Break

Had to take a quick break, the folks came out for a visit plus I have to work on the house I have. There's always the mundane details of home maintenance that has to be done, castle or no. I've got a good list to go on this 100+ year old house; grading and leveling the yard in preparation for paving stones, priming and painting woodwork on the dry days before winter sets in, etc... I've been getting better with SketchUp, I've been playing around with it and building a "castle", here's a picture of the gate house mostly complete.

There's a lot more to it; perimeter wall, "chapel", pub, home, and castle proper. All in differing styles to include a slice of historical architecture as real castles would; additions and changes were made throughout a castle's lifetime with different goals, materials, and by different architects.

The structures in the imagined layout I've assembled are roughly Germanic in style, I've not attempted to create a reproduction of any particular structure. In the picture, the figure is provided for reference. The base of the structure is the same height as the wall; 12'. The interior of the building has a 10' ceiling, and the peaked roof is open, no crossbracing, to accommodate a sleeping area. One "leg" of the base would include stairs, HVAC, and possibly storage, the other an "office" area for the B&B venture. The gate house model still needs some texturing and finishing work, but I'd call it about 85% done. Overall, the entire layout is around 50% done.

If this model were to be built, the base would likely be CMU, as it has a very small area and does not provide actual living space. The upper portion would be ICF or SIP. Both would have the appropriate facades applied; stone for the base and a faux half-timber created for the top. Metal or slate shingles would be preferred for the roof to provide fire resistance. The main gate would be double doors and of heavy timber with a pass-through door (not sure what the technical term is, I'm sure there is one) so that the main gate would not always have to be opened. I'll put more parts up as they get done, but it takes a few days to make anything somewhat presentable.