Bellisseria Newbrooke Area Expansion

 

With attention on the latest brand of Linden Homes, the Sakura, the Lindens haven't stopped work on the previous ones, the Newbrooke. We last wrote about them a couple months ago when they opened. Taking a look at the map, the area has been expanded (area circled in red on the map).

When work started on most of these homes is unknown, but looking around the majority in the completed areas have yet to be occupied. Some in a belt extending to the west are still marked SSP and still under construction. I found some in the middle still being worked on. I found Abnor Mole, and other Moles, busy at work, laying roads and foundations. 

Of the belt of SSP sims, most had one thing in common: railroad tracks.  From SSP Queeg in the east, tracks went from the developed sim of Lavon to the south to SSPPierless, then west , passing a rail station in SSPDrama Llama (bad omen for the rail workers), going all the way to SSPThimble Shoal Farms to the west. The tracks came to a stop only past the edge of the sims, a hint there's expansion to the west planned for the future.

Linking the roads and rail lines in these new sims to that of the Chalet Linden Home sims to the south, I found a couple bridge tunnels. Both start in the Lost Creek sim and are somewhat close to one another. The rail tunnel goes to the track in Lavon. The road tunnel goes to a lane in Muhavara. There may be more tunnels sometime in the future. 

With the Second Life Birthday just a month away, it's fair to say the Moles will be quite busy in the month ahead. In the meantime, feel free to drop by and explore.

(Addition, I goofed on the map a little, and moved the red line to cover more sims that weren't around in March)

Bixyl Shuftan
 

New Linden Homes Now Available

 

A few days ago on Thursday March 3, the latest style of Linden Home, the modern-looking Newbrooke, was declared open for residents to get. Patch Linden announced the news in a thread the forums late in the day.

Today, we are pleased to release our latest Linden Home theme, Newbrooke!

 Our concept of a modern container home community is stylish, warm, and inviting, while being nestled in a contemporary setting of rolling hills peppered with small lakes, ponds, and public pools.

All of the Newbrooke regions are offered in both 1024sqm and 512sqm sized parcels.   In total, there are 8 stylish house models to choose from, and the smaller 512sqm parcel homes can also be placed on a 1024sqm parcel, giving you a larger outdoor area.

As always, there is a theme-specific content pack available from the house controller, enabling you to match the style and theme with any modifications you wish to do. (Please refer to the covenant rules).

Also for this theme we have a brand new community region, “Newbank,“ for residents to enjoy and hang out with their neighbors.

We hope everyone enjoys the latest additions to the Belliseria continent and community!

The Newbrooke sims, are in a group numbering forty-eight, connected to the Chalet Bellisseria area by a single sim (Josie Banks). Like some other Bellisserian sims, they often have amusing names such as Seldome Scene, Two Wrights, Tickled Pink, Sheep Date, and others. One can walk down the streets, or drive a car that can be dropped onto various vehicle rezz spots. Already, many have been claimed and the new owners decorating. But there are also many just walking around and exploring around. Of the roads, there are bridges, both over water and over other roads. For more on the Newbrooke homes themselves, check out our article on the eight styles (here).

And like the past couple groups of Linden Home sims, there is a community center. It is located in the sim of Newbank. The center is on an island in the middle of the sim conencted to land by three bridges. The style of the place did remind me a little of the new Welcome Island that went up last year. But the various food courts were a nice touch.

The community center is at https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Newbank/133/147/21/

Bixyl Shuftan
 

More on The New Linden Homes

 

On Monday December 6, Linden Lab revealed their latest style of homes to be offered to Premium residents: the Newbrooke. They were in a temporary sim, "Linden Reveal," in the northeast corner of the Christmas Expo grounds, just north of Calling Birds. But the sim went offline the following day, and did not reopen until Thursday. The houses, which were all gray, were now in several more colors, brown, sand/light-brown, red, white, and bluish-green.

Compared to the previous several designs, Fantasy, Chalet, beach houses (aka stilt houses), Victorian, log cabin, and trailers, my first impressions of this design were, ordinary. They looked pretty much like what one would expect in a typical North American suburb. As Panthera Polnocy put it, "We got box homes." Some didn't like them: "Looks pretty plain to me, I'll stay with my Victorian Home." "Looks like cheap garbage from 2017." " ... the houses themselves are dare I say it? UGLY." Others could see themselves in such homes, "The more I look at them the more I think I will enjoy trying my hand at decorating one.  It seems to be a completely blank slate with the minimal landscaping used in the demo area."

Looking around, I would find eight styles of the new Linden Homes.

The Aldridge was a two story home, with a front porch, and a small patio area to the back and side.

The Bradbury was one story with large front and back patio areas, with a large left wing.

The Coniston was one story, with a small front porch and back patio, with a larger middle room with two side sections.

The Denver was one story, with a front porch and a large covered patio area to the side.

The Ender was two story, with a small front porch, with a small patio deck in front of one room on the second story,

The Faraday was one story, and symetrical in shape, with left and right wings with two small rooms each that bordered the main one.

The Gatewood was two story with a front porch, but the second story was smaller, with a patio deck.

The Heaton was a two story home with a smaller second story, with the smaller part of the first floor connected to the rest by a hallway.

Of the surroundings, the houses had concrete fences, with trees and rocks between them in places. There were a few community areas, one a water area with concrete blocks, another with chairs.

Probably the biggest advantage the homes have to offer is that their simplicity would allow more prim space available to decorate. This would make them attractive to many whom want to put up lots of items. But that this design is so plain compared to other themes will limit their popularity with many.

As of now, there is no word on when these houses will be available to live in. Probably not for some months, in Spring 2022.

Bixyl Shuftan