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As you can probably gauge from previous entries I love quality builds. It’s the effort that people have obviously put in to their subject matter that thrills me..some buildings are just sheer labours of love. Forget houses with unimaginative textures and bog-standard attributes, four walls is so passe dahling, I’m talking about creations that have been crafted with love by their originator. Shall I elaborate? Well, for example with textures you can really tell when someone has gone the extra mile to seek out and use something a bit different. They’ve possibly created their own source material, using a photograph they took themselves. They bake shadows in the right places, cracks where you’d expect to find them.,they include  windows and doors that have a certain depth to them and aren’t just mere surface decoration. Floor textures and decorative options are selected with care, ensuring that they are exactly right for the period and style of the building. It’s a lot of work, but the very best designers will go that extra mile to make an object that is utterly breathtaking. I’ve talked about some of my favourite designers on the blog before, and now I’m adding another one to my personal faves list: Holly Klaxon. If I ever get to meet Holly I will plant a big smacker on her chops and tell her that she is a Goddess. Now, I know many of you doubt my sanity, and with good reason- BUT-sometimes in life, real or second, you come across someone who is just so good at what they do you cannot help but want to fall at their feet and worship them for the Gods that they are. I do not worship false idols..but Prad Pravithi, Peter Stindberg, Botha architects and Holly Klaxon are my pantheon of choice. Incidentally, I’m not including the clothing Goddesses here, otherwise I’ll be typing into next fortnight and I’m going to see Hellboy 2 tonight.  Anyway, Holly Klaxon. She’s the creative force behind a company called Henredon Homes. She recently performed the revamp at Calla,and if you’ve been there recently you’ll have had first hand experience of Holly’s creativity. (For the moment, until she has her own sim, Holly’s work is located to the rear of the store.)Classical architecture is the order of the day here. For a start, when I saw ‘The Victorian Stable’ I was absolutely astonished. It is just so pretty-there’s no other word for it. It’s a beautiful blue and white building with sublime detail work. The building has doors and windows aplenty, and when you enter you’re faced with tack hooks, period saddle holders and two stalls. Above the left-hand stable is a hayloft, replete with romantic poseballs so you can have a roll around in the straw. The little touches that Holly has put into this are quite something, and 209 prims is a cinch for the goodies on offer. ALL the doors and windows open and close, there’s a feed bucket with a little scoop and detailed shelving so that you could put trophies or riding hats on display. There’s a lantern with a 3 way switch so that you control the brightness, and one of the neatest little touches is the bulletin board on the wall in the stable. When you click it you’re directed to a blog that has loads of useful help files in case you run into difficulties with the build. One of the nicest things about the stable though is the overall feel to the place, it’s nice and bright and feels pretty authentic..you can just tell that a lot of care has gone into making everything just so. I’ve seen really small properties with less detail than the Victorian Stable costing upwards of L$7500, so when I saw that the stable was just L$1250 I was gobsmacked. The other neat thing about this is that you can copy the build, so you can have enough stables to accommodate all your horses…it’s practically a gift!Now, I could witter on about the other beauties on offer, such as the quaint gazebo and the rather superb self-returning boats, but I’d be doing you a disservice if I didn’t make you go and get off your virtual backsides and go and see for yourself…so here’s some more encouragement.
If you thought the stable was good, you ain’t seen nothing yet! ‘The Untamed Jungle Adventure Treehouse’ may sound pretentious, but nothing could be further from the truth. It is simply fabulous.. Holly has said that she was inspired by the adventures of Dr. Livingston and his peers and this build certainly encapsulates that era perfectly. I’m convinced that when you see this you’ll be speechless with awe, for this is excellence in treehouse form. Before you even make your ascent you have a beautiful waterfall and volcanic pool replete with a romantic secret cave underneath the main treehouse build to explore. Like the stable, there are poseballs included in this build, and you’ll find some in the cave area. (Personally, I think it’s an ideal, private place to add a few more adventurous poseballs should you so require…) The teleportation device, which takes you up into the branches to the main living area. The trees and the building itself are beautifully textured ( Holly makes fabulous texture choices) and your privacy is accommodated without compromising the jungle feel by using canvas blinds. The property is divided by sheer drapes inside and there is a ceiling fan and light combination to add ambiance. The furnishings are supplied and are more than adequate, comprising of a bathroom with shower and luxurious couples bath (animated of course) and a delightful comfy-looking bed. Again this has poses built in, but not of the saucy kind. Fear not though, you can remove the furnishings and install your own should you so desire..but why you’d want to spoil the mood I have no idea! There are lanterns in each interior room (and exterior too) and a dining table with chairs and jungle-themed munchies for you to indulge in. Walking around this place you find yourself exclaiming ‘Ooh!’ and ‘Aah!’ at very regular intervals. For example, there are towels on the towel rail ready to used after your bath, and they gently move in the breeze. A fantastic little touch that just enhances the authenticity. The canopy bed is covered in cascading vines, just how you’d imagine a jungle bed to look ( no snakes though- you could get one from Zooby’s for that!) There’s even soap in the soap dish (I think it’s ‘Imperial Leather’) and in the cave underneath there’s a pick axe and gemstones scattered around:) Like any good tree house there’s a rope swing (please, no Shia Lebouf impressions…)and you also get a trunk full of goodies to decorate your house with. These are really special- a period styled compass (that really works!! It’s magic I tells ya!) binoculars, treasure map and crate for storing all your explorer-like implements, so you now have no excuse for not making like Indiana Jones and plotting your next adventure. Oh, and like the stables, at L$4500 this is exceptionally reasonably priced when you consider what is on offer… Click HERE to go see NOW!