LOT DESIGN TIP FOR BIG-HOME BUILDERS

If you want a beautiful but real-looking mansion, consider using a house plan of an actual luxury home.  You can get several for free right off this site (see link).  It's one of my regular go-to sites when I need big house help.

 What You Need 

1. A house plan (on screen is best)
   
   
2. Graph paper (also called quadrille paper)
   
   
3. A few sharp pencils
   
   
4. A plastic ruler (see-through is best)
   
   
5. A pencil sharpener
   
   
6. A good-old-fashioned eraser
   
   
7. Clear tape (optional)
   
   

What To Do

1. Choose a home from the site.
   
   
2. Click on the home and scroll down to the house plans.
   
   Note:
   
   - There will be one house plan for each floor of the home.
   
   - There may be other house plans there if the home has any outbuildings such as a stable or unattached garage.
   
   - Some homes also have the elevation drawing (front of house) so you can see what kind of exterior items to use.
   
   
3. Using pencil and ruler, copy each house plan to the graph paper.
   
   Note:
   
   - Here is the scale, which seems to be standard with house plans:
   
   2 x 2 foot square = 1 square on the paper
   
   - Which for building in the game, won't mean anything. So look at the house plan and find a toilet, a sink, a washer or dryer. The space that each of these occupy in-game is 1 tile. Copy your house plans using the same scale.
   
   1 square on the paper = 1 tile in the game
   
   - You may have to measure to find out how many squares each room is. Just remember that house plans are to scale which means that every bit of space is in correct proportion to real-life measurements.

How This Helps You

If you can successfully copy the house plan to scale onto graph paper:

• You can build a home in the game square by square.
  
  
• You can use FullScreen mode in the game since your layout is on paper in front of you.
  
  
• This will really cut down on your building time and make you a more confident lot planner.
  
  
• You will minimize building mistakes.
   
• Your home will be symmetrical (balance is required for beauty).
   
• All the rooms will fit (no having to stick parts on afterward).
   
• Best of All:  You'll know the exact tiles where any stairs or elevators will be on your lot, before you even start building! Very handy for multiple-story homes or stairs to a basement underneath a foundation.
  
  

 Some Tips 

• Get the House Plan Right on Paper

 Huge houses weren't built in a day. Take the time to get the house plan right and make sure you understand it. It's easier to erase than to rebuild. Believe me. Don't be afraid to erase! If you are not confident about copying a house plan, use lighter pencil strokes that are easy to erase, then darken them when you are sure of the layout.

Number off your graph paper across the very top and down the left side. I usually number every other line. Start with 0 as the first number.  Do one page for each floor of your layout. You'll see that:

One piece of 8.5x11 graph paper = about a 30x40 size lot with some spare room

For larger homes you will have to run one house plan onto more than one piece of graph paper. Because I number off my graph paper, I do not need to tape papers together, but you can if you need to.

• Pay Special Attention to Staircases in Multiple-story Homes 

 The Most Important Thing:  Get the spiral stairs (or elevator) in the same place on every floor. The exception is straight (6-tile) staircases. In the Sims 3 they cannot be stacked. So for straight staircases, plan for one more row of tiles than what the home plan shows. The staircases will have to go side-by-side instead of one-atop-another. Or modify your floor plan to use spiral staircases if you want stacked stairs.

• Start Small 

Practise on smaller homes first. That's what I did. Since I learned about house plans, I don't build anything without one - and now I can create my own house plans, straight from imagination to graph paper!

• Save Your Graphed Home Plans 

If a downloader has a question about the size of items on one of your published lots, it's much easier to whip out a binder and locate the house plan, than it is to start up the whole game, make sure that version of your lot is still installed... well, you know.

Or (knock on wood) you can easily rebuild a complicated house if you (ulp!) lose your work in the game. This has saved me a few times!

Resources

House Plan Sites 

• Dream Home Source
• Architehtural Designs
• Monster House Plans
• Living Concepts House Plans

Create Your Own House Plan Online for FREE

• Floor Planner

House Plan Symbols and their Meanings

•  Construction53
  
  

Google and Wiki Search

• house plans online free
• List of House Plan styles