With apartments resigned entirely to San Myshuno and the Sims 4 not allowing you to build on the edge of a lot, it’s impossible to create your own, fully-functioning townhouses, row of cottages or trailer park. In Sims 4 we’re limited to one lot per family and while this might seem restrictive (especially when it comes to apartments) there are definitely a few ways to get clever and make the Game work for you!
I’ve created an Eco Village complete with three separate homes and communal areas to give you some inspiration, tips, and tricks for building multiple houses on one lot!
Choose the Right Lot
For this build it was essential that I chose the right location. As I wanted to make three full sized homes, and still have space leftover for outdoor activities and landscaping, I knew that I was going to need one of the bigger lots in the Game. After a bit of searching I eventually settled on a lot in Newcrest. The fact that this world is empty makes it perfect for building anyway, but the large 50×50 lot by the water seemed ideal for what I wanted to create. Although I decided to opt for Newcrest, most of the worlds in the Sims 4 have a 50×50 lot so you’re bound to find the perfect location for whatever style of home you want to build. If you’re looking for something a little larger take a look at the 64×64 lots in Windenburg, Brindleton Bay and Selvadorada.
Of course, building multiple homes on one lot is not entirely limited to larger lots. Something like townhouses or a trailer park would work well on any number of lot sizes!
Plan Before You Build
With a build like this it’s really important to plan ahead before you start creating anything. No matter how many houses you have on one lot, a single lot can only ever be home to 8 Sims. Because of this I decided to plan out who would be living in each house before I started building. I knew I wanted to create three homes so I planned out three different family groups. House 1 would be for a single Sim, House 2 for a couple, and House 3 for a family with three kids. This planning was not only helpful for insuring the lot would be useable once it was completed but it also made it easier when building each individual house – I knew exactly how many bedrooms I needed!
Design and Furnishing
For this Eco-Village, I chose a modern style for each of the houses. Something rustic probably would have worked just as well with my theme but I liked the idea of slightly futuristic space. I made sure to choose natural materials where I could, however, opting for wooden siding and glass fences and staying away from metal.
Modern homes are a great choice for new builders. As you can see these houses are all just made of a few different rectangular shapes placed on top of, and next to, one another. Builds like these are really easy to create and can look super effective (with the right decorations) in spite of their simplistic architecture. Just grab out a few different shaped rooms and keep organising and reorganising them until you end up with something you’re happy with!
The central, dark blue house on this lot was built entirely on a diagonal. Building on diagonals can be really tricky and is something I would normally avoid – diagonal walls alter the shapes of windows and doors, and objects don’t place correctly. As I wanted this lot to feel like a village, however, I thought it would seem strange if all of the houses faced the same direction. Although I love the way this build turned out, it definitely wasn’t without its challenges. I spent a lot of time experimenting with the staircases in this build. Because of their unusual placement (staircases can’t be placed on a diagonal in The Sims 4) I was left with a few awkward spaces that were difficult to furnish.
Rather than giving each of the houses their own separate backyard, I decided to save some space by creating a rooftop garden for each of the homes. This not only meant that I had more room to create communal spaces on the ground level but also fit really well with the idea that this an eco-friendly place to live! These gardens were super easy to make and look really effective. I would definitely recommend giving one a go in your next modern house build!
I had a lot of fun furnishing these houses. As each home is part of the same Eco-Village I wanted some of their decorations to be similar but I was also keen to maintain a sense of individuality. The flooring and wall coverings are, for the most part, the same in each of the three houses (although the colours are different) and the bathroom utilities are all the same. This gives the homes a sense of cohesion without making them look like carbon copies of one another.
Although the houses have a very similar style, I tried my best to personalise each space and make them look distinctive. Each house’s interior is modern (in keeping with the builds themselves) but beyond that all three of the homes look as if they have been decorated individually by their owners.
Here are some examples of a few of the bedrooms on this lot!
Landscaping
In a build like this you can really have fun with landscaping. The communal spaces around each house meant that I could experiment with creating some things you wouldn’t normally see in your average home. The houses are connected by pathways, and there are public spaces, like a pond, benches, and an allotment, that give the lot a communal feel. If you’re building something similar I highly recommend looking through the build catalogue for items that you wouldn’t normally find on a residential lot. Adding in some street lamps and outdoor bins really helps to establish some realism!
One of my favourite things about this build is the fully-functioning fishing pond right at the front of the lot. To create this I simply used the pool tool to create a jagged and asymmetrical shape. After this I added in a whole variety of rocks and plants around the edge of the pool to make it look more natural and less manufactured. This pond didn’t truly feel alive, however, until I added in some fish. Typing bb.showhiddenobjects into the Cheat Bar will unlock loads of objects that are ordinarily only available through gameplay. One of these is the little wooden fishing sign you’ll see dotted throughout the worlds in The Sims 4. What’s great about this little object is that fish will spawn in front of wherever you place it. Although this can cause some hilarious glitches where Sims cast their fishing rods into solid ground, by placing it in front of a body of water you can create a completely useable pond on your home lot. Your Sims can build up their Fishing Skill without ever leaving home!
