The Grandpa's Grove set does that. It's simply an additional, nonfunctional autosoil. There isn't a fix for it (to my knowledge) because it's basically just an annoyance, not anything truly broken.

Other than the portal rugs, is CC allowed?

Congrats, Madame Mim! (Now hurry up and tell us the next contest! *wink*)

A great job done by everybody who entered. I think I downloaded every lot in the thread.

Pretty sure I'm allowed to double-post in this instance? It's my 2nd (and final) entry for this contest. If not, sorry I just created extra work for you, Witch. 

A much smaller and more modest entry this time... and completely CC free.


DOWNLOAD (cleaned)

The Kenmoor
20x20 lot
Furnished: $63,945 (not wanded)
Unfurnished: $34,957
3 bedrooms (sleeps 5 & 1 baby)
1.5 baths

Notable features:
Detached, unfinished basement - Complete with a rack of Grandma's home canned goods. (Building a basement in a foundation is so obnoxious and using the CFE cheat to attach it to the house was leaving floating, white planes behind. Not worth it.)
Kids play area
Dog-ready (big)
CC free! - Made with all EPs & SPs (excluding Katy Perry) through IP, & I have all the store stuff.

Reference picture:

From here

Overview:






Exterior:
(unedited)




Interior:














I, again, forgot to put ceiling tiles up, and I also forgot to put a mirror in the bathroom. Also I accidentally left a phone on the floor of the dining room. I figured these were minor enough that it didn't warrant loading the game again.
DOWNLOAD (cleaned)

I pretty quickly got bored of that - So no imaginary lollipop for me. I didn't like the decorating of the house as a whole, and decided half-way through to minimize my CC, so a few of the rooms "match" and others don't at all. I included reference pics for those that kind of match.

I will let you be the judge:

THE CAPTAIN'S WATCH
(download) (has been cleaned using custard)


Clearly, this house is fancy. And expensive. And pretty large. I know those last two things aren't super popular around here... But I've been staring at it for weeks, and I'm in love with it (the real life version, that is). Built in North Carolina in 2007 for Coastal Living's 10th Anniversary, it was professionally decorated in the traditional local style and then sold in 2008. It burnt down in 2010, sadly, so nothing exists of it today (although you can still buy the plans, so my dream of owning this house someday lives on).

40x40 lot
Furnished: $281,366 (not wanded)
Unfurnished: $160,860
5 bedrooms (sleeps 13 & 1 baby)
5+ full baths, 1 half-bath
CC List in zip file

Notable features:
Swimming pool with adjacent hot tub & outdoor shower
Outdoor kitchen
Spacious porches
master suite with attached office, sitting room, & morning kitchen
Cat-ready (litter box, pet bed, & food dish)
Kids play area
Fenced off (aka zombie-proof) garden area (although there isn't anything planted in it)
Bar area
Top floor viewing area

Overviews:







Comparative pics:

Exterior


3rd Floor Sitting area


Dining Nook


Great Room


Kitchen


Study


Side Porch


Other pictures:

Master bedroom




Outdoors



Kids' Room & Nursery



Complete album: http://tinypic.com/a/2s1p4/2

ETA: Forgot to mention that I spaced and forgot to put ceiling tiles in some of the rooms - it's pretty obvious in some of the pictures. Oops.
Also, download link again to save you from scrolling:
(download) (has been cleaned using custard)

I have a question - If the house I chose to recreate has plenty of decorated interior shots available, will recreating them fairly accurately earn me imaginary bonus points? Or is it more important that the outside & floorplan match?

I actually started looking for the "perfect" house to build right away. But unfortunately, most of the ones I liked I decided against because they were basically impossible, or way too modern (past voters didn't seem fond of that style), or doable only if I used a ton of CC.

I did start one but it's turning out like crap. I'm an amateur builder, and custom roofs really strain my patience and abilities. But I'm still planning on finishing and getting it up - It's just taking a lot longer than I expected.

Here's my entry. I started this challenge three separate times before finally getting this together. Since there were no limits on cost, I decorated with expensive things. :p I like to keep my sims in luxury.

642 Quiet Horse Niche
30x30 lot
$127,800 Furnished ($60,406 unfurnished)
DOWNLOAD
(cleaned .sims3pack)

I have all EPs & SPs and used plenty of store stuff.

 


Overhead pictures of each floor:






(FYI - The floor tiles that are attached to the doorways [on the back side of the house] are NOT supported, as allowed in the rules.)

Random internal pictures:






Complete album HERE

Hmm, I think the only "problem" with the color scheme is that they were made up of too few colors - This site has some really great palettes and there's an average of 6 colors per, so it wouldn't be nearly as restricting. You could have rooms with completely different combinations and escape some of the sameness. Just an idea for the next challenge, if the winner decides to use color schemes again.

Haha, that had crossed my mind. I imagine the computer corner would need to be a lot more impressive, though.

Now back to the "DOWNLOAD ALL THE LOTS" thing I have going on here.

Watching V for Vendetta over the weekend, I decided to try an underground lot with an unassuming topside - Like V's Shadow Gallery. (Originally I wanted to make my own version of his home, but it was turning out WAY too expensive and didn't match any of the color schemes, so I gave that up.)

So here's another bunker/bomb shelter type lot for your paranoid sim families. I used a flattened 15x10 lot and the "Cozy Comfortable" color scheme. There is room around the outside of the shack (but inside the fence) to have a few crops.

Furnished: $16,459
Unfurnished: $10,910
Lot has been play-tested a little and shouldn't have routing issues.







For more pics, please see the album.

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Well, I think maybe I'm disqualified anyway since my furnished price is so high (no imaginary bonus points for me), but here we go:


10x10 flat lot
Furnished: $22,376
Unfurnished: $11,341
(Original inspiration from www.loftcube.net)

I used the "Fresh, Modern Living Space" palette of peacock blue/white/grey with the same pops of color that were in the reference photo (black, green, & magenta/red). I have all EPs & SPs except the Katy Perry one. I did play test a little, so there shouldn't be any major routing issues.

Outdoors at night:


Overhead views:






Interior shots:










DOWNLOAD (Sorry for the wall of pictures.)

My thoughts exactly! I've been snatching up most of the entries.

I don't usually participate in these sorts of things, but I did actually put together an entry. However, 2 different entries look a lot like what I came up with independently... So now it would look like I ripped them off.  Back to the drawing board, I guess!