Victorian Villa!

As winter approaches, let’s enjoy the warmth of a cozy home from SRVDkamp!
The nights are getting longer, the air is turning chilly, and people are putting up bright Christmas decorations, even though it’s still November—perhaps we should hold off for now. This season comes around year after year—not that we’re talking about New Year’s, but rather that time when stepping outside requires nerves of steel and approximately ten billion layers. One day, we’ll put an end to winter. Just wait.

For now, I’ll warm my frosty heart in this delightful, snug Spanish villa! Built by Raul (also known as SRVDkamp), this charming abode in the world of Minecraft Pocket Edition features warm, well-lit corners perfect for curling up with a book, along with a beautifully maintained front garden. This house frustrates me because I have no idea how to keep plants alive during this dreadful season. Curse you, winter.

Raul is an experienced builder with a keen interest in creating homes. He has constructed Victorian-style houses (with plenty of columns), artistic designs (featuring lots of wood and stone), and European styles (lots of… garages?) and his latest project is a villa inspired by Spanish architecture.

“What I love about these various traditional styles in MCPE is that each one has unique features,” says Raul. “That’s why I decided to build a Spanish villa. I’ve never done it before, and I really wanted to explore this style. I was looking for a more challenging task!”

And what a challenge it turned out to be. For starters, Spanish architecture involves many curves, something not commonly found in the world of Minecraft PE, and you can see these curves at the front of Raul’s house on the arches above the windows and front door. We think he did an excellent job!

“Building such a house is quite straightforward,” Raul adds. “You don’t work in inches like in real life; instead, you work with blocks in Minecraft Pocket Edition, so achieving the right scale can be tricky.”

Additionally, he mentions that trying to get the desired color can be a tough task—especially since there isn’t a wide range of colors available for all blocks in Minecraft PE. Sometimes, you might need to use wool to piece together your building. (Pro tip: don’t try this in real life; you’ll be very cold.)

“Of course, over time everything becomes easier,” admits Raul. “But every new house presents a fresh challenge with new obstacles. For instance, the spiral staircase in my Spanish villa. Working with angular shapes makes it difficult to create organic forms. It took me about two hours to work on that staircase.”

Curves, spirals, and edges: a nightmare for any builder in the realm of Minecraft PE!

But then the question arises: if it takes years of learning to master good house construction, how does Raul manage? “I can’t just step outside and look around because we don’t have those kinds of houses here in the Netherlands,” Raul explains. “If I’m a novice in any particular style, I rely on photographs and floor plans of that specific style.”

Finding floor plans online is easy, just like Raul did, and it’s a clever way to build more realistic homes in Minecraft Pocket Edition.

Floor plans can be accessed freely online and provide insight into how a properly designed house should look—dimensions, layout, and everything else.

Some may view this as “cheating,” but Raul doesn’t mind at all.

“Let’s be honest,” he states. “I’m not an architect. I’m also not afraid to admit that all the features I’ve used are things I’ve seen in photos! I receive a lot of positive feedback from people who can see how challenging it is to create realistic homes in MCPE and they don’t mind that I utilize existing houses as inspiration.”