Willowpond - yes, it's nice, but...

Ravensilver · April 14

The outside of Willowpond is really, really lovely and it immediately spoke to me as a housing and nature lover. The lake, the waterfalls, the little nooks and crannies... almost perfect.

But then... there are *TWO* houses on that property! TWO!

Why do we need two houses that are both large, with completely bewildering layouts inside, lots of corridors and stairs that you can't really use for anything. Lots of tiny rooms around many corners.

Real architects would have been laughed out of the house if they'd shown up with something as ridiculous in planning as these two houses in real life.

So. No, I'm again not going to spend 15k crowns on something that I won't be able to furnish properly with only 700 slots. No matter how nice the outside is.

Daoin · April 14

since when was 1 better 2 ? and whats wrong with owning your own estate ^^ but it was the cave at the back that sold it for me

but yeah i agree we sorely need more space for furnishings

Ravensilver · April 14

Daoin wrote: »

since when was 1 better 2 ? and whats wrong with owning your own estate ^^ but it was the cave at the back that sold it for me but yeah i agree we sorely need more space for furnishings

When both are so large and badly arranged inside that you can't really properly furnish *both* with only 700 slots.

Lugaldu · April 14

I remember the discussions in the forums that people wanted houses with more and smaller rooms and not those giantic open spaces without any internal structuring which we often had before. But I also prefer the larger open rooms which give us more options to modify them and didn´t bought any house so far which has a lot of small rooms.
But I also agree that two houses on one property are too much and thats also the reason why I will not buy Willowpond (although the outside is really pretty).

katanagirl1 · April 14

I don’t have this house since I’m not a fan of Leyawiin style, but I liked the fact that Thieves Oasis had two houses because I made one of them into the crafting area/guest quarters and the other the main house with a large kitchen/bar area and game room.

MidniteOwl1913 · April 14

I agree the houses are very nice, but 2 is 1 too many. It's too bad I would buy either house, but I decided that yes not enough slots to decorate 2 huge houses properly.

evymyu233 · April 15

i hope i can remove them.i like a beautiful open land

SeaGtGruff · April 15

The second house is for your in-laws to live in, and the hidden cave is for you to escape from them every so often.

BlueRaven · April 15

I won’t be decorating until I get back home in May, but I am turning the house near the small stable into an inn.

The second home will look normal outside, but inside? Secrets…

lol

Nissowolf · April 15

i for one, love inconditionnally the willowpond estate, as i have a minimalistic style that allows me to decorate with very few furnishing

freespirit · April 15

It's sad because I love housing BUT I no longer even preview the new Crown houses, I canot afford them and even if I could(never going to happen) they are too big to decorate!

I would however throw my gold at any and every new gold purchasable house, even horribly big ones!! 🙂

Wildberryjack · April 15

I feel the same. All I want is that outside space, the pond and cave. The two smaller houses are a bit iffy also, maybe if it were a single larger one. As it is I'm gonna pass.

Also, what is with them making nothing but notables anymore? There is another new one in Alik'r that hasn't gone on sale yet and it's a ginormous notable too.

Ruj · April 15

I want a version of Willpond Haven without the buildings.

Same with Antiquarian, Forgemaster Falls, and many other homes.

Covering up those AWFUL buildings takes up precious item slots.

Nerouyn · April 15

Ravensilver wrote: »

Real architects would have been laughed out of the house if they'd shown up with something as ridiculous in planning as these two houses in real life.

They're certainly less common but I watch a lot of posh real estate shows and multiple buildings on big estates is not a crime against nature. Or real estate.

Possibly this is intended to allow players to have their own house and another for their companions / merchant / banker.

i.e. you in one and "staff" in the other.

Wildberryjack wrote: »

I feel the same. All I want is that outside space, the pond and cave.

Yeah, I gaped at the exterior but while I don't see anything objectively wrong with the houses, they're just too vanilla (i.e. real world) for my tastes.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a nice Dawnwood home. Preferably this time minus built in bones.

SueGale · April 16

I love the property... but not the houses so much. I'll do something with the land and maybe decorate the outside of the houses to look lived in, but lock the doors so no one can enter to see that the inside is vacant. hehe

That said... I DO WISH there was a way to make homes we don't like/want... disappear. Forgemaster Forge is another with too many buildings and those are harder to cover up.

Nerouyn · April 16

SueGale wrote: »

That said... I DO WISH there was a way to make homes we don't like/want... disappear.

And also potentially the opposite.

Personally I think the base game Altmer medium sized Cliffshade is one of the most beautiful houses I've ever seen, real or imagined.

It's gorgeous.

https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Cliffshade

And it really speaks to the Oblivion (single player game) Ayleid aesthetic. But a house, rather than a ruin.

But while the Altmer in nearby Marbruk have lovely cherry blossom trees everywhere, this house is stuck with an ugly dirty pond and the player gets no garden to actually change.

If I could plop down - either built by crafting or even bought in the crown store - that house on a piece of land like this, that'd be brilliant. Assuming that comes with obvious functionality like being able to access the house interior.

Although I'm also keeping my fingers crossed for more Ayleid and perhaps less ruined buildings with Gold Road.

Wildberryjack · April 16

SueGale wrote: »

I DO WISH there was a way to make homes we don't like/want... disappear. Forgemaster Forge is another with too many buildings and those are harder to cover up.

Yeah I wanted to remove some of the stuff there so I could make a nice stable and chill area but those buildings are taking up all the space and are SO in the way. What doesn't have a building on it is so uneaven I'd have to use a ton of slots just to smooth it out to build on it.

MoonPile · April 17

I did get it, but always planned to cover the houses. An unfortunate use of already annoyingly-limited slots and of course I wish they could give us an option to remove stock buildings; many of us asked for that as soon as this hit PTS. But oh well. For me it's all about the environment, and this one was too beautiful to pass on.

Examples:
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/comment/8036356/#Comment_8036356

^ Houses? What houses?

And a little PTS sketch up that thread:

StackonClown · April 17

totally agree on the layout - too many houses have weird setups and corners..
Would love to have one great big hall just like the Jarls or Orc kings palace - is there a house like that ??

WolfStar07 · April 19

I'd initially thought (since the buildings are named) to make this into a sort of AirBnB situation, but that's too similar to the inn and B&B builds I'm working on in other homes. Perhaps I would live in 1 home, and the other be a workshop or something. I'm still thinking on it.

Ravensilver · April 20

MoonPile wrote: »

I did get it, but always planned to cover the houses.

The thing with covering up houses that really annoys me is, we are paying a *lot* of money for the whole thing... only to then cover it all up, because we can't really use it.

It's like buying the most expensive Porsche out there... and then taking off the wheels. You have a nice car, but can't go anywhere with it.

Athyrie · April 21

I agree, I liked the house on the left, but hated the one on the right... I would have preferred just having more flat land to build my own custom thing on. But I like what MoonPile did to their Willowpond house, hiding the 2 houses altogether. That is something I am considering doing.

gusthermopyle · April 24

Volcanic plugs are your ally

Wildberryjack · April 24

I don't know if zos reads these threads but I would like to formally request a house that is just the pond and cave of this house. That's it, nothing more. Just the pond and cave area. Cut the rest away and make it a Classic. TY.

Thee_Cheshire_Cat · April 25

Make it possible to delete structures. Get rid of those ugly houses.

Wildberryjack · April 26

Thee_Cheshire_Cat wrote: »

Make it possible to delete structures. Get rid of those ugly houses.

Wait wait wait! Not delete but take apart so we can use the bits and pieces to build something else. That would be a major game changer for housing. There are so many that I'd like to remove walls to make fewer but larger rooms or take an outside wall out to make the house larger.