I think a lot of people were waiting to see if he'd mention the new theme, which he did, and the theme is stilt homes, a beachy theme, based on the Floridian stilt homes style. Many have expressed a desire for a homes by water, and I think this will definitely appeal.
I headed off to take a look myself this morning...and I absolutely love them! They are very similar in construction to the traditionals, but they tick a lot of boxes of what I personally like to have in a Linden home - open plan, lots of long windows, and by water. So I'm really excited for these to be introduced.
There will be 4 styles available to choose from, as per some of the other homes already introduced, and all 1024 size. There are 3 location types: over water, inland, and partial (resting over both land and water). These are all demonstrated at the Demo area at the SL17B event. The four styles are:
Lauderdale :
Tortuga:
Santiago:
Havana:
I'm really pleased to see this style with more of an open plan concept than in previous themes. To me, this gives a much more airy and less cramped feeling inside, even the two which have a second floor and divided rooms (the Santiago and Lauderdale). There are ample windows, either full length or regular size, depending on the style of home you pick, and the two storey homes have upper balconies (the Santiago even has two).
All the homes have deck areas outside, with space for mooring a boat. As the inland homes are raised on stilts above ground, you have space to park vehicles below, or do something else.
My personal favourite is the Tortuga because of the spacious feel inside and big windows:
The landscaping looks lovely, as was expected based on the home regions released so far. It is a bit sparser in terms of decor, but I guess that might be down to it being a beach theme, but I don't think it makes the areas less pretty. There are still some cute communal spaces:
Another development Patch mentioned was that the homes over water will be built near to houseboats, which will give a kind of continuity of theme I think, and will allow for more building of houseboats too. Great idea.
My only disappointment is that due to the shortage of regions whilst Second Life is being move to the cloud, the release of this theme probably won't happen until the end of the year (after the AWS project is completed). Patch suggested that this may mean the release of another theme at the same time, so that would be great.
I hope that when they are released there are enough to meet demand (much like the log homes did for a while). I think I will be moving! And I can't wait!
The home demo will be up until the end of the SL17B event, 12th July:
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SL17B%20Enchant/254/132/24
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