Tuesday, March 30th saw Patch Linden announce the release of the Chalet style of Linden Homes for Premium members.
First unveiled in December 2020, this latest style of Linden Home has something of an Alpine edge to it, with the official forum post noting:
Chalet theme homes are modelled after stylized European alpine wood-timbered houses (fachwerkhaus), of a type that you might expect to find in mountains of Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Slovenia, Croatia, or northern Italy. These are not rustic buildings, but contemporary homes ready for 21st century living.
As with the majority of the Linden Homes releases, these houses come with 1024 sq metre parcels (only the Campers and Trailers have thus far diverted from this footprint size). However, unlike previous Home releases, there are effectively eight variants that are available for rezzing, something Patch originally indicated to me when I previewed the theme back in December.
In short, the the chalets come in four exterior styles, each one of which is offered with either a “complete” set of rooms, or an “open plan” layout with minimal pre-built internal walls. The latter is intended to offer those who like designing their homes more flexibly with interior design. Each of the eight variants is distinguished by a unique name:
- Matterhorn: 2 large ground floor rooms, linked by a rear hallway with back door, and a central front hallway / reception area with stairs to the upper floor. This has two large rooms, one with gabled windows to the front and rear, the other with large windows to one side aspect.
- Moritzburg: open plan version of the Matterhorn: fully open plan on the lower floor other than three walls supporting the central stairway. A single separate upper floor room with large open-plan space at the top of the stairs.
- Alpenrose: a two-storey house with offset front entrance with vestibule, three ground floor rooms, one with a side door to the garden. Stairs from the entrance hall provide access to three upstairs rooms, each with windows to a side aspect and either the front or rear.
- Albus: open-plan version of the Alpenrose, featuring a single large lower-floor area partially divided by a stairway supporting wall. Two upper floor rooms, one with door door access from the stairs.
- Reizend: a single-storey cottage-style chalet with two open-plan rooms, the front porch opening directly into one of them, with doorways serving the remaining two rooms.
- Ravensburg: open-plan version of the Reizend offering a single individual room and a large open-plan space combining the remaining three, with partial dividing walls.
- Edelweiss: a two-storey house with front entrance to one side serving the stairs to the upper floor and giving access to the single open-plan ground floor room, which also includes a side door to the garden. A landing upstairs provides access to two bedrooms, each with widows to a front or rear aspect, and to the side aspects of the house.
- Eikelen: open-plan version of the Edelweiss with the same ground-floor design, with and open-plan, door-less approach to the upper floor spaces.
The setting for the Chalets isn’t “Alpine” mountainous, but it is ruggedly hilly with plenty of changes in elevation that keep the landscape rolling. The roods are paved, with rez zones (where available) clearly marked. The footpaths are finished in red brick and a nice contrast to the concrete road surface, while the coniferous flora helps with the higher altitude feel to the regions.
Those who visited the demo region back in December may recall it featuring a windmill – and several examples are scattered about the new Chalet regions, together with open public spaces with parasol shaded seating. Those fancying a more noisy time out might try a visit to Die Betrunkene Maus (“The Drunken Mouse”), the new community centre and hostelry for the Chalets. When I dropped in, Xeno Mole was suitably attired in a feathered cap and giving it a bit of wellie on an accordion.
With the regions stretching up to Satori, the Chalet homes form the bridge between that continent and Bellisseria, forming the much requested contiguous access to the major southern continents – Satori, Sansara, and Jeogeot, with Bellisseria sitting in the middle.
The Chalets and their regions are an attractive addition to the Linden Homes range – each iteration of the homes tends to be an evolution, and I particularly like the idea of adding open-plan variants of designs into the mix – hopefully we’ll see more of this in the remaining themes that will be appearing through the year.
But that said, I have to admit these aren’t for me – although I’ve nothing against the theme or style. It’s just that it took me a fair while to finally make the jump from a Houseboat to a Stilt Home, so I’m not about to leap elsewhere!
As with other Linden Homes, the Chalets can be obtained by Premium account holders through their secondlife.com dashboard and the Linden Homes page available from it. Those who do fancy one of the Chalets are asked to note the following request from Patch:
As a general reminder and to help facilitate the release process, please do not play “game of homes” by taking and releasing homes during the initial phases of launch. Also it is extremely helpful to refrain from rapidly switching through different home styles to give the regions time to settle and not overload the back-end systems.
We hope everyone enjoys the latest additions to the Belliseria continent and community!
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 