[ESL-FB] Governor’s Mansion

[Capt Wolf]

There is much to celebrate in Weelond on the island of An Holli. The new royal textile factory is opening, and several MCTC dignitaries have arrived to see the factory in person. Additionally, the mayor of Weelond, Willem Guilder, has just been appointed governor of the island. Governor Guilder (he likes how that sounds!) hosts his guests at his new residence.

The governor’s mansion is a simple 2-story affair with an entrance portico and a kitchen off the southern wing. A statue and fountain grace the front lawn. A stone path around the north wing leads to a garden in the back. Small access hatches in the cupola allow access to the widow’s walk along the top of the roof.

Here Governor Guilder greets the mayor of Nova Terreli, Román Esteban Fontonajo, and his lovely wife Marietta. Fontonajo was instrumental in getting the royal factory built in Weelond, and Guilder is quite grateful.

Eslandola’s Secretary of State, Guy K. Wyndzon, leader of the Merchant’s Colonial Trading Company, discusses matters with the mayor of Bardo, Colonel Oystridge. Rumor has it that the colonel may soon be named governor of the island of An Toli.

Guilder needs to let the colonel know that the position comes with no upgrade in pay beyond the continuing mayoral duties, but the title does look nice on the letterhead.

Guy’s uncle has wandered onto the lawn and started yelling at the statue of the Eslandolan explorer who discovered An Holli more than 50 years ago. Perhaps Guy’s uncle knew him before he was a statue? Regardless, the other guests steer clear of him…

A view of the house unobstructed by the fountain:

Here's how the grounds look to anyone who might fly over in a phlogisphere...

Many thanks (and apologies) to Kai NRG, Elostirion, and Sir Stig for use of their characters. I hope my versions of their characters is close enough for government work!

Edited May 3, 2016 by Capt Wolf

[Captain Dee]

I'm in love!!

This is just beautiful, and all the more impressive for it's heavy use of classic techniques. The shape of the house is perfect and the colors are gorgeous; the dark red roof is perfect with the white and yellow of the walls. It looks bigger than it really is, especially in the first pic, which is testament to the well-proportioned design. The landscape looks really good too despite being fairly simple, and the road and fountain are both lovely.

The cast of player characters is neat. And Guy's uncle shouting at the statue means he's in top form - or maybe practicing up on it.

Excellent work, and proof that a mansion can be done in the classic scale and still be beautiful. It's my favorite of your land-based builds.

[Maxim I]

hahaha nice to see I am there as well, although disguised (a little bit undercover work never hurts a company :D )

Very beautifull mansion Capt Wolf! It looks awesome :)

[TenorPenny]

This has a very classic feel to it as a Lego build. Sterling work!

[robinnilsson403]

Beautiful building! It sure looks Eslandolaian! I really like how you can see that the roadway has been used by carts and carriages!

[Elostirion]

Classical, yet stylish. Very well executed, just a lovely feel overall and so fitting to be one of the finest buildings in the rustic and down-to-earth city of Weelond.

I also love how well you represented Román & Marietta with yellow faces (instead of the light flesh ones I always use) - thank you.

Of course Román is grateful for your invitation and glad to meet you in person once more in his life and discuss not only the factory but future joint investments as well.

[TitusV]

Great job! love the house, with it's classic feeling yet great appearance and techniqyes. The garden is also very Nice, especially the fountain

[Jacob Nion]

Impressive! That is truly a gem of the colonial architecture. Gives me a lot of inspiration.

[Sir Stig]

Great proportions, that does indeed make it look bigger than it is. The cupola and widows walk is a marvelous architectural detail. The road and statue are also top notch.

Congratulations on becoming Governor! It was an honor to partake in the celebration.

[Ayrlego]

A very beautiful build - the use of classic yellow looks fantastic and I like clean feel of the building - clean yet it still looks realistic! The overhead shot really highlights the overall scene. Great job!

[Bregir]

Wee-lond is turning out to be not so wee after all!

This is a very fine mansion, and one can only congratulate the new governor on both position and residence. Stately indeed!

I really like the garden and driveway, and the kitchen in its own wing is a very nice touch.

The white and yellow go well together (and were it not for captain Braunsfeld, I should say surprisingly well), and the amount of detailing is just perfect, without making it too ornamental. And I too like the little tower and widowswalk.

Perhaps one should visit weelond one day!

I only wonder... It seems you have collected a group of... Democrats may be too repulsive a word... But at least revolutionaries, who are rumoured to be conspiring against their king!

[Phadeout]

That statue!!! It is all excellent to be honest, I'm really blown away by it, the colour of the house is spot on and the corners of the building work so well. Great job.

[Kai NRG]

Really like your choice of color here Capt Wolf; the yellow, red, and white go very well. Nice carriage as well and I really love the conquistador statue!

Cool to spot a couple of my sig-figs too!

[blackdeathgr]

GREAT building! A clean, orderly build and above all it really depicts the period we are running! Excellent my friend!

[Captain Braunsfeld]

Great build of yours! For some reason I like that colour scheme

The overall shape is also fine - and the white statue is a highlight!

[soccerkid6]

The yellow and white color use works quite nicely here Excellent detailing with the chimney, little tower with dormers, and portico on the front

[Capt Wolf]

Thanks to everyone for the kind comments! This was over a month in the making, and kind of took on a life of its own as I moved from the house to the lawn.

This is just beautiful, and all the more impressive for it's heavy use of classic techniques. The shape of the house is perfect and the colors are gorgeous; the dark red roof is perfect with the white and yellow of the walls. It looks bigger than it really is, especially in the first pic, which is testament to the well-proportioned design. The landscape looks really good too despite being fairly simple, and the road and fountain are both lovely.

[...]

Excellent work, and proof that a mansion can be done in the classic scale and still be beautiful. It's my favorite of your land-based builds.

Thanks! I'm not sure if this is my favorite land-based build, but I feel it is certainly one of my best so far. I struggle with landscapes, but in this case I think the simplicity fits the subject.

hahaha nice to see I am there as well, although disguised (a little bit undercover work never hurts a company :D )

Very beautifull mansion Capt Wolf! It looks awesome :)

Yes, it does appear you've joined the militia, doesn't it? Very sneaky of you!

Beautiful building! It sure looks Eslandolaian! I really like how you can see that the roadway has been used by carts and carriages!

Thank you for noticing that! In part because I don't have enough small round plates and tiles to pave the entire drive, I specifically tried to create the impression of wheel ruts.

Classical, yet stylish. Very well executed, just a lovely feel overall and so fitting to be one of the finest buildings in the rustic and down-to-earth city of Weelond.

I also love how well you represented Román & Marietta with yellow faces (instead of the light flesh ones I always use) - thank you.

Of course Román is grateful for your invitation and glad to meet you in person once more in his life and discuss not only the factory but future joint investments as well.

I'm glad you approve of the substitution of yellow for flesh on your figs! And I like your description of Weelond; I've tried to keep it distinct from Old Terra. Thanks!

Impressive! That is truly a gem of the colonial architecture. Gives me a lot of inspiration.

Thank you! Your builds regularly inspire me. Your recent Mardier build had such good texture, something I always struggle with.

Great proportions, that does indeed make it look bigger than it is. The cupola and widows walk is a marvelous architectural detail. The road and statue are also top notch.

Congratulations on becoming Governor! It was an honor to partake in the celebration.

The cupola was not in my initial design, but I had trouble with the join between the main roof and the portico roof, and the cupola was the solution. as it turns out, I think it really improved the lines of the building.

And I hope to visit Bardo soon for the colonel's celebration!

[...]

I only wonder... It seems you have collected a group of... Democrats may be too repulsive a word... But at least revolutionaries, who are rumoured to be conspiring against their king!

What?! Revolutionaries? No, we are just like-minded men of influence enjoying the tropics. If we happen to talk a little politics, read nothing into it.

That statue!!! It is all excellent to be honest, I'm really blown away by it, the colour of the house is spot on and the corners of the building work so well. Great job.

Thanks. I decided to make the effort to add some relief to the corners, so it's nice to have it noticed. And I'm very happy with the statue, too.

Really like your choice of color here Capt Wolf; the yellow, red, and white go very well. Nice carriage as well and I really love the conquistador statue!

Cool to spot a couple of my sig-figs too!

One of my favorite aspects of this build was bringing in the sig-figs from others. The chance to have Guy's uncle arguing with a statue was too much to pass up!

GREAT building! A clean, orderly build and above all it really depicts the period we are running! Excellent my friend!

The inspiration for the structure was the governor's mansion on Nassau in Black Sails, so I figured that worked pretty well for the period.

Great build of yours! For some reason I like that colour scheme

The overall shape is also fine - and the white statue is a highlight!

Yes, for some reason I also liked one of your earlier builds.

Thanks again to everyone for all the comments. It's funny that I jumped into BoBS because I enjoy ship building, but I find myself making more land-based builds that I never would have had a reason to build otherwise... and I'm having a blast!

[Fuzzy MacFuzz]

Great build Captain, gives Hawksbrugh something to aspire too...though he is a little less Queen Anne style, and a little more Baroque. Loads to admire here; colour scheme, roof, facade, quoins (I'm a big fan of Lego quoins!!), fountain, colonial atmosphere, pavement, aerial view, carriage, uncle...

Just a couple of technical points (if you care for such things); for a true Queen Anne style house the pediment should be lower and broader and the cupola higher, and there should maybe be a couple of prominent chimneys on the roof line; see for example the Governor's House at Williamsburg, Belton (Lincolnshire UK) or Clarendon House (London)

Edited May 4, 2016 by Fuzzy MacFuzz

[Captain Genaro]

Excellent mansion. The colors may be fairly simple, but they go an excellent job of capturing a Caribbean style colonial mansion. Fantastic work with the various accents on the building and the driveway looks very nice as well.

[blackdeathgr]

Yay!! Black Sails ftw and for the Inspiration!!!

(Now lets wait another year for the new season )

[Col. Brik]

Well done. Lots of time and detail put into the whole MOC.

[Dzoni90]

This is really pretty. Generally, I am not so thrilled with the old colors, but your mansion looks great.

[SilentWolf]

This is such a splendid build. The mansion, the activity, the fountain and statue, and the drive's texturing are all well done. Great job!

[Capt Wolf]

Great build Captain, gives Hawksbrugh something to aspire too...though he is a little less Queen Anne style, and a little more Baroque. Loads to admire here; colour scheme, roof, facade, quoins (I'm a big fan of Lego quoins!!), fountain, colonial atmosphere, pavement, aerial view, carriage, uncle...

Just a couple of technical points (if you care for such things); for a true Queen Anne style house the pediment should be lower and broader and the cupola higher, and there should maybe be a couple of prominent chimneys on the roof line; see for example the Governor's House at Williamsburg, Belton (Lincolnshire UK) or Clarendon House (London)

Thanks for the kind comments; they are greatly appreciated! And technical points on architecture are always welcome from you. All the points you bring up are valid ... and were intentionally broken. Here's why:

-Lowering the angle of the roof for the pediment would have required an entirely different approach to the roof construction, and a classically built slope roof was my preference for this build. I did make sure that the peak was lower than the main roof line (albeit not by much) in a modest attempt to create the illusion of a lower, broader pediment. The height of both the pediment and the main roof were dictated by the width of the portico and the depth of the wings, all while trying to keep the roof no taller than a third story would be.

-I swear that cupola photographs smaller than it looks in person! Seriously, the angle of the photographs from the front do de-emphasize its size, but I also didn't want the cupola to overpower the rest of the build. The house is not as big as it looks. And part of the equation for the cupola was that it must work with the railing of the widow's walk. That pretty much limited me to a 4x4 footprint for the cupola unless I lengthened the wings of the house. As for its height, earlier versions of the cupola were between 2 plates and 2 bricks taller, but they just seemed too much to my purely subjective taste.

-Re the chimneys, yes, something like this (and I'd love your feedback on that WIP). I intend to do an interior for the governor's mansion at some point, and as I tried to place the chimneys, I realized I couldn't find a location that worked for both the exterior and the interior. Ultimately I decided to go with the convenient fiction that since the house is in the tropics, fireplaces for heat were not necessary. I also rationalized that hot water would still be available from the kitchen.

So, ultimately, I made some trade-offs to keep the size of the build both manageable and to game scale, and deferred to general impressions rather than technical accuracy in some details. But I genuinely appreciate the feedback on the technical points; please keep them coming on future builds! Thanks!

Edited May 5, 2016 by Capt Wolf

[Garmadon]

Lovely mansion, Capt. Wolf, excellent color-scheme, and great details with the - well, I was about to rattle off all the things you've put in here, but instead I'll just say, great job with all the architectural and other details you've put together here, they really work extremely well to make an awesome whole!

The carriage and fountain are great additions too, and I always am a fan of seeing a bunch of different people's sig-figs in a build!