#spiral staircase to third level deck

[gamoradorable]

Mediterranean Porch - Backyard Idea for a sizable Tuscan tile back porch with an addition to the roof and a fireplace

[matriarchalmuffin]

Porch in Austin Idea for a sizable Tuscan tile back porch with an addition to the roof and a fireplace

[hometoursandotherstuff]

An architect reconfigured this triplex in Brazil into a Tri-Level modern home of color and cement.  The homeowners where looking for a complete reinvention of the building.

A custom one of a kind concrete table was designed with the help of a software program. Every joint and angle was carefully measured and crafted with the final result being part table, part building, and part sculpture.

Just beside the dining area is a purple infused kitchen complete with island.

There is a small washroom beside the kitchen and behind the dining area. Here, a large blue drum converted into a pedestal sink is juxtaposed against fun wallpapering

A second, smaller kitchen offers a place to prepare meals for more intimate settings.

Across from the couch is a rustic wood chair covered in a very loosely woven upholstery of all the clients color choices.

On the other side of the closest privacy wall is a private outdoor eating area complete with distressed wood table, 4 mesh chairs, some plants, and a large sculpture of a baboon.

On the deck a spiral staircase leads to the third level of the home.

The privacy walls of the platform are opened up in two sections to create viewing windows of the cityscape below.

The spiral staircase leads up to a private terrace of lush plants and two statement chairs covered in a bold choice of tangerine.

Adjoining the terrace is the guest room. The room offers a space of complete privacy from the rest of the home as well as spectacular views.

A deep comfy sofa loaded with pillows creates an inviting place to curl up and watch TV. The main level of the home is the homeowners private retreat.

The headboard wall of the Main Bedroom is actually part pony wall. The bedroom is small and wrapped in charcoal drapery. Color is introduced by the purple tiles used in the walk in shower .

https://www.trendir.com/triplex-reconfigured-into-trilevel-home-with-ultra-modern-touches/

[pinkprimrose05]

GX Month Day 7: Ojama Delta Thunder!!

@gxmonth

"That’s right! You know what today is! Today we celebrate The Chazz, the one and only Manjoume Thunder! Give sparky boi a hug!"

...I'm not giving Manjoume a hug. I...*cackles evilly* am gonna make him suffer as much as the actual Duel Links players do, maybe even more. And I'm not the least bit sorry, because hey, he gets something out of it in the end!

Manjoume Jun was not having a good day.

The Ojama Duelist grumbled to himself, kicking a non-existent pebble into the air as he made his way to the Duel Studio. The picturesque environment of Duel Links -too clean, too perfect- never ceased to amaze him and many others, but right now, he was too damn pissed to care about that.

After all, it's hard for one to appreciate the technology behind a game's setting when that same technology had just fucked up their entire collection of cards- And in the middle of a Duel no less!

The door slid open as he walked through, revealing rows upon rows of multicolored tables placed on either side of the massive ground floor that was the Deck Editor section, leaving a clear path to the spiraling staircase of clear blue glass that led to the Card Catalog and several other, more obscure sections. After all, the Deck Editor was the single most popular part of the Duel Studio, if the couple dozen Duelists buzzing around all day long were anything to go by.

Manjoume plopped down on a chair at the first empty table he could find, fishing out the single Deck box in his pocket and dropping it on the yellow, round surface. The twenty cards inside the box spilled out over the table (he had hundreds of those for fuck's sake!), and their owner groaned in frustration as he rifled through his completely reset Deck....Scratch that, it wasn't even his own Starter Deck. Battle Warrior? Flame Manipulator? What the hell?!

Briefly, he considered the benefits of marching up to Isono and demanding an explanation and solution to what happened, but that idea was shot down almost immediately. It's not like the guy would be of actual help; the last time someone asked about a bug in the game Isono had literally told them, quote unquote "Please ensure that no other house utilites are interrupting your connection, such as a microwave oven.", and while Manjoume was no tech expert, even he could tell how much of a half-assed excuse that was.

Stupid Duel Links and its stupid customer service-

"Manjo-kuuuuuuun!!"

Startled out of his thoughts, Manjoume only had enough time to gasp before a familiar blue blur put him in an unexpectedly tight headlock, already rambling at rapidfire speed straight in his ears.

"I'm so glad I could find you today!!" Kylie squealed "Had no idea I'd see you here, but that doesn't matter- do you wanna Duel?? I've been working on a new Deck and combos for days now and I can't wait to show you-" the second-year abruptly paused when she caught sight of the cards spread on the table, letting go of Manjoume in favor of taking a better look at them "Waaiiiit a minute, what's with those cards? They don't look like anything you normally play-"

"-It's Manjoume-san." He sharply interjected in a mix of annoyance and exasperation, shooting a glare at the oblivious blunette standing next to him as he massaged his neck "And yes, those aren't my cards. The game just randomly decided to reset my connection in the middle of a Rank-Up Duel of all things, yeet off all my Decks into nonexistence, and then gave me a shitty Starter in exchange, so now I'm stuck with almost zero gems and no way to recover my progress, which is just fucking splendid considering how close we are to the next KC Cup."

Manjoume sighed "Fuck this. Just, fuck this."

Truthfully, he wasn't as mad about the progress he lost as he was about losing his cards. It hadn't even been thirty minutes and, while he'd never admit it out loud, he already missed his trio of obnoxious Ojamas. They've been through thick and thin together, and it felt unnatural to have them just up and disappear like that. The last time they've been away from him wasn't exactly something he wanted to remember, and while the situation here was nowhere as severe as the Dark World, it still felt wrong for the air around him to be so quiet.

Kylie, who was uncharacteristically quiet as she listened to her 'friend' ranting about his current predicament, nodded along "So you...basically got your account reset?"

"No shit, Sherlock." Manjoume deadpanned in response. Kylie put a hand to her chin, humming thoughtfully with closed eyes, before suddenly slamming a hand on the table and nearly shocking him into falling off his chair.

"I GOT IT!" She exclaimed, snapping her fingers with a bright grin "This reset bug happened once to someone I know- I don't know if you remember Ruby from Heartland Academy, but anyway, she also lost all her progress a couple months ago after she got booted out of a Duel, and it turned out that her cards were just scattered all around the Duel World, so we went around asking everyone we could if they saw them, Dueled those who had some, and we got all her cards back in the end. It must be the same with yours, so let's get going and find them all!!"

Without warning, she grabbed the Legendary Duelists's hand, hauling him up and out of the Deck Editor before he could even get out a word. Manjoume gasped and spluttered along the way, trying to tell his companion to slow down a bit to no avail; as talking someone like Kylie out of anything was like trying to build a Deck around Cold Feet.

That didn't stop him from actually looking around and asking, though. If there was even the slightest chance of him finding his cards this way, then he'd be damned if he didn't at least try and go through with it. Compared to staking it out at the North Pole for a barely synergic mishmash of a Deck, to going down a haunted well in an empty forest for a bunch of 0-ATK monsters that were -figuratively and literally- bottom of the barrel, Dueling a couple chumps and scavenging for some lost cards was nothing, and he was ready to do so much more to get his partners back.

"See? I told you Aniki would come find us in the end!"

...I take back everything I said, Manjoume thought, cringing in disgust as Ojama Green and Black hugged each other and began prancing around him in circles, babbling and crying tears of joy while they were at it How could I ever miss this shitfest?

He just did, somehow. It hadn't taken too long to find the two Ojamas anyway; the sound of them banshee screeching weeping their asses off by the fountain was all he needed to know they were somewhere out there, and by some lucky miracle, their cards didn't get sprayed to oblivion with all the water by the time he came to retrieve them. As for his other cards, he and Kylie had stopped by the Shop, the Card Trader, the PvP Arena, the Gate and the Duel School, asking everyone they could about his cards, and beating the shit out of those who had some and refused to give them back

(Well, Manjoume was the one who did that, and only to Evan and Zachary, but that wasn't the point here, was it?)

By the time they decided to return to the Duel Studio for a small break, they'd gathered practically all of his key cards. He couldn't care less for the bunch of staples he lost -he'd just reroll the Selection Box or whatever-, so the only missing card that actually mattered, as much as it stung his ego to admit it...

...was Ojama Yellow. And after what happened with his brothers (and with Fairy Dragon, which he found resting on top of a very inconveniently high branch of a tree), Manjoume fully expected the third Ojama to be sleeping in the trash can or somewhere equally stupid. Because if he wasn't, he'd have found him before any other card by simply following the sound of high-pitched crying mixed with a lot of screaming and weird Ojama noises-

-A sudden rattling sound interrupted the noiret's thoughts for the second time that day, and when he stopped to locate its source, he let out a long, drawn-out sound between a sigh and a groan. Surely enough, the sound was coming from the trash can by the cliff, which was shaking wildly and practically begging to be opemed. Feeling a migraine coming up, Manjoume turned left, walked up to the can, and with some difficulty, pried the lid off.

"ANIKIIIII!!"

He instantly regretted it (he didn't) when the snot-faced creature that was Ojama Yellow exploded in his face, crying uncontrollably as he tried to hug Manjoume (keyword being 'tried'). His brothers all but sprang up from their cards, meeting him in a hug midair and effectively plucking him off his master for a bit as they all laughed and cried and did everything in between.

"Aww, look at how happy they are!" Kylie gushed, eyes almost sparkling. She lightly smacked Manjoume's back "You sure have a funny bunch of spirits, luckyyyy~"

Swatting away the Ojama trio and a pair of Catnipped Kitties before they tried sneaking up on him for a hug, Manjoume folded his arms and snorted in response "Yeah, sure."

But regardless, he found his lips quirking up in spite of himself. If it were me from three years ago, he mused I wouldn't have bothered with any of this in the first place.

But this wasn't the him from three years ago. This was the him of today, the Manjoume Thunder who'd gone through so much shit and learned from it to become a better Duelist, a better Duelist, and a better person. And while he had many people to thank for that, he also had to give credit for the monster spirits that followed him through all of the aforementioned shit, because as cringy, messy, bombastic and obnoxious as they might be, they were his partners, and he wouldn't give them up for anything in this world-

"WILL YOU FUCKING STOP THAT??!!"

-Unless they tried to hug him again. Pissed beyond reason, Manjoume chased after the quintet of Level 2's, ignoring Kylie's hysteric laughter and the surprised yelps from other Duelists as they dashed around the area in circles, all the noise merging into a cacophony of angry hollering and frightened squeaking, among other sounds.

In the end, some things never change....for better or for worse.

~~~~~~

Screw the actual Duel Links game for not including most of Manjoume's low-ATK monsters in his Starter/Lv 10 Deck (why tf is Catnipped Kitty a main Box card 4 years after his release?), and double screw them for splitting his Ojamas and Dragons into separate Decks.

I hate how his higher level Decks in the game completely disregard the former half of his cards; those are the ones that actually stuck with him in a meaningful way, not the Armed Dragons...they deserve some more recognition, so why not mix both archrtypes and slap in Ojamatch?

Also, yes, Standard Duelists actually exist here, so I decided to throw in my favorite GX girl AKA Kylie and have her interact a bit, and boy is she fun to write.

Headcanon: Kylie considers Manjoume (and everyone else, but especially him) her best friend because she basically has Yuuma's mentality of 'Anyone I Duel becomes an amigo!', and by sheer dumb luck, the two keep logging in at the same time and often get matched up in PvP Duels.

That's part of why she's so familiar with him (and also why she calls him Manjo-kun) and as you can see, Jun does not approve.

Aaaand this would be everything for Day 7! Expect to see me again...in a week from now. By Day 15 to be exact. In the meantime, if you’d like to follow my prompts for the month, I’m posting them all on ArchiveofOurOwn: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33473653/chapters/83489824

[alonelytinywriter]

Into The Deep

Anonymous said to alonelytinywriter:

One word: Mermaids.

Excuse me, but if you think I’m gonna drop everything I was doing and start a whole series in my head about mermaids now then, well, you’re right. Because I did. Now I have an entire AU in my head where all the BNHA character are mermaids ~ mermen!! ~ and I just can’t continue until it happens. I just - their so dynamic and I can see so clearly what each character’s tail would look like and I’m so hyped that someone asked for mermaids. THANK YOU!!!!!!! Also, I really, really hope no one minds but the OC in this is a woman of color. I’m not, but I see it so rarely and it bothers me because I feel like there’s not enough put out there for anyone of a different skin complexion  than - ‘white’ - and I realized that there doesn’t really seem to be a lot to read and relate to so, I don’t know, I just want to get some out there that they can also enjoy because I want everyone to feel included. It was honestly a bunch of fun writing this OC and I adore the way she turned out. I just hope it doesn’t offend anyone, ha ha ahhh, I know I’m gonna get hate mail because I’m not a girl of color myself but oh well. Come at me if you don’t like it. Don’t forget to hit that heart if you enjoy and read the warnings on every story because it changes! They’re there for a reason!

Warnings: NDE, Kidnapping, Bakugou - so ya know the drill, it’s Bakugou, but not that bad really - Language, WOC, all in all - this one is pretty safe.

 Mermaid! No Quirk! Bakugou / Original Female Character

 Playlist - EvERythiNG. All of it. Shuffle. Pandora. Done.

Name: Jacquie Keita ~ Birthday: August 14th ~ Age: 22 ~ Hair Color: Black (Dyed white) ~ Eye Color: Golden Brown ~ Gender: Female ~ Height: 5” 4’

Appearance ~ Jacquie has an athletic build with lean arms and legs, as well as a smooth stomach, due to years of swimming in the open ocean. She has light taupe skin, golden eyes although her long lashes make her irises appear darker than they truly are, and long dreaded hair which she has bleached white several times. The roots, however, are grown out and Jacquie hasn’t made landfall to pick up the supplies to dye it back. ~ Due to the fact she lives as a nomad on the open sea, Jacquie isn’t overly worried about her clothes. Most outfits contain sweats and sport bras, or cotton t-shirts with athletic brands printed across the fronts. She owns more bathing suits and items to exist in the water than anything, and she has zero shame in it.

~ Into The Deep ~

~ Jacquie had been traveling the ocean for years - first on a little dingy she’d bought for next nothing and nearly drowned in before she could leave the waves around the lagoon, then on a small house boat that was better suited for a lake than the ocean but it worked near the shorelines . . . so long as there were no storms. It had capsized near France and left her stranded for months until she’d been able to put the money together to purchase her next boat - and now, finally, she owned the 49 foot crossover house-ship swaying beneath her feet. The fact it was a crossover was important, because it allowed for her life style on the open ocean, and kept her safe.

~ She worked as a marine biologist, specializing in marine life and environment. She traveled the world, studying the habitats of all kinds of fish, looking for new breeds or kinds of ocean plant life, and the house-ship was a large, sturdy vessel. It was just under fifty foot long, and if Jacquie was being honest, most of the ship was used as space for her labs and research room, although she had sectioned an area off for herself. On the deck was the cockpit, where she could steer the ship, and it connected to the kitchen/dining room. Connecting that room and a small section of the floor below was a spiral staircase that would lead to the living/bedroom and a small door off to the side led the restroom. There was a lifeboat tied to the starboard, and a large glass tank on the port, where she could keep any fish or creatures she caught, if only temporarily to tag the fish for research, or care for them if they were sick or injured.

~ Sighing, Jacquie stared out over the waves, chest aching as she took in the sight of the bleached white corals that surrounded her ship; a bright bolt of lightening streaked across the sky and for the first time Jacquie noted the sent of ozone in the air. The storm was getting closer and she wasn’t prepared at all. She wasn’t going to make it to the shore before it hit - she could already see the wall of dark storm clouds rushing towards her - and the idea of riding out a violent Japanese ocean storm made her stomach churn. She had never been a fan of storms before, but now that she had lived on the ocean for so long, she understood just how dangerous they could be.

~ Jacquie had sailed around the world twice. She’d visited nearly every beach-line there was to see. Twice. But never had Jacquie seen a storm like this. There was rain, but it wasn’t very hard, like you would see near India, and that nearly cost Jacquie her life. It wasn’t such a bad storm, after all. It wasn’t until she was running across the deck, the lifeboat hanging at a strange angle from its davits that worry really began to creep into her chest. She was having to push herself up the side of the boat as she ran the deck - the ship was listing towards port and she couldn’t figure out WHY, and when she glanced over the edge of the railing she realized the drop wasn’t sheer any longer. She could see the ship’s great white side, and the angle made her stomach drop.

~ The ship was listing badly, and it wasn’t level from the back to the front either, a noticeable incline going from bow to stern. The ship was sinking, and Jacquie couldn’t do anything to stop it. She didn’t know how, or even why, but the ship was going to go down, and if she didn’t do something, she was going to be going down with it. Looking overboard she saw the sea was rising, getting close, the waves nearly rushing over the deck with every swell. She wasn’t sure where the reef was any longer - maybe she had hit it and that was why the ship was sinking. Or maybe she had drifted out and away and she was about to plunge down into the depths below.

~ Her morbid thoughts where cut short when a flash of lighting streaked across the sky, illuminating the world around her like midday for a moment. And there, nearly thirty feet above her ship, was a massive wave. It wasn’t the wave that brought her up short, however, although that was terrifying enough in and of itself. It was the distinctly sharp shadow drifting through the wave, a shadow that screamed shark at every one of her senses from the slope of its tail-fins, to the size and shape. The only problem was that there seemed to be a very angry, very human man attached to the front of the shark, staring down at her through narrowed eyes.

~ She never even saw the second wave seeping over the deck of her ship, but she was pretty sure it - he - did, because his eyes went wide a moment before it hit her. She felt the bite of the cold water as it knocked her feet from under her and sent her across the slick wooden floor. Her back hit the railing, and for a moment she thought she was okay, but then the wood cracked as a third wave crashed into the boat and the once solid wood against her back fragmented into the storm, leaving her with nothing to stop her from falling into the churning ocean below.

~ The water was terrifying. It surrounded her like a blanket, made it impossible for her to find the surface, made it impossible for her to think. She screamed when her head broke the surface, panicked coursing through her blood like a drug. She couldn’t see past the salt water burning her eyes, couldn’t breath past the liquid rushing over her again and again. The ocean had never scared her before but now, now it was something different. Black and icy and filled with rage, and there, only fifteen feet way, Jacquie spotted a dark triangle slicing through the water as another flash of lightning illuminated the world once more.

~ The shark. Her second scream was drowned out by a roll of thunder, but lightning accompanied it and she was able to see the shark drifting closer, a ten foot swell of inky darkness that made her muscles scream for her to do something - anything. The water was too cold, though, and it hurt to move her muscles beyond what was keeping her head above the water, and she couldn’t see the ship - where was the ship???

~ The shark was flung away with the next wave, or it went underwater, she wasn’t sure, and the next drug Jacquie away as well. A floating top spinning atop the surface of the water. It felt as if the waves were fighting over her, jerking her this way and that as she desperately attempted to keep her head above the water. She kept going under, and she couldn’t tell which way the surface was until she would burst into the air, lungs sucking in air until she was forced under again. The cold of the water was quickly numbing her arms and legs and it was becoming harder to keep her head above water. In the distance beneath the water she could see the flickering lights of her ship sinking into the darkness, and the realization that she was now stranded in the middle of the ocean, with no ship, no flotation device, nothing to keep her alive against the forces of nature steeping over her like cold tea. Or maybe it was the water, which had closed over her head, and she was too tired, too exhausted to continue kicking her legs or sweep her arms. She could clearly see the world around her, a darkness that seemed the filter gray light to show the shape of the waves as they swelled above her, the bubbles as they foamed across her limbs, her hair listing through the current like eels. It was peaceful.

~ What was not peaceful was the feeling of something hard, like an invisible rock, slamming into her. It hit her across the chest, slamming the air from her lungs in a whoosh. The world began to fade to a true black as she watched the thick cloud of silver bubbles drift away, and water began to flood her mouth and throat, chocking her. There was something else too, something thick, and slimy, and oddly rubbery, and it was forced into her mouth until she had no choice to swallow - swallow or choke on the strange lump as the darkness completely obscured her vision and her senses failed her . . .

~ Jacquie slept. And while she slept, she dreamed. Blurred wanderings through blindingly bright memories of the sun above the ocean, winds so calm the clouds didn’t move and the water sat as still as a mirror, her mother and father’s face, the ocean teaming with life around her. A mirage of memories, each brighter than the last until there was nothing but a wash of white -

~ The sun woke Jacquie. It was the wash of white, blinding in the clear, cloudless sky above her, which showed no signs of the storm before. The water was clear and vibrant, lapping gently at the sandbar that she rested against, and as far as she could see the reef grew brilliantly, like a snow capped wonder. She couldn’t remember making it to the shore, couldn’t remember finding shelter on a swatch of sand, and the longer she looked, the more she felt as if something were very wrong. She was propped against a large pile of seaweed and kelp as if she had been purposefully laid out, and the sandbar didn’t rise far enough from the water - she was submerged well to her navel. She should have been able to see the islands. Should have been able to see the formations of the bleached coral beds that showed her location but, instead, she saw nothing but water and sky. Even when she clambered to her feet and craned her neck this way and that, she didn’t spot anything that gave her any indication as to where she was at all. The reef surrounding her didn’t match anything she had seen before, despite the familiar bleached corals.

~ Suddenly, something brushed against her leg, making a tingle run up her spine. She thought, for a moment, that it might have been a fish, but when she glanced down she didn’t see anything. Then she felt it again, the slightest tingle against her leg, almost a tickle. And then it grabbed her. Jacquie screamed, jerking her leg away as hard and fast as she possible could, but that only served to send her flailing into the water. And that’s when she saw it. The grey-white triangle sticking straight up in the water - the fin of a black tipped reef shark, the same shark she had seen in the storm, the one that hadn’t seemed . . . right. And as she stared in horror, the fin turned in the water, and then sped towards her, moving steady and straight as an arrow.

~  Jacquie, despite all her knowledge, began to thrash in the water, trying to swim away. She was panicking, wanting to put as much distance between the shark and herself as she possible could, and when it seemed to swim right past her, she nearly calmed. Had it decided she would be too much of a hassle? But then it began to turn, streaming towards her in a wide arc. Circling. The shark moved in closer, the circle growing smaller and smaller each time it made a pass around her, and she didn’t know what to do. The rocks she had been propped against wouldn’t protect her well from the shark, and they didn’t come high enough out of the water to ensure it wouldn’t be able to get to her even if she climbed atop them. The Shark swam around her in a tight circle, close enough the the swishing tail sent waves over her stomach, and she could see him clearly for the first time since he’d begun circling. And just like the night before, there was something . . . misshapen about the shark. Its head wasn’t shaped all wrong, and then, when it turned again, she saw why it was misshapen and the shock nearly made her collapse. Her brain hadn’t been playing tricks on her the previous night. The shark within the wave had been looking down her through narrowed eyes, because the shark didn’t have a head. It’s upper body extended and shifted until instead of the hard grey scales of the shark, the surface was smooth, pale skin. Abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms - these appeared darker, nearly like the tail - and a head of messy blonde hair that looked spiky, even under the water. He was staring up at her, eyebrows narrowed, a strange sort of noise emanating from the water as it circled. It was a low, growling sound, nearly musical, beautiful and . . . somehow sad. It nearly sounded like a whale, and if it wasn’t for the fact she were sitting in the water, watching the shark - merman - mershark? - move closer. His narrowed, red eyes sparkled in the sunlight as it filtered through the water, and his skin gave off a silvery glow.

~ He rose from the water then, his arms propping his head and shoulders above the small waves as his eyes found hers and stared hard. He made a soft sort of noise, something between a purr and a growl and behind his lips, Jacquie could see the pointed tips of his teeth.

~ “Stay away from me!”

~ The mershark paused, his teeth bared at the sharp tone of her voice, and Jacquie took his surprise and ran with it - literally. She was on her feet and already several steps away before the mershark seemed to realize what she was doing, but when he did he was on her in a moment, his arms wrapping around both her legs at the calf, sending her crashing into the water. They wrestled for a moment, and the mershark snarled, his teeth bared into a angry grimace as he attempted to wrestle her under his frame. He won, if only because of his size and weight, and Jacquie panicked as he pinned her beneath the water, his face inches away from hers. She sealed her lips, trapping the last reserves of oxygen she had left as she desperately tried to buck the mershark from her. He wasn’t bothered by her movements, though, and he merely stared down at her with a grim sort of purpose. He was going to drown her. She was going to drown, he was going to drown her - holy fuck was he going to eat her - and then she couldn’t hold her breath any longer. She gasped, flooding her mouth with water, and a flashback of the storm swept over her so violently she thought she could feel the churning of the water around her. But there was something strange, something about the way the water seemed to flow from her nose, and out her mouth. She was . . . she was breathing. She was breathing underwater.

~ The mershark laughed then, and Jacquie could hear it. She heard it like it was carried on a cool summer breeze, dark and full of gravel, and it filled the water around her like a living, breathing thing.

~ “Holy fuck.”

~ The mershark throws back his head and laughs again, his long fingers squeezing her shoulders tightly. “I knew you were a great pick. You’re gonna be so fucking good.” He moved then, dragging her with him effortlessly as he swam through the water, the current hardly seeming to effect his direction at all. She fought, tired to pull away, but the mershark only pulled her closer, tsking at her struggles. “Stop moving would ya? It’s getting annoying.” He growled in her ear, and there was something to his tone of voice that made her go still. He wasn’t asking. He pulled her down, past the reef, until they arrived at the dark entrance of a cave that seemed to be built into the side of the sandbar. He wasted no time speaking, instead he opted to throw her on a pile of soft sponges laid across the bottom, causing her to bounce lightly in the water as he began to flint about, grabbing this and that as he swam around the cave. There was a multitude of items that screams of being from the surface and some of it - a lot of it, Jacquie realized with a start - seemed to have come from her boat.

~ To Jacquie it seemed as if he were circling her once more as he continued to move between one set of shelving and the next, and his words early only served to strength her thoughts of him eating her, so when he approached her side and reached towards her she nearly screamed. He didn’t, however, eat her. He did yank her forward when she refused to give him the arm he motioned for, his hands rough on her delicate skin as he slid heavy gold bands over her wrists. Arm bands followed, as well as several heavy necklaces that weighed Jacquie down and forced her to stay at the ocean floor verses floating upwards at the slightest current. He wasn’t finished until she was covered with more jewelry than she had seen in her lifetime and the weight of it pressed uncomfortably into her skin.

~ “It’s too much.” Jacquie said softly, already removing several layers of the necklaces that had been thrown over her head. “Too heavy.”

~ The mershark growled low, but he didn’t move to stop her until she was wearing only a few necklaces and other shining jewelry pieces. He did, however, propel himself forward and curl his body around hers like a puppy, his head pressed into her side while his tail wrapped around her waist, a more effective lock to keep her in place than if he had tied her to one of the rocks that made up the cave.

~ “Bakugou.” Jacquie stared and the mershark sighed. “Bakugou.” “I . . . I don’t -” “What, are you one of the stupid humans?” The mershark bit out harshly. “M’name is Bakugou.” “Oh.”

~ “Fuckin’ hell, what is your name?”

~ “J - Jacquie.” It was strange talking underwater. Everything sounded vaguely muffled, but not at the same time, and every time she inhaled it felt as if she were swallowing jello and feeling it ooze from her nose. “My name . . . my name is Jacquie.”

~ The mershark - Bakugou - smiled. “Good. That’s a good name for my mate. You look strong, and your hips are wide so you’ll be a perfect mate. You’ll -” But Jacquie wasn’t listening. His words were ringing through her ears, making no sense because over and over again one word kept rising to the top: mate. And from the way he was talking it seemed like he meant it. They were going to have pups, he cooed, rubbing his face against her abdomen. They were going to fuck, hard, and then when she got pregnant he would take care of her until she birthed the pups and they would do it all over. “You’ll be so fucking pretty with your stomach all swollen for me, swollen with our pups. And as soon as the seaweed finishes it’s work, you’ll have pretty little tail to move around with.” His sharp teeth nipped against her side with every word spoken to her like she was a lover, causing her to shiver in his hold. “It’s okay, sharks take care of their mates, not like those flimsy reef mer who flee at the first sign of danger, like that stupid fucking Deku. I’ll keep you safe, mate. And I’ll never let you go.”

[myhouseidea]

House B, Westcliff Ridge is a project designed by Daffonchio and Associates Architects. The clients’ brief was to create a sustainable modern home that exploited views from the site, which is situated just off the Valley road on the Westcliff ridge and overlooks the jacaranda trees of the Northern suburbs parks and Johannesburg Zoo. Photography by Elsa Young, Candace Marshall Smith, Chiara Frisone

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.

The core concepts of the design are rooted in a green, modern lifestyle. The first sustainable aspect is the orientation of the residence, with the main living areas and bedrooms of the house orientated toward the north, sun control at East and West, and insulation mass at South.

The northern façade is fully glazed to maximise natural light and views. External, mechanically operated shutters provide both privacy and sun control for the bedrooms on the first floor. Vertical louvers allow winter sun to penetrate the house in winter in the morning while projecting a shade in summer. Large areas of glazing on the facades could imply open heat loss and heat gain, but in this case, the choice of double glazing mitigates this, effectively providing insulation.

Cavity walls provide further insulation and thermal mass. Polystyrene block and beam slabs add performance to the standard insulation layer. Other green principles that were incorporated were the use of solar geysers for domestic hot water and heat pumps which feed the hot water underfloor heating. The slope of the site also played an important role in the design of the house. The house is stepped over four levels which follow the natural slope so as to cause the minimum possible footprint.

The arrival level contains four garages and a cottage. The level above is the open plan living area with high ceilings. To the north, this area opens out onto a covered patio and to the south, it accesses the garden. A spiral staircase goes up to the second and third levels. The second level houses the bedrooms, and the third level leads to the swimming pool and viewing deck area. The pool and pool walkway extends into the koppie* and links the house with the landscape, where all indigenous trees have been preserved and new ones have been added.

House B, Westcliff Ridge by Daffonchio and Associates Architects House B, Westcliff Ridge is a project designed by Daffonchio and Associates Architects. The clients’ brief was to create a sustainable modern home that exploited views from the site, which is situated just off the Valley road on the Westcliff ridge and overlooks the jacaranda trees of the Northern suburbs parks and Johannesburg Zoo.

[architectnews]

Ten impressive architectural viewpoints designed to stand out

Architectural viewpoints have been in the news lately with the opening of BIG's helical Marsk Tower and controversy surrounding MVRDV's Marble Arch Mound and Thomas Heatherwick's Vessel. Here are 10 impressive lookouts from Dezeen's archive.

Vlooyberg Tower by Close to Bone

Engineering studio Close to Bone created an 11.5-metre-high cantilevered staircase as a unique viewpoint in Flanders, Belgium.

Named Vlooyberg Tower, the free observation tower was constructed from orange weathering steel to avoid acts of arson, which destroyed the wooden tower that formerly sat on the site.

However, in 2018 the gravity-defying structure was severely damaged in an apparent explosion. The structure was repaired and reopened later that year.

Find out more about Vlooyberg Tower ›

Forest Tower at Camp Adventure by EFFEKT

The helical Forest Tower at Camp Adventure, Denmark's largest climbing camp, was designed by Danish architecture studio EFFEKT.

Hourglass in shape, the weathering steel viewpoint, which costs 150 kr (€20) to climb, allows visitors to walk amongst the treetops by ascending a spiralling ramp that curves 45 metres above the ground.

Find out more about Forest Tower ›

Marsk Tower by BIG

Designed with a double helix structure informed by DNA, Marsk Tower by architecture studio BIG recently been completed at the Wadden Sea National Park in Denmark.

The Corten steel tower, which costs 90 kr (€12) to climb has views of surrounding UNESCO World Heritage-listed marshland.

Find out more about Marsk Tower ›

Marble Arch Mound by MVRDV

Dutch studio MVRDV recently unveiled a controversial artificial hill next to London's Marble Arch.

Built to encourage visitors back to the Oxford Street shopping district as coronavirus restrictions are lifted, the Marble Arch Mound features grassy turf and trees that cover its scaffolding structure.

The viewpoint was heavily criticised when it opened due to its unfinished appearance leading to the council making the attraction free to climb during August. Following costs spiralled from £3.3 million to £6 million, the deputy leader of Westminster City Council, which commissioned the structure, resigned.

Find out more about Marble Arch Mound ›

Vessel by Thomas Heatherwick

At 16 storeys, Vessel is a honeycomb-shaped visitor attraction composed of 154 staircases that meet at 80 platforms.

Designed by British designer Thomas Heatherwick, the tower at the Hudson Yards development in New York was informed by the design of ancient Indian stepwells.

The viewpoint opened in 2019 but was forced to closed in January this year after a third person committed suicide by jumping from it. Despite being reopened with a buddy system, a fourth person committed suicide by jumping from the structure in July leading to the attraction closing indefinitely.

Find out more about Vessel ›

Dubai Frame by Fernando Donis

Dubai Frame is a pair of 150-metre-tall towers linked by a 93-metre-wide bridge to create a structure that resembles a giant photo frame towering above Za'abeel Park in Dubai.

Designed by Rotterdam-based architect Fernando Donis, the AED 50 ($13.6) attraction was controversial as its designer sued the Dubai Municipality and ThyssenKrupp elevator company.

Although he received a $100,000 prize for winning the competition to design the structure, he claimed the organisations altered the design and he did not receive a contract nor compensation for his design.

Find out more about Dubai Frame ›

Corsican Deer Observatories by Orma Architettura

Three matching wooden viewpoints were built by French studio Orma Architettura for people to observe native red deer on the island of Corsica in the Mediterranean.

Constructed by local artisans, the free-to-climb Corsican Deer Observatories are wooden rectilinear structures with slatted walls designed to prevent deer from seeing people inside the viewpoints. Each of the three structures are intended to resemble tree trunks, but are adapted to their specific locations within the park.

Find out more about Corsican Deer Observatories ›

An Ode to Manmade Land by Vector-I Architects

Vector-I Architects and local artist Lambert Kamps designed a timber installation on an artificial dyke in the Netherlands' Lauwersmeer National Park to offer views across the landscape and "provide new perspectives on rising sea levels".

Named the Viewing Dyke, the viewpoint features a seven-metre-high wooden staircase that gives visitors a view of their surroundings.

Find out more about An Ode to Manmade Land ›

Ötzi Peak 3251m by Network of Architecture

Designed as a remote tourist attraction built for guests of the nearby Hotel Grawand and other passersby, Ötzi Peak 3251m is a curved viewpoint made from weathering steel that sits at the peak of Schnals Valley Glacier ridge in Italy.

Italian studio Network of Architecture designed the free observation deck to only touch the earth where structurally necessary in order to give visitors the sensation of being suspended above the mountains.

Find out more about Ötzi Peak 3251m ›

Perspektivenweg viewpoint by Snøhetta

Architecture studio Snøhetta added the cantilevered Perspektivenweg viewing platform to a walking trail in the Austrian Alps. It is one of 10 architectural elements that the firm designed for Nordkette mountain range trail.

The free observation deck was designed to "grow out of the terrain," and features a metal grate floor that allows visitors to observe the earth under their feet as well as the scenery on the horizon.

Find out more about Perspektivenweg ›

The post Ten impressive architectural viewpoints designed to stand out appeared first on Dezeen.

[sids-a-brick-house]

Lighthouse (2021)

It had been a long time since I made a serious build. I’d started a few other things in the meanwhile, the biggest endeavor of which being Bojack Horseman’s house (2018), but I didn’t get far enough for me to consider it worthy of even the “unfinished” tag. But a conversation with a coworker about how great Legos are, which included me stating something along the lines of “Legos are my gender”, inspired me to pick up the abandoned lighthouse project I’d started years back. Very little of that original design and the original sections I made actually made it into this final build. I updated and expanded the design several times over the month it took me to build this (partly because I kept telling people I was building something, which caused me to raise my expectations for myself). What was originally designed to be a skinny tower with yellow clear bricks in the top of the tower representing a light became a full blown tower with a working light and sloped sides on a cliff overlooking water with waves and a sailboat. So let’s take a closer look!

This was my first time really building a full scene surrounding the main architectural piece, and the reason behind the scene was actually pretty practical. Once I realized that I had my (now vintage) incandescent lightbulb brick and trusty old RCX (and once I learned to clean out the remnants of exploded batteries), that really changed the game. However, an RCX is pretty bulky (12 studs x 8 studs x 4 bricks high) so it wouldn’t fit in the base level of the lighthouse. Therefore, I decided to make a cliff to hide it away underneath the building.

(Sorry for the obnoxious portrait orientation, I didn’t originally plan on having to put this video through YouTube in order to upload it here.)

Fortunately, I didn’t have to program my RCX, which is very difficult since the device was put on the market literally 20 years ago and is only really compatible with 32-bit Windows by default. I already had a program on it (that it somehow didn’t forget while unpowered, which is a common issue) that was made to power a motor in one direction for a few seconds, then the other, and repeat. The great thing about incandescent lights (rather than LEDs) is that if you run the current in one direction, then the other, it’s lit both ways. So all I have to do to turn on the light is go to the RCX and press the “ON/OFF” button, then “Run”, and to turn it off it’s as simple as what I did in the video--going to the RCX and pressing the “ON/OFF” button. Simple, but adding some electronics does add a bit of magic to the build.

However, the electronics added complexity to my always modular design process. I now needed each section to have the wires align such that they all connected easily when the modules were stacked, yet the layers could also be separated easily.

(Again, sorry for the portrait orientation.)

You might notice that I have to pause when unstacking the second section and I turned the camera away, mostly because I was focused on gently loosening the second section from the third using one hand (so as not to break my rule requiring builds to be separable with one hand and without directly pulling anything apart). I accidentally squished the layers too tightly together at some point, I suppose. The layers do not need to be that tightly packed for the electricity to conduct, though, which is pretty neat.

Also, the only features on the interior of this build are ways for minifigs to get up to the lookout deck. There is a ladder in the top section of the lighthouse, and to get there, there is a spiral staircase that winds upwards from the bottom section to the top of the middle section.

The windows for the actual light section of the lighthouse have a secret door from which minifigs can exit to access the lookout deck.

I made this minifigure a telescope. Seemed fitting for the scene.

The simplicity of the interior made it more compelling to add details elsewhere, such as the landscape. Instead of making a plain grey block for a cliff, I wanted to add rocks and patches of moss and grass that thinned out as a minifig reached the top of the cliff.

I also wanted to have a more rugged rock face in general. 

I liked the look of having rock overhanging the water, too. Playing with shadows and reflections really made things interesting. The image shows light being reflected onto the cliff sides from the water, which was something I didn’t factor into my original plans, so it was a beautiful bonus.

Now we can talk about the components that really round out this scene. 

Building waves was really cool since it made me think about details like the frothy edges of the white part of the wave.

The most surprisingly complex addition was the sailboat. I decided I didn’t want boring, unrealistic, completely flat sails for my boat. I wanted the whole scene to appear dynamic and realistic. That’s also why there’s some “water” on the side of the boat that’s splashing over into it. 

Even though I could have stopped there, I spent some time looking up sailboat diagrams to make the sail parts move in a somewhat realistic way. The sail is actually light enough to move by blowing it, although the boat as a whole is not light enough to be pushed that way, at least not on any surface I have available.

There used to be a rudder on the boat that, in theory, could be controlled by a minifig (they could definitely hold it, but seeing as they don’t move, they can’t actually control much.) However, to fit the boat in the water, the rudder had to be removed and now it’s just implied that it’s submerged. (I know there’s also another component that goes on the underside of the boat, but I knew that one wouldn’t be visible when I included the boat, so I didn’t add it.)

[myersjackson]

Bonita Springs Luxury Home Stealthy Gulf Coast Residence

Bonita Springs Luxury Home Stealthy Gulf Coast Residence, Superior Construction, meets & exceeds Florida building code standards. This high end house on the waterfront boasts quality real estate with close proximity to Naples and Fort Myers. 27693 Bay Point Lane, Bonita Springs

The making of a Bonita Springs luxury home.  Built not only to impress, but also to withstand.  This home at 27693 Bay Point Lane has much to offer beyond it’s gorgeous exterior.  The utmost thought and consideration was put into the building of the luxury home just minutes from the beach.

Building this Bonita Springs Luxury Home Stealthy Gulf Coast Residence, First in 2004 this house was built from the ground up. Beginning with 52 half inch square precast concrete piles.  These piles designed for a capacity of 14 tons of compression.  Grade beam designed construction supports the three stories on those piles.  As well as the luxury home’s fourth floor lookout and bonus room.  Precast concrete slabs make up the first and second story ceilings and floors.

Next, concrete block extends from the floor level all the way to the third floor.  There are metal studs of 3-5/8” throughout the wall exteriors as well as the bathroom. This providing for a sound barrier. The exterior walls of this luxury Bonita Springs home consist of 3-5/8” insulation.  5/8” sheetrock covers the walls.  Such detail was taken during building to include rounded corners in doorways and wall endings.  Twelve inches from exterior to interior provides the ultimate insulation and sound barrier.

Indeed the only wood this luxury home consists of is the roof’s joists and sheathing.  Completing the roof is a rubberized underlay and flat clay tile.

Bonita Springs Luxury Home Stealthy Gulf Coast Residence

Then much consideration was put into the window installation for this gorgeous home and Bonita Springs Luxury Home Stealthy Gulf Coast Residence.  The Marvin Windows are double clad with the ability to withstand winds up to 130 mph. As a matter of fact, this Bonita Springs luxury home has endured three of the worst hurricanes.  One such being  the 2017 category 5 Hurricane Irma.  In each incident the home experienced no breakage or leakage from the walls or the windows.  All window coverings throughout are custom made.

like new 8’ Italian made Vitality pool table

professional shuffleboard table

complete universal gym, treadmill, free weights

Also consisting of travertine marble are the stairs-with the exception of a spiral staircase which leads to the 4thfloor lookout. To build this Bonita Springs Luxury Home Stealthy Gulf Coast Residence only Highly skilled Canadian craftsmen performed all of the millwork, including the staircases and bannisters. For those who may not feel like climbing the stairs, this Bonita Springs luxury home comes equipped with a 3 story elevator.

Notably, doors within this home are constructed of nominal 2” thick solid mahogany.  With the exception of the front doors and those to the master suite.  Made in Bolivia those doors feature arches and hand carved special designs.

Bonita Springs Luxury Home Stealthy Gulf Coast Residence

Interestingly, the surround sound in this luxury home delivers audibility to all rooms in the house.  Enjoy music in every room via the remote or your phone.  Watch movies on the 65” Sony television installed in the living room.  Also enjoy these additional features of the living room:

  unique pagoda structure with 1) a mirrored background-this displays statues or floral arrangements eloquently, 2) four pull out drawers perfect for the storage of blankets, etc.

wet bar with refrigerator

gas powered remote controlled fire place fueled by propane

Furthermore, off of the kitchen is a huge screened Lanai measuring 12’ x 30’ under roof cover.  This is the ideal spot for grilling some steaks with friends and family. Additional decks include:

master suite-6.5’x20’

Romeo & Juliet balconies on either side of the home’s front

Bonita Springs Luxury Home Stealthy Gulf Coast Residence

Bonita Springs Luxury Home Stealthy Gulf Coast Residence

 Additionally, the back yard space consists of a screen enclosed free-form pool.  Just beyond the pool are two boat lifts.  One 8000 pounds and one 14000 pounds.  Purchased used six years ago, the 14000 pound lift functions and operates perfectly.  However, the rail mechanism on the top is deteriorating and should be replaced at a cost of approximately 6 to 8 thousand dollars.

Uniquely, round concrete slabs 20” in diameter lead from the dock along the sides of the luxury home.  Ensuring that no grass or dirt is tracked to the pool or the house from the docks or pool.  Concrete pavers line the driveway and the entrance.

Bonita Springs Luxury Home Stealthy Gulf Coast Residence

Moreover, two garages each measure 14’ wide x 25’ deep.  There is enough space to walk around the car, doors open, with ease.  A 14’ wide x 3’ deep closet is in one garage offering additional storage.  This section of the air conditioned garage is the perfect space for a workshop. Bonita Springs Luxury Home Stealthy Gulf Coast Residence has many detail that may not be listed. Schedule and appointment.

Lastly, this Bonita Springs luxury home greets everyone with a fascinating three-tier Italian fountain at the home’s front entrance. This is definitely a luxury home anyone will want to make their own!

Bonita Springs Luxury Home Stealthy Gulf Coast Residence

#AmericasAuctioneer

#LuxeHomeAuction

[thetradeway]

Session 17 Halloween!

Melaina is supposed to be guiding us to the High Forest, but we seem to be lost and going in circles. It is getting darker and darker. Ahleqs lies down and prepares to die.

We hear some spooky singing coming from the north east. Tarragon and Ahleqs roll good survival checks and head off in the direction of the sounds. We reach a blighted manse! Or it might be a post office. Who knows.

The clearing in which it sits is damp, waterlogged. The stone of the manse seems unnaturally dark; the light from the stars seems to grow darker as we move toward it. We debate briefly the idea of knocking and saying trick or treat, but this is dismissed as a weird Aaracokran holiday tradition. As we draw near it gets darker and darker, to the point where the humans can’t see. Gunna lights a torch, and Ahleqs casts Light on Simon.

Kessler goes and knocks, Gunna accompanies. The doors are dark oak. There is a pair of crystal blue eyes peering out through the window next to the door!! Gunna wants to ask the eyes directions. He looks again and the eyes are gone. The doors are locked. The singing comes again, louder this time; Ahleqs casts Mage Armor.

Popcorn is terrified; with some cajoling Tarragon is able to get him to follow her. She reminds him how brave he was and how he kicked the shit out of those ogres from before. Gunna grouses that he could have kicked their asses if he’d been woken up sooner; Ahleqs pets him on the head and tells him he’s a brave human. He is mollified.

Kessler tries to pick the lock and fails spectacularly. Melaina has a go (rolls a 26!) but still can’t open it. Ahleqs has a look at it to see if its locked by magical means - there seems to be an aura of some sort around the door. It feels like it doesn’t want to be opened.

Gideon finds a hedge. He then fondles the door until he knows what’s up (Identify). Gets a splinter. There’s no spell on it - he suggests it’s a mimic. He decides to try tickling it, but nothing happens. “Listen here, you two-plank hinge swinger!” He rolls to intimidate the door and gets a 6. Popcorn gives him a quizzical look.

Perhaps it’s undead? Gideon holds his prayer wheel to it; nothing happens. He tries offering it a gold piece; as he places it down, he notices the floor is sticky with what looks like blood. Perhaps it wants a blood offering? We investigate the blood. It doesn’t seem ritualistic, but looks like something bleeding has been dragged through them. Okay.

Ahleqs picks up some of the blood and tries not to be sick as he rubs it on the door; nothing happens so he listens for the singing. It’s strangely quiet now though. Melaina checks the door for traps.

The hinges on the door don’t look gummed up or rusted, and there is no sign of traps. She has picked the lock but it won’t open. She cannot see any reason for this. Gunna tries pushing the door. Nothing. We argue about what to do next.

While we’re bickering, the doors swing open. SpooooooOOOOooooOOOky!

Gunna goes in. We all try to follow but something happens to Gunna so we have to wait. No - it’s a description that Joe is trying to get out before we all rush in, and while we’re all shouting over him.

There are two statues (demonic looking) in the foyer - we hear cracking, and the statues come to life. ARRRRGHHHHHH!!!!

We roll initiative. Tarragon turns to look for Popcorn but he’s disappeared. She decides he can look after himself for a minute.

Ahleqs does Tides of Chaos (rolls 69 - nice) to give himself advantage on an Eldritch Blast (slashing and bludgeoning don’t seem to do much), and can choose up to three creatures to hit with 4d10 lightning damage. Holy Shit. Big Boy Magic Time!

They’re not dead - they attack Tarragon and Gunna, and only manage to hit Gunna once. Don’t worry, Gideon will save the day! He considers Greasing them, but goes with Scorching Ray instead.

Melaina obliterates one with an arrow and her new sharpshooter feat, Gunna gets the other shortly after. Final Fantasy Fanfare. We make checks to see what they were - turns out they were gargoyles.

Popcorn is shivering in a clump of trees outside; Tarragon gives him some food and helps him hide better, and tells him she’ll come back for him.

Meanwhile, Gideon fist bumps a griffin statue and it opens a doorway. There are spiral stairs going up and down, but the stairs up are blocked off by a portcullis. Going past the stairs is another room, large, with chairs and tables and a chandelier. There’s a bit of a Marie Celeste vibe. As Tarragon and Kessler move into he room, the chandelier suddenly falls to the floor with a horrendous crash; Ahleqs screams like a girl and Gunna shouts ‘Shield Wall!’

I was wrong - Gideon fist bumped the statue and opened a secret passage in this room. It ends at a wall that looks like it slides to one side but there is no obvious mechanism. We move into the dining room to the south instead and interrupt a ghostly dinner party. OooooOOOoooOOOoo!!

Ahleqs stutters an apology, at which all of the ghosts stop talking and turn to him. The host turns to screech at Ahleqs, ‘ you should not be here!’ rushes at him and vanishes, along with all the other ghosts and it is all quiet. Ahleqs scrambles over Tarragon to get away.

The table is thickly covered in dust, with what look like plates underneath the dust. Gideon is afraid of ghosts and refuses to come in. There are tapestries on the wall depicting hunting scenes and courtly life; they crumble in Tarragon’s hand. Ahleqs finds a door to the south, but not a secret one. Locked though. Melaina has a go at picking it, but she gets Guidance from Tarragon so 10 is enough - just as well.

The room suddenly erupts into flame - we are temporarily blinded and make Wisdom saves. Ahleqs does Tides of Chaos to give himself advantage, and can’t speak for a minute. Every time he tries, pink bubbles emanate from his mouth. The flames are illusory. Phew!  

There’s a ballroom behind the doors that Melaina picks. The ghost from before appears floating in the room - he looks younger. A beautiful woman enters - he holds her and they look into each others eyes.

They talk about running away together (what about his wife?), and an army of undead? I think? There are glass doors that would open outside - we can’t see through them because they’re so dirty. We try anyway. Gunna sees what looks like an outdoor pool.

Gideon plucks up the courage to follow us now that the ghosts have gone. Ahleqs looks at the fireplace. Nothing special. (only rolls 12 tho.) Tarragon can’t find any buttons or switches. Gunna tries the doors to the pool and they swing open.

The pool water is green and has skeletons in it. As Gunna approaches he notices what looks like a sword glinting by the rotting deck chairs. He rushes over and picks it up without checking, because that’s how you play d&d. We hear Gunna giggling and exclaiming ‘treasure!’ He has activated an Encounter. He has not, in fact, won d&d.

There is a horrendous heaving sound - a huge decomposing beholder rises out of the pool, its eyes rotten and blind. Roll initiative!!!

Tarragon casts Thunderwave at 2nd level. Ahleqs screams, and casts Witch Bolt. Then he clicks the right spell instead of Burning Hands, and does 19 damage. He does Tides of Chaos again - his hair falls out.

The beholder does an Enervation Ray and nearly kills Tarragon and Gideon; Tarragon heals Gideon and Picasso’s herself into a bear. (Eyes in wrong place, seeing out the back until Joe fixes it for her)

Gunna kills it and it explodes, showering us in gross. Gunna rolls a 22 on his dex save and grabs a deck chair to shield himself, while shouting ‘Shield wall!’ again.

Gideon investigates the sword Gunna found - it is a sword of +1. Shiny!

We go down the spiral staircase into a cellar - a door slams shut behind us. There is a dial, which has to be turned and a four digit code must be input.

There is a flesh golem on a table, with buckets of organs all around, and surgery implements. Worst of all, a noxious gas starts to fill the room.

We have to put the correct body parts on the golem - Ahleqs volunteers to sew them on, giving himself advantage with Tides of Chaos. A unicorn appears controlled by the DM; as it does so it looks around itself in disgust and promptly disappears again. On the second roll he gets a Modron. What in the world is going on.

Third roll he becomes immune to being intoxicated for 22 days. Bummer.

The golem is complete - Kessler pulls the lever and electrocutes the thing and awakens it. It gets up and rushes toward the locking mechanism, puts in the number and the gas disappears. Thanks kind sir! After that he (we assume it’s a he; the area one would normally check in case of confusion is tastefully blurred out on the diagram, and wouldn’t necessarily help us anyway) crumbles back into his component parts. Ahleqs faints.

When he awakes, he investigates the room and finds a magic satchel. He opens it but holds his head away from it in case it attacks. Gideon sticks his arm in the satchel to see how deep it is - it (his arm) disappears. Ahleqs puts one of the golem’s arm inside - it disappears. When he reaches in again he is able to pull it out. It appears to be a Bag of Holding! Gideon remarks that Ahleqs seems to have fouled this one up already; he wants to know if Bags of Holding are machine washable. (I am on the floor at this point.)

Gideon has a go at investigating the secret passageway. The DM reminds us that the door was revealed by fist bumping the griffin statue. God we’re stupid. Tarragon tries another fist bump, misses, falls into the statue and something happens. Holy fuck are we stupid. I love this game.

The door at the end of the secret passage opens, but the near door closes again, shutting Gunna away from the rest of us.

Gunna finds himself in an almost empty room with blood smears and a rug. There are several doors leading out of this room.

Everything is running slow, so Joe calls it there. (Had a feeling this would be more than a one-shot…)

Duncan asks how much less we got done than Joe thought we would; the basement took a lot less time but everything else took ten times longer. Yeah, we’re fuckin’ stupid!

[eliz1369]

Okitober Fest - Regret and Lost

Castle in the Corn

Rating: T Length: 2,200 words Description: Modern AU set ~10 years after An Unearned Gift. Okita and Chizuru are taking their daughters on an excursion to a corn maze, but their plans go awry when one of the girls decides to run off.

Author’s Note: Yay! OkiChi Week/Okitober Fest is finally here. I honestly can’t thank @kurokiorya enough for drawing the fabulous illustration! Be sure to check out her blog to see all of her amazing art. 

This is also on FF and AO3

“But Mom, I want to find the castle!”

Souji couldn’t help a small chuckle at the way their six year-old daughter managed to mirror Chizuru’s own stubborn posture. Everyone insisted that their youngest, Natsumi, had gotten his stubborn personality along with his green eyes, but he’d faced off against his wife’s own particular brand of stubbornness often enough to know that wasn’t entirely true.

The family of four stood in the middle of a giant, kid-friendly, halloween themed corn maze. Currently their older daughter was attempting to lead them to the giant pumpkin and was doing a fairly good job of it. Despite getting much of Chizuru’s calmer personality - an immense benefit with a younger sister like Natsumi - Sachiko thankfully hadn’t inherited her mother’s distinct lack of direction. The cards were still up in the air for Natsumi, but she was young… Or at least that’s what Souji hoped. Keeping track of Chizuru in busy places was hard enough, but at least she didn’t have a habit of running off when she didn’t get her way like Natsumi did.  

Chizuru gave him a slightly aggravated look for the ill-timed laugh before turning to Natsumi. “I’ve told you, it’s Sachi’s turn. Once she leads us to the pumpkin, then you can take us to Dracula’s castle.”

Mother and daughter faced off against each other, neither apparently willing to back down. The stalemate was broken when Sachiko hesitantly offered, “It’s okay mom. If Tsumi really wants to, we can go see the castle first.”

Chizuru shook her head as she turned to look at her other daughter. “That’s very mature of you, but it’s not the point. It’s your turn right now and Tsumi will just have to patient.”  

Souji could practically see the wheels turning inside Natsumi’s head, so it came as no surprise to him when she used Chizuru’s distraction to bolt down the path.

Instantly Chizuru’s head whipped back around, her voice rising in panic as she called, “Okita Natsumi! Come back here!”

He put a hand on Chizuru’s shoulder, stopping her as she tried to follow after their daughter and gave her a reassuring kiss on the forehead as he said, “I’ll get her, don’t worry.”  Chizuru meant well, but she’d be more likely to end up lost herself.

He felt Chizuru relax slightly, but that didn’t stop her from biting anxiously at her lip as she looked down the path where Natsumi had run. Turning to an equally worried Sachiko, he knelt down until he was level with her short eight year-old height and rested a hand on her head.

“You and Mom go see the pumpkin and Tsumi and I will meet you at the castle, all right?” When his reassurance didn’t seem to entirely ease his daughter’s fear for her sister, he said seriously, “While I’m gone, I need you to take care of Mom for me. Can I trust you to get her there safely?”

An all too familiar determined light entered Sachiko’s brown eyes as she nodded and took her mother’s hand. “You can trust me.”

“Good girl.”

Souji ruffled her hair before turning to jog down the path after Natsumi. His daughter was now well out of sight, but thus far the path hadn’t split. She’d be ahead of him unless she’d tried to get through the wall of corn. With his longer legs, he shouldn’t have too much trouble catching up with her.

When the first fork came in sight and he still hadn’t seen Natsumi, Souji started to worry. He stopped and looked down both directions, but couldn’t see her or any sign of which direction she’d taken. It was like she’d vanished into thin air.

Thankfully his worry didn’t last long. Now that his own feet were silent, he could hear the faint sound of running footsteps to his right. Determined to catch up with her before they ended up who-knew-where, he sprinted down the path, taking the turns as quickly as he dared.

It was with more than a little surprise that Souji slid to a stop at yet another divide and again he had yet to catch up to his daughter. How had he not found her yet? She was six years old for goodness sake. Worse yet, he couldn’t even hear over his own winded breathing. He’d known sprinting that distance was probably pushing it but he’d been so sure that he would catch up…

He rested his hands on his knees as he tried to slow down his breathing to the point where he could hear. “Shit…”

A high pitched gasp from behind him made him freeze and he straightened as he slowly turned around. Low and behold there was the very person he had been looking for. She must have heard him coming and managed to tuck herself into a gap in the corn before he’d come into sight. Her plan had almost worked, since he had very nearly run right past her.

Natsumi froze, her eyes widening as she realized that she had given herself away, but the look didn’t last long. It quickly transformed into her usual defiant expression that tended to give her Uncle Hijikata fits. Head up and shoulders stiff, she gamely marched out of her hiding spot to face him.

She pointed a finger at him as she said, “That’s a bad word! I’m going to tell Mom what you said!”

The sight of his six year-old daughter attempting to blackmail him was amusing enough that he had to seriously fight to keep a smile off his face. Instead he raised an eyebrow as he folded his arms. “Oh, you are, are you?”

“Y-Yes!” she said, though there was now a hint of uncertainty in her voice. Clearly that wasn’t the response she had been expecting.

Souji let a smirk start to pull at his lips.  “Hmm~, I thought you knew what happened to tattletales…”

He and Chizuru had made sure that both of their daughters knew the difference between tattling because it was the right thing to do, and doing it purely to get someone in trouble. Blackmail certainly did not fall into that former category.

Natsumi’s eyes widened as she tried to bolt again, but Souji was faster and within only a few steps, he had scooped her up. She let out a half giggle, half scream as he dangled her over his shoulder by her knees. He had to dodge as one of her flailing legs came close to hitting his head and her fists beat uselessly on his back.

“Dad! Put me down!”

“Nope.”

After a few more moments of struggling, she finally gave up and sagged against him as she muttered, “Fine, I won’t tell.”

“What was that? I couldn’t hear you.”

“I won’t tell Mom!”

Carefully, he pulled her back over and settled her on his hip. She glanced up at him briefly before hiding her face in his neck, her fingers tightly curled into his shirt. “I’m sorry…”

He had a good idea of what she was actually apologizing for, but decided to ask anyway. “For what?”

“…For running away,” she hesitated a moment before she asked with a quaver in her voice, “I-Is Mom mad at me?”

Souji sighed as he rested his cheek on top of her head and gently rubbed her back. “No, she’s not mad. You just scared her.”

“Oh…” After a moment Natsumi pulled back to look up at him, biting her lip in a way that she could have only learned from her mother. “Can we go find her?”

“Well I’d like to, but I came after you, so I don’t know where she is. Why don’t we go wait for her at the castle?”

Natsumi’s expression brightened at the offer, but it was quickly touched by a trace of confusion. “How do we get there?”

He grinned down at her. “Like this.”

Repositioning his hold, he lifted her until she sat on his shoulders and could see above the cornstalks.

“Do you see the castle?”

Keeping one hand on his head as she twisted around, she scanned the area for a moment before excitedly pointing in a direction to their left.

“There!”

He started walking down the left path as he said, “All right then, let’s go find that castle.”

Considering it was a maze, their method of navigation worked fairly well. Every time they reached an intersection, Natsumi would point them in the direction of the castle. Even with the occasional backtrack, they soon found themselves walking into the castle’s clearing.

Calling it a castle was a bit of an overstatement in Souji’s opinion. They’d done a decent job of setting up the surrounding graveyard, complete with witty sayings on each of the stones, but “Dracula’s Castle” was more of a tower with a painted stone motif and a spiral staircase wrapping around to the observation deck on top. Of course, he knew nothing could be permanent if they were going to be able to replant next year, but still.

He set Natsumi down, and she instantly ran to the nearest of the grave stones, tracing her finger along the carved words as she tried to sound them out.

“M… T… Tom-Tomb?” She glanced up at him and he nodded approvingly, keeping back his grin at the pun that had flown right over her head. Excitedly she ran to the next, “I… L… Beback”

Natsumi had started toward a third, when she hesitated, her face becoming slightly sad, “I wish Sachi was here…”

Souji walked over, picking her up and settling her on his shoulders again as he started toward the tower. “Yeah, I know, but that’s what happens when you run off. We all do things we regret or wish we hadn’t done. What’s important is that you learn from it.” He felt her wrap her arms around his neck and rest her chin on his head. “What do you say we go watch for Mom and Sachi from the top of the castle?”

She didn’t say anything, but Souji felt her nod as he started walking toward the staircase.

Despite being slightly lacking as a castle, the tower did have an excellent view. From the top they could see all the paths and clearings spread out before them, and even to the edges of the field itself. The very top of the giant pumpkin was just visible above the tips of the corn and presumably, Chizuru and Sachiko would be coming from that direction.

“Dad?” Natsumi asked hesitantly, breaking the silence as he moved them to better see the opening he guessed the other half of their family would appear from.

“Yeah?”

“Have you done things you regret?”

Souji let out a slow sigh as he closed his eyes, a familiar wave of guilt rolling through him. True, his own list of regrets wasn’t long, but that only made those few moments stand out in sharper, more painful relief. Like he’d told Natsumi, he had gotten better at holding on to the lessons rather than the guilt of the memories themselves. The passage of time had helped as well, but there was still one memory he refused to let go of. He’d made more mistakes than he cared to admit when it came to Chizuru, but he would rather walk through hell than repeat that particular one.

Before he could figure out how to answer her question, Natsumi excitedly pointed down into the corn. “There they are!”

Souji pushed back the unwelcome memories as he opened his eyes and smiled down at his wife and oldest daughter. Chizuru had never held his mistakes against him or thrown his inadequacies back in his face. She was far more than he deserved, but of course she would just argue that wasn’t the point.

It didn’t take the pair long to cross the clearing and climb the tower. When they had just crested the stairs, he set down a squirming Natsumi, who ran straight to her mother.

“Please don’t ever do that again Natsumi,” Chizuru said as she knelt down and enfolded her in a hug so tight it almost looked painful. Natsumi didn’t seem to care one bit, her smile stretching from ear to ear as Chizuru picked her up and settled her on her hip.

While Chizuru saw to Natsumi, Souji walked over to Sachiko and ruffled her hair before putting an arm around her shoulders.

“I’m proud of you kid. You did a good job getting Mom here.”

Sachiko looked up at him, her eyes bright with the praise as she gave an impressively convincing melodramatic sigh. “I don’t know how you do it. She almost got us lost three times.”

“Hmm, sounds like you deserve some ice cream for all that hard work.”

They both turned to look excitedly at Chizuru, whose resigned sigh was tempered by the smile pulling at her lips.

“I think we can manage that.”

[nudreseo-blog]

The Gardenia”villa has a large private swimming pool, a swimming pool with color changing lights, a swing hanging over the water, a sun deck with loungers, and a private yard, all built into the natural granite boulders of Koh Tao.

The “Gardenia” villa is designed with a unique and very usable architecture that everyone loves. There is a living / dining room and a kitchen on the first and third floor, and a bathroom on all three floors.

There is a spiral staircase to the second level, and all three levels.

The “Gardenia” villa is sure to be delightful. The whole house has a very fun and open feel, very modern and spacious.

www.kiralikvilla.com

[woundepoxy53-blog]

Vintage Row House in East Lincoln Park Returns With New Features: 474 W. Deming

This 4-bedroom row house at 474 W. Deming in East Lincoln Park just came on the market.

But if it looks familiar, that means you’re a long time reader of Crib Chatter, because we chattered about this row house the last time it was on the market in 2012 and 2013.

You can see our May 2013 chatter here where the concerns seemed to be 1) the price 2) that it’s in Alcott and 3) the outdoor parking.

As you may recall, it was built in 1882 on a 20×74 lot and has many of its vintage features including crown molding, a beautiful wood banister, leaded windows, 2 decorative fireplaces and high ceilings.

The house also has skylights.

In 2013, the kitchen was replaced when the row house wasn’t selling and it sold quickly after that move.

It still has that kitchen which has white cabinets, stainless steel Bosch and Viking appliances and a breakfast bar.

The listing says there’s a new hall bath with radiant heat.

There is also a new wall of custom closets in the master bedroom.

It has the preferred bedroom layout with 3 of the 4 bedrooms on the second floor. The fourth bedroom is in the lower level.

While the prior listing had a finished basement with a recreation room and bathroom, the listing says it was “recently built-out” and now has a wet bar, a fourth bedroom, a new full bath along with the return of the recreation room and a laundry room.

Other changes include a new spiral staircase to a composite roof deck with custom cedar pergola along with a dry bar with refrigerator (see the pictures in the listing, including a cool roof shot from a drone.)

The row house has central air and it still has 2-car outdoor parking behind the building.

Once again, the row house is still in the Alcott school district.

After finally selling in July 2013 for $1.026 million as a 3-bedroom, it has come on the market at $1.395 million as a 4-bedroom with a rooftop deck.

Are the concerns from the 2013 sale (the price, Alcott, and the outdoor parking) still issues in 2019?

Jenny Ames at Engel & Voelkers Chicago has the listing again. See the pictures and floor plan here.

474 W. Deming: 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, 3,000 square feet (no square footage was listed last time)

Sold in January 1993 for $266,000

Sold in April 1995 for $307,500

Sold in February 2001 for $640,000

Was listed in July 2012 at $949,000

Withdrawn in February 2013

Re-listed in May 2013 with new kitchen at $999,000

Sold in July 2013 for $1,026,000

Listed in March 2019 at $1,395,000

Taxes are now $20,828 (they were $14,922 in May 2013)

Central Air

2 Decorative fireplaces

2 outdoor parking spaces behind property

Skylights

Bedroom #1: 17×13 (second floor)

Bedroom #2: 19×13 (second floor)

Bedroom #3: 10×12 (second floor)

Bedroom #4: 16×11 (lower level)

Recreation room: 19×18 (lower level)

Deck: 19×53 (roof top- third floor)

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 28th, 2019 at 5:13 am and is filed under Lincoln Park, Row house. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Source: http://cribchatter.com/?p=25836

[dhurlburt]

Visiting the War Memorial Tower on top of Mount Greylock

The War Memorial Tower is the official memorial for those from Massachusetts who were killed in war.

The Tower is located at the top of Mount Greylock, the highest point in Massachusetts at 3,891 feet.

Dedicated in 1933, the tower itself is 93 feet tall. It was built from slabs of Quincy granite that weigh 8 tons. The Commonwealth rebuilt the entire tower again in 1974.

The ground level features a memorial area with a detailed gold leaf and tile ceiling.

From there, a winding spiral staircase takes you up several levels to an enclosed observation deck with windows every few feet.

On clear days you can see for 90 miles into the Adirondacks of New York, Green Mountains of Vermont and the peaks of the New Hampshire Monadnock region.

Other towers preceded the memorial tower on top of Mount Greylock. In 1831, students from Williams College built a weather observatory.

A few years later, the tower was modified. By 1885, a third observation tower made of iron welcomes visitors who paid 10 cents to climb it.

Sources:

Informational plaques at the site

Mount Greylock State Reservation | Mass.gov

[oceanbreezehomes-blog]

181 Sunkist Ln Arroyo Grande CA 93420 | Home for Sale

This gorgeous Arroyo Grande home elevates the concept of entertaining!

Some homes are meant to be admired, and this 'castle house' in Arroyo Grande is one of them. Nestled on a ridge overlooking the hills of Arroyo Grande, this home with a French/Normandy style is designed to provide breathtaking views, ample space, ultimate privacy, and a stunning outdoor retreat.

Featuring 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms with 2,450 square feet of living space on over four acres, it delivers the easy country living you've been dreaming of. You'll love the park-like front yard, various fruit & avocado trees, the oak forest below the house, the large decks, the bright living spaces, and much more. 

Captivating, charming, and well-maintained, this home delivers the haven you're looking for. If you love to entertain, this home has everything to ensure your guests will have a great time. 

Be impressed by this home's panoramic views and impeccable style

This home is picture perfect, thanks to the perfect combination of the manicured gardens, well-kept driveway, and lovely landscape.

The main door opens into a lovely foyer laid with tile floors which extends throughout the many areas of the main floor.

Bright and inviting, the foyer welcomes you into your home. To the side of the main door is a spiral staircase leading to the second level.

Enjoy the spectacular hills and vineyard views waiting for you in the living room. The wall-to-ceiling window draws your eyes to the picturesque scene and the view never gets old. A propane gas fireplace with a blower warms the room, keeping it cozy as you relax and welcome friends and loved ones. 

Your inner chef is sure to be thrilled in this Arroyo Grande home for sale’s spacious kitchen.

Featuring newer stainless oven, dishwasher and microwave, a newer black electric stove top, beautiful cabinetry with tons of storage, and an island with a bar, this kitchen is ready for small intimate dinner to large parties and celebrations. 

White-washed wood ceilings and beautiful hand blown lights over the sink enhance the homey feel of this kitchen. 

Off the kitchen is a large dining room that can comfortably accommodate a six-person dining set. If you enjoy entertaining, this room comes in handy. 

Enjoy privacy, view, and a good night sleep in the oversized master bedroom of this home. The large picture window displays mountain views while allowing plenty of light inside this room, giving it a warm and inviting appeal. 

The bathroom is just as impressive as the bedroom. It has been remodeled and now showcases his and her sinks, a large walk-in shower, and electric heated floors. 

That's not all. 

The master bedroom also has a large office and a huge closet. On the same floor is a large laundry with great storage. If you need personal space for your hobby, the laundry room can double as a craft room or another office. 

A private quarters for guests

This home offers the ultimate in privacy and entertaining. There is a separate guest unit with its own bathroom. 

Or you can turn it into a workshop or a man cave. The choice is yours. 

Your own slice of paradise is waiting

The view from inside the house is spectacular. Outdoors, it is just incredible. 

This Arroyo Grande property has two big outdoor decks, one on top of the guest unit, and the other over the garage, and both offer amazing 270-degree panoramic views of the valley and mountains and vineyards. These decks are perfect spots for those moments when all you want to do is relax, get some fresh air, and have a drink.  

In addition, there’s a beautiful brick and stone patio, glass-enclosed, with a gas fire pit which leads to the large composite wood deck. 

A home to be proud of

This property in Arroyo Grande is definitely one-of-a-kind. It is well-maintained to ensure your best conveniences. Downtown Arroyo Grande is about seven miles away. Pismo State Beach is about 10 miles away. 

The asphalt driveway to the garage was recently slurried and looks new.  There are solar water heated tile floors in the first floor bedroom, bathroom, entry, and kitchen to keep your feet warm. Fujitsu Energy Star mini-split heating and cooling systems are on the main floor and second level. 

On the third floor in the turret is the third bedroom with a large clothes and storage closet. Above the bedroom is attic space with windows. You won’t ever have to worry about storage in this house as there is tons of storage. 

Horses are allowed although there is no horse setup on the property. 

This home is also exceptionally located. It is just a few minutes from dining and shopping options, as well as Hwy 101. There are two nearby vineyards and three nearby golf courses.

There is so much character in this house and the property is secluded, and so beautiful.

Homes like this Arroyo Grande property for sale are rare, so don’t miss this chance!

Call me, Margaret Morris, at 805-709-8535 to schedule a showing of this stunning estate. Allow me to help you find your dream place. Put my experience to work for you! 

In case you can not view this video here, please click the link below to view 181 Sunkist Ln Arroyo Grande CA 93420 | Home for Sale on my YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/XLJaWa8Edog

[myhouseidea]

The Port Melbourne residence is a modern redesign designed by Damon Hills which celebrates and responds to the charm of the original design details to cater for the current and future needs of a family in Melbourne’s South. Photography by Les Hams.

Originally designed and used as a milk bar, the background of this residence adds to the charm as the site has undergone multiple renovations over its history. The original skeleton and framework were inherited by Finnis Architects and developed by the firm in 1999 as two dwellings. The brief given to Finnis included a desire to create a contemporary floorplan utilising and expanding all internal spaces and catering for the family’s current and future needs.

Propped amongst neighbouring trees, one of the primary design aspects was to capture a sense of movement throughout the home. By opening up the first floor level and incorporating full height glazing to the living and kitchen areas, we were able to frame the lush green nature of the surrounding environment. This worked in harmony with the lightness of the interiors, creating a calm tranquillity, resonating throughout the design. The movement of the trees in the breeze is carried throughout the dwelling, via the detailing and incorporation of lightly textured tiling and careful consideration to the complete material and colour palette.

It was crucial throughout the design process not to denote or lose some of the original qualities of the home but rather celebrate and adapt certain details into the contemporary design. For example, the original spotted gum which lines the soffit was retained and exposed. A detail which is visible from the balcony and flows through into the living room. It was important to ensure these elements where on show via subtle architectural gestures that being to develop a clear character for the residence.

It is with the interiors and joinery where the design really comes into its own. Working closely with both Builder (Rock City Building Group) and Interior Designer (Catherine Francis) ensured that quality was never compromised. The custom joinery and furniture which has been integrated into the design typifies the level of attention by creating space and functional features.

It was a well-considered decision to retain the original spiral staircase enhancing an original feature of the home and being a link from the second storey deck to the rooftop terrace. The third storey component is occupied by a master bed suite inclusive of large robe and bathroom facilities, appropriately separated from the remainder of the dwelling. This tranquil space with scenic city views is perched high enough that one could almost forget its immediate context and feeling a world away from the children’s area on the ground floor.

By embracing the sites history and context, the design effortlessly integrates itself within its surrounds. Every spare centimetre has been designed meticulously to provide functional modern spaces for a young and growing family.

Port Melbourne Residence by Damon Hills The Port Melbourne residence is a modern redesign designed by Damon Hills which celebrates and responds to the charm of the original design details to cater for the current and future needs of a family in Melbourne’s South.