Tutorials Island vol.3

Rural house on two plots.

After a bit longer delay since vol.1 and vol.2 have been posted, i finally found time to do another part. This time it will be bigger house, i have chosen two plot size allowing to build decent project.

This house will use full size of both plots so we have to be careful when planning or we will end up having to move a whole house by one or two blocks. As usual, torches help to see where plot corners are. Corners of our two-plot area are marked by pumpkins, and from the corner to center there are diagonally placed blocks:
- stone brick for edge of the roof
- wooden log for middle floor wall
- stone brick for outer pillars
- cobblestone for ground floor wall
- stone brick for inner pillars

Notice that inner pillar markers are placed in 3 block grid e.g. there is always 2 blocks gap between them.
This plan covers 30x15 blocks, leaving one block on each of shorter sides and one block on longer side that is closer to other houses - i am going to build a street there in future.

Placing first layer of cobblestone gives us better idea about ground floor size. Removing some of inner pillar markers makes 5 blocks gap between most pillars, where two double chests and one special block like crafting table can fit. Remaining 2 blocks gap will be used for entrance on one side and chimney on another.

On flat or "easy" terrain i made a rule of the thumb to make the floor one block higher than street level or level of surrounding terrain. That means, dirt here is flattened down to terrain level and floor pavement will be placed on top of it.

Quick trick for redstone lamps:

Levers under pillars will be hidden by floor pavement. Glowstone or jackolanterns dont need them and they still work well - the only thing that doesnt work is torch because it would need space around corner pillars, preventing us from placing chests there.

View from door side, on the left there is stable, paved by hay bales, on the right there is storage, paved by stone slabs. As you can see, each column has four chests which i consider as limit for comfortable reach from ground. Five or more chests are possible if you need it and can fly or reach it another way.

Important thing is the arch above chest columns, using upside-down stairs, then full block and upside-down slab in the middle between columns. It will be placed between all columns in both perpendicular directions (not only around walls but also across the room) and will help us to start building arching ceiling.

Filling hollow gaps:

Use dirt, cobble or any block you have, it will not be visible. The reason to fill these holes is to prevent mobs from spawning there and annoying you with sounds.

Building ceiling again:

As i told before: upside-down stairs, then full block, then upside-down slab, form a circular shape, and place a circle of stone slabs to cover the top. Notice that it is the same above smaller than 5 blocks gaps, just the top cover is small (for the 2 blocks gap over door there will be just 2x1 blocks of stone slabs to cover the top).

View from outside:

Adding one more layer of cobble around stone slabs - remember to fill it again with dirt. The hole with two stone slab blocke beside is the place where ladder is located. Although we can use [Lift] signs to climb, i recommend to have pure vanilla way too, either staircase or ladder.

Lets build outer pillars:

They use the same pattern with arches as inner pillars, just on corners there is one more pillar on outside.

On the back side, there is a chimney:

It is one block wider than the rest but it still fits inside a plot.

So the ground floor is ready - it can be built half burried into ground or just on top of flat surface, it can even have multiple floors under this one, using the same 5 blocks gap pattern and one ladder to connect between floors.

 

We have basement ready to be inhabited (in fact, what else do you need than storage?) and now its time to build some fancy top.

Basic timbered frame:

Top of timbers is on the same level as top of basement ceiling. We could replace all dirt, cobble and stonebrick in top layer with stone slabs and use it as floor but i prefer to place separate floor layer above ceiling so we can use different materials. Yet another thing to think about, horizontal timber can be either on the same level as floor or one block under it. The former is better with little to no window decoration, the latter for very decorated windows. I decided to place horizontal timber under the floor layer.

Timbering is one block wider than outer pillars on each side, the only exception is the chimney. Tinber faces can be covered by slabs like this one:


Placing middle floor on top of ceiling:

Notice that i didnt cover edges above timber - thats the place where walls will be. There is timbering around ladder and stone bricks around chimney using netherrack for fireplace.

Building walls:

You can see how the wall is attached to the chimney and how windows should look like. They are quite big with 2x3 blocks size and decorations around, the design can be easily shrinked to 1x2 or 1x3 blocks but here it fits as is. Decorations are on last block of plot space, space well used.

Now it is time to build outer wall and copy the window to more places. Windows dont have to be everywhere - first think if they fit in, second think if it will be better to have some wall to place a closet beside, and last (not seen here) think if neighboring houses wont block the view.

I dont like symmetry but some parts look better when symmetrical, and timbering is one of these. There are 3x6 or 3x5 blocks gaps between timbers and i want to use one of my favourite ceiling designs that fits well into these gaps.

Here it is:

First place upside-down stairs around the hole. Then fill the rest with upside-down slabs.

The result can look like this:

You can also see how i have built a fireplace and started to build inner walls - one big space for everything from bedroom to bathroom is interesting idea but i prefer to have some privacy when sleeping or taking a shower.
Small note about fireplaces - make them look fancy. Fireplace in living room is the center of social life, you must be able to impress your guests.

After finishing walls i removed one part of ceiling - thats is where staircase and/or ladder to attic will be.

It is very difficult to make staircase that looks well and doesnt obstruct people. More than 80% of my staircases fail to match my expectations.

Middle floor is done, lets leave interiors for later time. Now it is time to finish the rest of the exterior - attic, roof, details. Most troublesome work.

 

Roof is one big trouble. Not building a roof itself, that can be rather easy, but fitting it to the rest of the house hurts.

First we have to decide if attic will be smaller/narrower than middle floor or if we want to use full floor area. Full floor area would need to rise outer wall by 2 or 3 blocks at least so the roof doesnt start on top of carpet.
I decided to make it smaller so i can push roof as low as possible, with just few protruding details. Start like this:

In the middle, 7 blocks wide carpet laying directly on top of middle floor ceiling. It is the same width as bottom floor. On the edge, stonebrick stairs outlining whole roof. Between them, dirt to fill hollow gaps. There is plenty of space for secret chest or something like that but i will just fill it to prevent mobs from spawning there.
I like using red bricks as roofing tiles, it is the most common and traditional roofing material that i see around me irl. I also prefer A-shaped roof against pyramid-shaped roof for the same reason.

So we have this.

How to continue?

First option is to split roof into two parts and build a big, fancy window on top.

I dont like how it looks though. If we go for this big window, it should also protrude more from the wall, and the house should be a bit bigger to look more sturdy and not too top-heavy.

Fine, lets go simple way. Simple is good.

This is how the 2x3 blocks window design can be shrinked down into 1x2, still using the same style of decorations. Roof will be simple and easier to build.

One more view how to place roofing tiles and how to fill the gap.

Notice the chimney, protruding on right side. The chimney itself is 3x4 blocks wide straight tube, protruding outside from basement and attic but protruding inside in middle floor because middle floor is wider. There is no way to fly through the chimney though because of netherrack placed on each floor level, otherwise fireplaces would take up too much space.
Another thing to remember is that timber pillars on sides are exactly above middle-floor ceiling timbers.

Covering the underside of roof and placing the timber for the ridge:

Pretty self-explanatory. In order to cover roofing tiles from under i use wooden upside-down stairs. The reason is the same as for different floor/ceiling materials and the result is warm feeling inside.

The chimney once more:

From ground to roof, the chimney is 3x4 blocks. From roof to top, the chimney is 3x4 blocks without corners. This makes the chimney look slimmer, we just need to fit it to the roof - i use stairs to make smooth transition. Notice how outer edge of the roof is one block wider than chimney and its just the last possible block of this side of our two plots.

The chimney twice more, plus some details:

On top of the chimney there is something to cover it against rain. This little cover can be shaped in many different ways, depending on size of the chimney and whole house design.
Similar way, tips of the roof can be decorated in many ways. Remember to put some light on top to prevent mob spawning. Also notice that this decoration extends one block over the 30x15 roof shape, fitting exactly into 32 blocks of two plots if used on both sides.

So the roof is almost done:

Except for the small part above the staircase. This part will test our skills.

Place timber perpendicular to the ridge:

And start building the wall the same way as on both sides of the house.

 

Then lay roofing tiles and finish the ridge:

Basically, we are building this part from top to bottom - i learned that sometimes it is easier to start with a roof in proper height and then building the whole house under the roof.

The result can look like this:

Having the roof and walls done doesnt mean we are done with exteriors, but there is little to fix or finish on outside.

First, the balcony. Of 28 blocks available for middle floor, there are three 6-block wide spaces with windows, 5 blocks taken by timbering and 5 blocks left to make either smaller window (that would not fit well among other big ones) or doorway. And we have two blocks left on front side of the wall so small balcony is well possible and accessible:

Although there is little to no space for decorations, you can at least have fun shooting mobs. It would be also possible to add ladder there as a roof access.

Outer pillars deserve more details too:

There are upside-down stairs to support horizontal timbers above every pillar and bottom part of every pillar got widened to be stronger. it is especially important around front door, the walkway is now even more covered from sides.

Stone buttons to mimic bolts, nails or rivets on timber joints:


There is one place where those buttons should be but i cannot place them:

Front side of the balcony is outside our plots. Ask town assistant to place rivets there for you.

Now to finish the entrance:

Why so complicated opening? Fence gate keeps zombies away from door. There is nothing more annoying than zombies bashing on your door at 2am. Two pairs of pressure plates keep door closed. Notice how door is close to outer side when closed, leaving just one and half block between fence gate and doors - that prevents spiders to climb over wall and step on pressure plate.

When riding a horse from inside all doors open and close automatically, when riding a horse from outside you have to open fence gate manually and everything closes automatically.

Place upside-down stairs above entrance door - these dont block and hurt you when riding on a horse.


Inside, horse stable can be separated this way:

Fence gate allows you to walk to the stable but it prevents horses from walking away. When riding a horse you jump to get over fence.

 

Time to fill the house with interiors.

Lets start in storage. It is utility room, the first and most important room you enter, the room containing all stuff like tools or building blocks.

Place iron bars or another full block in front of fireplace and prevent your dogs or cats to be burned. Add four furnaces above fireplace - whoever needs more can just fill one gap with furnaces instead of chests. Fill gaps between double chests by placing a single trapped chests to rise storage capacity. Add a crafting table, an anvil, an iron block (MCMMO anvil and fancy table for brewing stand) and a brewing stand. To make potions you will need some water bottles and they arent stackable so its useful to have 2x2 blocks of endless water source around.

Place lamps under timbers in living room (or anywhere else where it fits):

Break a block where two timbers are crossing. Place a lever there, pull it and place a redstone lamp from under.

Kitchen and dining table:

I like gold and iron pressure plates. I wish we still had gold pressure plates in Deity Shop, i gave all mine to Koala to use them this way. Driver showed me water taps - place tripwire hook on wall, place item frame over it, place red/blue wool into item frame.

There is still some dark place right under redstone lamps in the middle - the closer to the ground light source is, the more light on ground, so lets add more lamps on fireplace.

Lever is not much hidden inside the chimney, but well..

Living room part is very easy, you need some couch to sit on, some TV to watch, some books to read.

I added a jukebox later and i recommend to add more paintings and item frames.

Bed layout:

4x4 blocks with two beds in the middle. there will be enchanting table on both sides.

Adding the closet and finishing the whole bed so it looks like this:

Again, paintings, item frames, some chair to sit on, some small table, shelves with flowerpots... There are lots of items to add.
Notice the glowstone above the bed and the overall bed height - i am really happy to have 5 blocks of air between floor and ceiling.

Bathroom is small, it had to fit into 3x5 blocks:

Still there is enough space for water taps and some mirror.

Top floor...

Enchanting room and thats about it, plus two smaller guest bedrooms that i didnt decorate. Ask your guests how their bedrooms should be decorated.

Add some flowerpots around windows, add some hedge on a border of your plot, some walkway, put more lights on roof corners... and two-plot house is finished:

 

One post reserved for some important things that i forgot about or for answers you ask for.

 

Thanks Barry, best design yet!! Helped me get some new techniques aswell in my building

 

this is love<3 Great House!!!

 

Barry what materials would you recommend that pair nicely with each other for a modern home? (or anyone for that matter )

 

quartz and stained clay, but for on this server maybe white clay or snow instead of the quartz

 

In vol.2 there is an example with sandstone as base material combined lapis blocks. If you want something else, stone slabs (and double steps) or maybe iron blocks can fit well with stained clay. Be careful, as stained clay is always reddish its difficult to fit it with some glass or wool colors.
Driver used acacia planks with orange clay for his house. The house isnt too modern but it is the best use of acacia planks i have seen so far.

 

so is there a way to just follow you for whenever you post a thread? because these house things you do are really useful

 

it's called "camp the forums"

 

AKA, Levi

What about a fantasy style house? What block types would you recommend?