Category: Reviews

Crystal Garden Estates – click any image for full size

Crystal Garden Estates is another semi-regular stop-over for me on my rounds of the grid. Designed by Sandi (Sandi Benelli) and her partner Mikal Beaumont, this Homestead region undergoes semi-regular makeovers by Sandi and Mikal, with each offering a new place to visit.

The last time I blogged the region, in July 2015, it had a Mediterranean look and feel, with berths for power and sailing boats all under a summer’s sky. However, as that was a good while ago, I was curious to see how things looked as we make our towards summer 2017; so Caitlyn and I recently hopped over for a look, coincidentally bumping into Sandi and Mikal as we arrived, just as they were tweaking one or two things before heading off to enjoy some in-world music.

Crystal Garden Estates

While the summer feel to the region, and the boat moorings are still evident, this latest iteration of Crystal Gardens Estates offers the look and feel of a more temperate zone this time around. The land has been divided into three large islands, running north-to-south, with a smaller, rounded island to the north-west, while a lighthouse-laden rocky outcrop completed the group. Separated one from the next by narrow channels of water, the three largest islands offer a collective landscape of tall trees, summer walks among sprays of flowers, and many places both indoors and out, where visitors can pass the time.

A visit begins on the west side of the island, on a wooden dock where two boats are berthed. A canvas-sided pergola sits at one end of the dock, offering a place to relax, while close by sits a comfortable little house built on stilts to extend out over the water from a rocky base. Beyond this, the island’s rocky southern headland offers a look-out point with a view of the offshore lighthouse. With a kid’s play tent ( a blanket spread over a line between two trees), dogs playing on the course grass and the waterside spots for taking things easy, this has the feel of being a holiday getaway, rather than a place of year-round abode.

Crystal Garden Estates

Another house, more substantial in size, sits to the north, close to where a bridge reaches out to the middle of the three islands. Also raised up on a stout deck, the house looks out over the curve of a  sandy beach, the boards stacked against its whitewashed wall suggesting it might be the holiday home for keen surfers.

Across the bridge, the middle of the three islands is home to a third cottage, which shares its waterside location with a trio of summer huts. A loose-laid board walk meanders southwards from the cottage passing a barn converted into a bar to one side and an octagonal pergola to the other, before arriving at another beach. Two bridges span the watery divide between this and the easternmost island. This has a slightly wilder feel to it, with tall pines under which a camp site sits and deer, foxes and wolves roam, while the rocky sweep of the northern shore is crossed by a raised wooden walk.

Crystal Garden Estates

The entire feel of these islands is that of a secret vacation spot; a place those in the know can slip away to and spend time forgetting about work and the rest of the world. This impression is heightened by the last of the islands in the group. Circular in form, its shape suggests a small crater with a partially flooded. More wooden walkways occupy this little spot, running around the basin and raised on stilts above the water, or straddling the rim. They link together a small cluster of thatched roof pergolas where visitors can relax, chat, dance or wander under ivy weaved trestles.

I’ve always enjoyed my visits to Crystal Garden Estates, and this latest one was no exception. The little archipelago offers much without in any way being overdone. There is plenty of room to wander, many places to sit and relax, both indoors and out; there are horses to ride and snuggles spots for cosier times with a loved one. For those so inclined, there’s even a drinking game to be found in the bar!

Crystal Garden Estates

Rich in natural colour thanks to the considered use of wild flowers, and set beneath and dusky sky, the region is genuinely photogenic and very much an ideal visit.

SLurl Details

• Crystal Garden Estates (Quararibea Cordata Island, rated: moderate)

Furillen, Pandora Empire – click any image for full size

Furillen, the atmospheric region designed by Serene Footman, has a new home in the full region of Pandora Empire. With the move comes another new design, one which sits both on the ground and up in the air over the region.

The ground level continues to reflect Furillen’s origins: an island off the north-east coast of Gotland, Sweden. In doing so, it retains the same misted, desolate beauty of previous builds, complete with a shell of the limestone factory and the hotel which now occupies the physical world island. However, with this iteration of the design, the factory footprint has been reduced and the hotel has a new, more homely look and feel.

Furillen, Pandora Empire

Further afield can be found other reminders of the original Furillen build: the crane over the water, the hoppers, the caravan. But so to are there new places to explore, such as the fishing village in the north-east corner of the region or the club close to the old factory tower. These aspects, old and new, combine to offer a familiar but new look to the island which encourages fresh exploration.

But it is in the sky where things get even more interesting. A teleport disk near the landing point offers access, and the names of some of the destinations – penguin, joker, catwoman, riddler, batcave – offer hints as to what awaits visitors when teleporting, although I recommend that on a first visit, you head from somewhere like the square, as this will allow you to experience things more fully, delivering you to a town square.

Furillen, Pandora Empire

Seen under the same region windlight as the rest of the region, this cityscape also works under a range of daytime and night-time settings. In case you hadn’t already worked it out from the destination names above, this urban environment is a homage to Batman, from the comics, through the 1960s TV series to the more films of Keaton, Kilmer and Bale et al. However, it is not a homage that should perhaps be taken too seriously, as some of the visuals clues seem to suggest (such as the The Dork Knight club).

That said, the attention to detail is impressive, and fans of Batman will find a visit a treat, with plenty of nods to the entire franchise from familiar names such as Sionis Industries, Arkham Asylum and the Gotham Gazette.  Nor is this just a surface homage; follow the teleport disk around and there is plenty more to find from the Batcave (complete with the different generations of Batmobile), to the underground lair of the Penguin, to the more homely setting of Selena Kyle’s apartment.

Furillen, Pandora Empire

And that’s just the start of things – but to reveal everything would be to spoil the surprise of discovery. This is a place which deserves time and exploration, and not just by teleport disk. Look closely enough, and there are secret ways to be found: tunnels and passages, all of which connect street level to a network of underground locations.

I’ve always enjoyed my visits to Furillen; each iteration – from the initial build, through the homage to Pink Floyd, to the reinterpretation of La Digue du Braek – Serene Footman has always offered unique and intriguing builds for people to visit. In its new home, and in this form, Furillen continues to do just that. When visiting, keep an eye out for the art gallery and consider joining the region’s group for information on events, and also check Furillen’s own website for news and updates.

Furillen, Pandora Empire

SLurl Details

• Furillen and Furillen City (Pandora Empire, rated:  Moderate)