Need Help and Advise for Building Project

[Captain Charles F. Harlowe]

Hello!

I need some Advise on LEGO-Building.

I long wanted to do a Georgian 1700s Stately Home in Minifig Scale. However, I need some Help and Inspiration.

I am planning a Building of some 2 stories high, plus (maybe) Attic and Cellar. I do not know, however, how to build the Manor in a Way, that all Rooms are acessible, e.g. if the whole Stories should be able to be detached from the house, or just the Floors ad Ceilings.

I need further Advise how to build a stable Foundation.

Also, I need some help with the internal Wall-design and Furniture, as i have no clue how to translate the georgian Styles into bricks.. The same goes for some of the Window and Door constructions.

Especially how I can build Doors.

Also, would the Use of printed Paper for Wallpapers be regarded as cheating?

Sincerely,

Harlowe

uh,

I am planning to have the outer Walls some 4-5 Studs thick, and the Inner Walls about 3. That leaves a Stud thikness for the Look on either Side, and allows a stablizing plain layer on the Inside. It also can take some of the Pace from Fireplaces etc.

Also, I'd love to have real Ceilings, so that the Minifigs wont have to stare at rough Bricks .

Also, i think of building it first in LDD, and if reasonably finished, and possible, extract the number and kind of Bricks required from the Program and collect them somewhere else.

[Erdbeereis]

I'll just move this to the MOCs forum.

[Norrington]

If you want to build it in a modular fashion, with floors separable from one another, that's easy enough to do.

I would recommend following the styles of Cafe Corner and the other modular buildings in this regard. As in, the top of all the walls should be topped with studless plates, and the upper-floor should rest upon them, with the same thing applying to the roof and the second stories. I variation on this to get more sturdiness would be to occasionally have 1x1 or 1x2 plates with studs to have a "grasp" on the upper story, but not so firm a grasp that they're difficult to separate.

PIctues 8 and 9 in this thread should give a better idea of what I mean.

Now, as to design, I would suggest consulting architectural reference works. Thankfully, with it's preference for right angles and relatively simple forms, the Georgian/Neo-classical style of the 18th century lends itself wonderfully Lego!

I would recommend A Field Guide to American Houses, as it contains a lot of useful information in regards to common floor-plan styles, decorative details/elaborations, as well as copious amounts of pictures of various historic façades that show the style in particular. Looking through my copy just now, I'm seeing a good selection of Georgian houses in their various forms, so I'm sure you'd be able to draw something useful from it. :) It's particularly suitable, since if you're doing it to overlap with the Pirate theme, the architecture would be slightly specialised to be adapted to the Americas.

This is MOC of a British streetscape, and since it represents some typically Georgian style buildings (as well as some Flemish/Victorian Gothic styled ones), it would be worth a look, though they are town houses rather than free-standing manors as you wish to build. The grey townhouses have their own topic as well, and though it's a bit simple and stylized, it does show the "major" detailing in this style. It also shows some of the modular floor techniques I was talking about earlier.

This is a link I would also recommend. It represents a building of a later age and slightly different style (a European permutation of the neo-Classical styles, identifiable by their trimwork commonly being white and their bodies a lighter shade), but it has many features in common with the Georgian style (the Central "block" with wings, quoins, etc.) and would be a good reference as to how to render some features in Lego, especially if you're going for a more realistic style.

I hope you find all this information at least a bit helpful, this a project I would like to see!

[Captain Charles F. Harlowe]

Thank you very much, Sir, for the valuable Information.

On the Books, well,

I'd prefer pure english Style. :)

If only I knew of a Book dealing with the Interior Plans of Georgian Manors. :(

I'd apreciate any Suggestions.

As for the Style, I'think most english Manors are darkened and grey from old age. I have seen a few being not so cogged up with dirt or freshly cleaned, and they tend to be rather light in Colour. I especially like the Sand Coloured ones, though I fancied the Brick Specimen for a Time.

I'd love to have a small, but not too small Layout, frankly, building my dream-House for Minifigs. :D

I may later venture on to add other Buildings to the Land :)

Another Problem I am facing, is that LDD hardly shows the Edges of Bicks in plain Walls, which show diffrently when using real bricks. E.g. I thought using 1x2 flat dar red pieces, with a few re and brown ones, one could actually do brickwork ^^

And I have a Problem how I can keep the Building looking new and well-kept, and still avoid boring Surfaces. :(

Regards,

Harlowe

oops, forgot the best.

The best Images to ilsustrate my ideal Homes are these two:

But I am, as I just realize, in trouble:

I like the neat Ones with not too many an Axis, and I dislike lots of Side-Wings...so, how to fit the necessary Rooms in it *D'Oh!*

Harlowe

Edited September 3, 2011 by Captain Charles F. Harlowe

[Norrington]

Thank you very much, Sir, for the valuable Information.

On the Books, well,

I'd prefer pure english Style. :)

If only I knew of a Book dealing with the Interior Plans of Georgian Manors. :(

I'd apreciate any Suggestions.

Well, I would still recomend the book I did since it does include all you desire. You have to remember, at the time (18th century), most of the houses in the American colonies were of English origin, and as a result, are nearly identical to English examples, differing only in regards to things such as materials (i.e., Americans favored brick and wood, while in UK it was mostly brick or limestone). I think it's something you ought to look at, as it will give you a very good idea of how to adapt these things to LEGO.

As for the Style, I'think most english Manors are darkened and grey from old age. I have seen a few being not so cogged up with dirt or freshly cleaned, and they tend to be rather light in Colour. I especially like the Sand Coloured ones, though I fancied the Brick Specimen for a Time.

That's bound to happen to any old building, but you're right, many manor houses of that type were built of a sand/tan colored limestone (particularly specimens built around 1780 on). The I've generally seen the limestone homes grouped in with Palladian or Regency (both Neo-classical styles), rather than Georgian, depending on their features.

Another Problem I am facing, is that LDD hardly shows the Edges of Bicks in plain Walls, which show diffrently when using real bricks. E.g. I thought using 1x2 flat dar red pieces, with a few re and brown ones, one could actually do brickwork ^^

And I have a Problem how I can keep the Building looking new and well-kept, and still avoid boring Surfaces. :(

I'd recommend the "Headlight" trick. That is, build a wall entirely headlight piece and then form the actual surface with side-ways 2/1 (or larger, depending on what you like) tiles. Or perhaps just 2/1 plates stacked to emulate brick, the choice would be up to you, in that regard.

The best Images to ilsustrate my ideal Homes are these two:

[Pictures]

[...]

I like the neat Ones with not too many an Axis, and I dislike lots of Side-Wings...so, how to fit the necessary Rooms in it *D'Oh!*

Well, those are both more Neo-classical Palladian/Regency than Georgian, but they're both very evocative of the type of neo-classical country houses being built from the 1780s on.

I guess it depends on whether or not you want a historic floorplan. On a house of this vintage, servant areas/kitchens would be in the basement/ground floor (assuming the foundation is a full first story with the actual living areas for the owners above) or in ancillary wings. If you don't wish to have wings, then I'd just leave those areas out.

I think a typical "split in two" plan would work just fine, as that's house it's done on most strict Georgian buildings. That is, a central stair hall with the areas on each side being divided into one or two rooms.

[Captain Charles F. Harlowe]

Well, the two Houses are actually from the early 1700s :P

If I recall it correctly, Palladian style emerged in Renaissance Italy.

There are, as far as I know, subtle Changes in the Elemtents during the late 18th and early 19th Centuries.

Also the Georgian Style resurfaced several Times, which sometimes makes it difficult to tell, when a Building was erected.

I collected loads of Pictures of true early to mid 18th C. Manors and Furniture, still its difficult.

I do not have any Objections against Buildings for Storage, Servants etc, but I'd rather keep the Main-Building from having many Side-Wings.

The Manormight even become the Nucleus of a small Set of Buildings etc., The Landlords house, the Village, small church etc... :)

At the Moment I wonder how I can keep the Stories of the Building Stable and prevent them from breaking apart when being lifted..

Harlowe

[Norrington]

Well, the two Houses are actually from the early 1700s :P

If I recall it correctly, Palladian style emerged in Renaissance Italy.

There are, as far as I know, subtle Changes in the Elemtents during the late 18th and early 19th Centuries.

Also the Georgian Style resurfaced several Times, which sometimes makes it difficult to tell, when a Building was erected.

I collected loads of Pictures of true early to mid 18th C. Manors and Furniture, still its difficult.

Well, in this context, Georgian is a neo-classical style that I group together with Palladian (and Regency) and other contemporary classical styles. They are all very similar; for example, Baroque architecture (similar but different to the Train station MOC) has plenty of classical elements in it.

The Palladian style originated in Italy (you are correct) with the work of Venetian architect Andrea Palladio. One thing you will find is that Palladian style is not always adhered strictly. There are many Georgain buildings that have Palladian detailing and all sorts of other permutations.

I should say that the Limestone façades (such as the one you posted) have essentially existed as long as the Georgian and other Neo-classical styles have. After all, it's very similar in many regards to the marble and stone used in Greece and Rome, which is what they are imitating. However, these began enjoying a particular vogue beginning in the 1780s. When I say "Regency," I mean much the same as Georgian, but with the changes that occurred during this period (along with the contemporary changes in actual fashion as well).

If you follow American architecture, it follows the same trend. Wooden and Brick high-style buildings till about 1790 or so, and then limestone became most fashionable.

I suppose, I should ask, where are you "setting" this MOC? As the country seat in England of a wealthy/titled naval captain, or a home for the captain in the Caribbean where he lives in port?

I do not have any Objections against Buildings for Storage, Servants etc, but I'd rather keep the Main-Building from having many Side-Wings.

The Manormight even become the Nucleus of a small Set of Buildings etc., The Landlords house, the Village, small church etc... :)

At the Moment I wonder how I can keep the Stories of the Building Stable and prevent them from breaking apart when being lifted..

I would suggest building in sections. Much the same way as the modular buildings on Cafe Corner-styled streets work.

And are you building this as sort of a landscaped diorama of an estate, or just a single house? Because that will certainly determine what you do to build it.

Edited September 4, 2011 by Norrington

[Captain Charles F. Harlowe]

Well,

It should be placed in England. I want to build the Manor first, and later possibly add more Things to it like stables, Gardens, and maybee some Parts of the nearby Village. But that is not yet sure.

Maybe the Manor itself with a bit Sorroundings will be one set, and the Village another, as the Park in full Minifig-Scale my be prohibitively Large :)

If so, the Manor would anyways be a 1700s Building and look neat and clean, whilst the Village, and possibly some Buildings accompanying the Manor, would have accumulated several Styles, e.g. a medieval Parish-Church, some Renaissance Houses and some new.

Basically to simulate a realistic, grown Structure, that shows this Place existed before.

What exactly do you mean by a modular building?

Harlowe

Another Problem might be getting neat Minifigs ... long tailed Coats are not exactly perfectly Minifig-Compatible :P

[Norrington]

What exactly do you mean by a modular building?

If you're familiar with the Cafe Corner style of building I mentioned earlier, it incorporates "modular building." So rather than having one block of buildings that are essentially one big building and therefore difficult to move, or loosely connected seperate structures that are difficult to keep together properly, they are connected via technic bricks and pins located at uniform places on each building.

If you wanted to build a large diorama or large buildings, my suggestion would be to build them in sections that split via this method for the sheer convenience of it.

[Captain Charles F. Harlowe]

Ah, now I got it.

Thank you very much!