Okay, days late and a dollar short, but it'll help pass the time till the judges scores are ready. I used the smallest beach lot, which I think has a 30x30 buildable area, and if I'm wrong feel free to dock me imaginary points. Also, alas, not all the details are quite as clear as I'd like in the required pictures. Getting the big views is always hard for me, and some of the plants and things are just too small to look good at a distance, especially since I was using my full game and it doesn't like to run with smooth edges on.
Dr. Ash Greenman, his wife celebrated artist Angel, and his children Rhett, Joanie, and Daisy have decided to live part of the year in the island community of Crooked Beach, which some of y'all will remember from last year's foundation challenge. No expense was spared, but since no member of the house is a neatnik and they're here for fun, not to impress people, not to mention you don't put your nicest stuff into a house built in Hurricane Alley, the vibe is relaxed and not at all fussy.
And if you don't think teal and pink make a good color scheme for an island house, it is Angel's professional opinion that you need to get over yourself.
Welcome, neighbor! Ex-plantsim Ash's answer to the question: "Why not do more extensive landscaping?" is "What's wrong with native plants? Sand is naturally sparse." After all, he has a topiary dolphin; what more could you want in the way of landscaping? Older girl Joanie has gotten the entire family into birdwatching, hence all the feeders, houses, and water features you'll find on the lot.
But of course the point of a beach house is the beach. Though the pink fence shuts it off from the street, they aren't really worried about people wandering over from the public beaches. Swimming, sand castling, birding, boating, beachcombing, sunbathing, grilling, fishing - they practically live out here. If the sun's out, so are they. The blue patch on the sand is the Invisible Fishing Pond, which despite its name governs where the sims can stand to fish rather than the actual pond. The structure at the extreme left, between the driftwood and the gulls, is a limbo setup.
Behold the lower floor. Yes, they have a Winnebago and a pink sedan. The Winnebago is for multi-day trips to the other islands or the mainland to experience other beaches and birding sites, and the pinkmobile is for tooling around town. Yes, they have to move the Winnebago to get the car out, but it won't fit into the garage and there's a law about parking on the street. The entrance is enclosed so that if the wind comes up they can open the door without it being snatched off its hinges. Front entry and one of the back doors lead into the living room (where yes, some of the windows are blocked a bit but these things happen and I'm not about to rearrange it now). Entry from the garage is into the kitchen. Both rooms open into the stair hall, which opens onto the screen porch/laundry room - the laundry basket is sitting on top of the washing machine - which has three doors, one onto the outdoor shower, one to the narrow part of the patio (where Daisy has left toys lying around), and one onto the grill area. Note the broom leaning against the garage, for sweeping the ever-drifting sand away.
Rhett's room is next to the balcony. His twin Joanie and little sister Daisy share the middle room, and the kids' bath lies between them. The play/craft room and master bedroom are built over the garage.
Ten. I had 11 I wanted to post! Oh, well.
A closer shot at the entry, to give you a better idea of the "landscaping" and birding provisions. Also, note the green neon flamingo porchlight by the front door. Welcome to Angel's sense of humor. The blue and pink blobs in the sky are Sophie David's "Spectral Birds" neighborhood-down effect.
Angel demonstrates that the swing can be used, Ash tends the orange tree, somebody let the parrot (Lauren Macaw) outside, and the wild birds enjoy the amenities. If you think wild turkeys aren't native to the tropics, you haven't been to the correct tropics. Remember, Crooked Beach is on a barrier island, not on an isolated atoll. I could never catch any of the fountains in the act of spouting, but they do.
Angel serves ice cream and fruit salad to her guests in her colorful kitchen. Why is there a whale hanging from the ceiling? Why not?
A visitor watches The Game (one of Angel's many sisters is a sports star) in the living room in the evening. Note the transistor radio on the bar outside, and the craft supplies and bird seed box on the table by the back door.
I thought a slightly better view of the stairs/screen porch combination was due, and it was impossible to line up a satisfactory sim's eye view of either with the walls up.
Master bedroom. As you see, Angel works during vacation, but only on fun projects, not on commissions.
The playroom is also hard to take pictures in - there's so much stuff, as is only natural with three kids and playful parents.
Daisy gets up in the morning in the room she shares with Joanie, who has colonized the walls and surfaces with her shell collections, nature books, whalespotting chart, etc. Daisy has a Little Mermaid (in Simlish) poster above her bed and scorns Joanie's studious clutter. That's a picture of their great-grandmother, Angel Hart, on top of Joanie's pile of books.
Can you tell the girls' room is my favorite? I had so much fun with it!
Angel snoops in her son's room, a little skeptical of his choice of literature.
Joanie and Daisy relax with the birds on the beach. Yes, they have stuck a lawn flamingo out there on the water's edge where the real ones gather. Anyone who doesn't think geese are tropical, see "turkeys" above. Where, after all, did you think geese were going when they migrate?