all the magic stuff. However, I'm not sure how it's going to work considering the house is on a hill, so if it's too much trouble I may just leave it as is. But what would you all think about that idea?

@SimmyRN- Thank you for your feedback! I really appreciate it. Okay, I played around with the tower based on your suggestions, and I have four choices to show you guys.

1) Taller tower with window on top floor-

2) Taller tower with window on middle floor-

3)Shorter tower-

4) And the original tower-

Which one do you like the best? All opinions are welcome! As for the roof, I actually can't lower the pitch as it doesn't work with the curved half gable on the front. It's a shame, but they won't connect properly if I lower them at all.

I really liked your suggestions, Simmy, about how to make it spookier, but I don't want it to be too creepy. Lol. I guess I'm just going for derelict and run-down instead. Also, I'm always afraid of using too much terrain paint, as I want it to fit into all sorts of different worlds. Do you think I should add some more? Or leave it as is?

@Tee Hee Hee- Thank you so much! I'll think about changing the rug in the master, but I always have such a hard time CASTing rugs! Maybe it's just me though, lol. I'll work on it and try some different styles though.

I love shorter tower, personally. I just think its better. I also love that you've used the curved roof, I think that its unusual, but it works superbly with this lot. Is it possible to add another staircase leading up to the attic, even if the attic is just like.. 10x2 long? It'd be cool if you could put some old boxes and books and an old chair and stuff up there.. Kinda adds to the whole 'delapidated, aged' look you're going for.

IF you are willing to include one piece of CC, just one. There is a stackable staircase on MTS I found particularly useful.

It called the Industrial ladder, and you have to make sure to get the stackable version

Also, keep the original tower, to me it looks the best, not too short, and not to "Tower of London"-y

i really love the shorter tower. nice job so far.

Thank you all for your feedback! Does anybody else have an opinion about the height of the tower? I still can't decide...


The attic? Do you mean the space in the tower? It's a 3x3 square. I could put a spiral staircase up to the top, or, as Riptide mentioned, that CC ladder, but I'm hesitant to do either because then I'd have to add a basement for the alchemy set (if I used the spiral staircase) or use another bit of CC. Not sure if it's really worth the hassle. Lol. But I'll think about it. Thanks for the feedback!

...Or do you mean the attic in the third story at the top of the house? I can see about adding a staircase up to there as well, but I don't know if there's enough space for one on the second floor. It's already pretty tight as is. I'll look into it though!

I'd definitely go with the original tower, the height seems great and the placement of the window is best. The short one is just too short for me.
Also, you could put the alchemy station in the tower if you put the ladder leading up there, because the ladder takes up so little space. Also, I think it'd be cooler to have the alchemy set in the tower, because the witch could be hiding the fact that she's a witch, and going up there in secret (these are just my musings for how I'd use it).

But I really love this house and I can't wait to use it, whichever tower you go for

I prefer your original tower - just looks right.

Tower looks like an afterthought, in my opinion. I think you should either connect it (with either an addition or a higher roof, or some combination thereof) or cover the gap with a tall, spooky, tree.

The house is nice, the decor looks fantastic, but I find the landscaping and atmosphere to be a bit plain still -- with a name like "Witch's Den" I immediately assume dark magic, grimy swamp gas, and dying plants, not a semi-worn cottage with a tower. Try and capitalize on the name; building a house that really fills a niche tends to be more:

1) Impressive
2) Popular
3) Appreciated
4) Likely to get site recognition from both downloaders and staff.

Thank you all for your feedback!

@Q- I hate to admit it, but your comment sort of struck the nail on the head (so to speak). The tower was a later addition, an afterthought even. I will work with it some more and post an update, maybe even tonight if I have the time. The landscaping was also a bit of a quick job, so I will try to spruce it up (well, spruce it down I guess ) as well. Thank you so much for your input!

I'm not entirely certain, however, by what you mean when you say "cover the gap with a tall, spooky tree". What gap are you referring to? (My apologies if that's an obvious question. I'm feeling a bit slow tonight, lol.)

:D

Hehe Q. :P

You could also put a willow instead of a spooky tree, that would look nice.

If you wanted to, you could move the tower more to the right, so it blends into the roof and feels like part of the main building, even if it isn't.

I vote for cutting the tower aswell - but I would NOT put another willow, since at the left corner of the house we already got one. I'm more tending to a fir tree (christmas tree). It would help to darken the place aswell, due to its darker tones.