MOD: Park Street Townhouse 31065 as a modular row of houses

[finnbricker]

The new Creator set 31065 just screams "Modularize me!", doesn't it? ;) Nice architectural details, realistic colours, a cool fire escape. It's a little low, but hey, in no city are all buildings of the same height. My initial idea was to buy two and merge them into one modular building, but after I had built the first one according to the instructions – as a starting point for my MOD – I realized that only very little needs to be done to make it a 16-wide modular. Mostly just basic bricks for the back wall. At this stage, I was still thinking of adding another of those bay windows to each floor to add a little to the height, but in the end I actually like it the way it is.

So I decided to simply make it narrower by remowing the window on the left side of the door. Since I needed the whole building to be of the same height, I added the window above the door – fits nicely, I think. When I had the first building ready, I simply built a second one next to it. Actually, three in a row might look nice...

So this is what it looks like as a 32-wide double. It very much reminds me of the style of housing that the Gallagher family lives in in Chicago's South Side, so I just had to place a homeless drunk on the sidewalk :D I still need four of those dark stone grey shaft with balls to complete the roof.

The sides are very plain, and also the fire escape had to be relocated – now it's in the back, which gives the backside a nice detail together with the window, tree and some seating.

Usually, when I have the façade finished, and if it's a commercial building, the interior, then I just run out of ideas and inspiration so the backside remains very plain. In this case, however, the set came with enough details to furnish the backyard. The chairs and barbeque are borrowed from 31052 Vacation Getaways, the tree is a combination of two 31065 trees, the birds are 31065 originals. I also added an entrance to the basement.

There's a modest interior, as well. This is the top floor with one apartment having a 31065 bed, the other one a 31052 bed. There are no stairs, that would eat up all the room inside. Gotta use that fire escape!

The main floors both have identical kitchens. Again, the furniture is a combination of 31065 and 31052 to get some variation.

As you can see in this picture, the buildings share a common basement. There's a pillar in the middle to add support for the upper floors. Two similar fireplaces, though. The main floor is so low that the door needs to be placed here, otherwise it doesn't fit. This works out relatively nicely altough the door does come off a little too easily when removing and placing the top floors back. Wouldn't work in a real set. The two floors are separate, though, but the roof is just one common piece.

Don't you think the 31065 looks great as a modular? It's a very inexpensive way to build MOD modulars, too. You need one set per one 16-wide modular and then mostly just basic bricks in tan and dark red as well as dark stone grey tiles. That's about it – some plates for the floors/ceilings, too.

Thanks for reaging, and as always, grateful for your comments!

Edited March 30, 2017 by finnbricker
typos

[Phil B]

I like this ... very creative and looks pretty good!

[finnbricker]

Thanks Phil B! I'd like to place this next to the Pet Shop brownstone to see how they fit together...

[Dakar A]

Very nicely done! However, I'd recommend adding some visual flair on the outsides of the bay windows- as it stands, they are very plain and mess with the aesthetic of the whole building (that's my main complaint with the set as well). Something like a column of headlight bricks with 1x1 plates facing outwards would probably be more than enough to make it interesting!

EDIT: Or you could add a rain gutter like the Pet Shop modular, or a colored stripe like the Grand Emporium and other modulars!

Edited March 31, 2017 by Dakar A

[TheLegoDr]

I was waiting for someone to do this. This set is already a tiny modular. I was planning on doing something similar once I pick up the set, but I'm waiting for a sale price.

And I like the dark red bottom better than the sand green bottom. I'm not sure why the set has both colors, maybe to add variety?

But I'm the person that HAS to have an interior and stairs, so as well as this works, I think I'll still have to figure out how to do some interior stairs.

[SwissBrick]

Charming and creative! Thanks for inspiring, I never made a good modular out of usual smaller creators sets.. Excellent!

[NewTown]

I like the idea of putting multiples of this set side by side.

[Venunder]

Nicely done. 

I would probably need 6 of these to make one Modular version. Which does not really add up to good value for a modular.

My answer to this would probably be using 4 to build a short street and then use basic bricks and plates to add double the depth of the original set to make the interiors workable.

[Only Sinner]

Cool MOD, it really does look like City row houses. Also " shaft with balls" made me laugh. Sophomoric, I know but still. 

[finnbricker]

2 hours ago, Only Sinner said:

Cool MOD, it really does look like City row houses. Also " shaft with balls" made me laugh. Sophomoric, I know but still. 

I just had to write it like that Officially: http://brickset.com/parts/6158469

19 hours ago, SwissBrick said:

Charming and creative! Thanks for inspiring, I never made a good modular out of usual smaller creators sets.. Excellent!

Thanks! I do make MOCs as well, but my creativity is better suited towards modding existing Lego designs into modulars. This one turned out very nicely, I think, because it's almost modular from the start. Why don't you give it a go, too, and show us how it turns out?

21 hours ago, TheLegoDr said:

I was waiting for someone to do this. This set is already a tiny modular. I was planning on doing something similar once I pick up the set, but I'm waiting for a sale price.

And I like the dark red bottom better than the sand green bottom. I'm not sure why the set has both colors, maybe to add variety?

But I'm the person that HAS to have an interior and stairs, so as well as this works, I think I'll still have to figure out how to do some interior stairs.

Yeah, I've made a couple of 12-deep modulars because the interior isn't my focus point. But here, you could easily widen this to 16 and use the additional area for stairs. When your project is ready, make sure to post it for us to see?

[ColletArrow]

Very good, I like the shaping with the recesses. It feels a little plain, however. Perhaps add some drainpipes as @Dakar A suggested, or using the 1x2 brick with masonry pattern for the recessed section around the door to break up the smooth walls a bit. I also feel it needs more of an interior, it looks wrong to me without one!

Well done on the model overall.

[finnbricker]

Here's a small street consisting of the BB, 31052 MOD, 31065 MOD and 31050 MOD.

I think especially the Corner Deli MOD goes well together with the BB.

[Brando]

Great work! I was thinking about modularizing creator sets but I never did it.

Do you think that 2 31026 sets are enough to build just one building (16x16) without adding extra parts? Maybe there would be a change of colour of the basement wall but that's ok.  

[finnbricker]

Thanks!

Two Bike Shops 31026 would probably be enough for a 16 x 16 building, especially if you concentrate on the facade and are flexible on the colour of the side walls. However, I would recommend buying bulk parts in white and tan and create two buildings. That's what I did here:

Scroll down a little to see the bank (tan 16x16) completed. The top floor was built completely our of PAB/BL parts.

The bike shop corner building isn't ready yet, but it will be some day. I actually got to 31026 sets when they were discounted at my local TRU and aim at redoing the bike shop completely one day.

[Brando]

Sorry, I mean the 31065.

[finnbricker]

Okay! In that case, no, I don't think it will work very well. The set has so few basic bricks. But if you're ready to make compromises by making the floors less deep (maybe 12 instead of 16 studs) and using the sand green bricks for something, too, then it might work. Please show us the result when you've finished building!