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If you don’t have an eye for architecture or good spatial awareness, building a Minecraft house that isn’t just a cobblestone cube can be intimidating. Luckily, the internet is full of Minecraft builders who should be considering a future in designing real-world buildings. Here are five killer examples of ways to build houses in Minecraft that put form as high on the list as function.
How to Find House Ideas
Before you get into the five examples, it’s important to understand where to find ideas. Of course, this all starts with a Google search. “Cool Minecraft House Ideas” isn’t a bad way to start, but you’ll get even better results if you have something more specific in mind.
“Minecraft Modern House,” “Minecraft Cabin,” and “Minecraft Treehouse” will all net you piles of ideas. Search for images of famous houses and buildings or well-known or unique architects and designers, and then look for articles or discussions about those buildings. That could lead you to look for cantilevered houses, A-Frame homes, Japanese castles, or Swiss chalets, each offering their own unique ideas and suggestions.
From there, it’s up to you to decide how much guidance you want. A good YouTube tutorial can walk you through the process block-by-block. Using Google Image Search or Pinterest, meanwhile, will bring in galleries of images that you can use as a more general inspiration if you want to create something more personalized.
Example Homes
Getting Off The Ground With A Treehouse
When I was a kid, my fantasies were simple: I wanted a treehouse. Not just a wooden platform halfway up a tree–that’s way too reasonable. No, it had trapdoors, stairs, rope bridges, and more.
A treehouse is a great option for building something fantastic enough to feel unique but still a little bit grounded. Because Minecraft procedurally generates its standard trees, you might want to start by building the tree itself. An axe for the wood and a pair of shears will get you started; make the Great Deku tree from Zelda, the Norse worldtree Yggdrasil, the redwood-style forest from Return of the Jedi’s Endor moon, or–if you’re nasty–make the Chicken-Leg house that witch of Russian mythology, Baba Yaga, resides in.
Once you have the tree(s) ready, you can start building. Build big, build vertically. Trapdoors and fences make for great rustic flooring and rope bridges, and liberal use of steps and slabs will let you build a wide variety of shapes.
Blend In With Your Environment
If going way above the treeline doesn’t sound appealing, maybe it’s better to blend in. Be careful, though–if you get lost easily, your house might become hard to find!
Instead of building up, build down.
This underground house, for example, is still stylish and brightly lit, allowing it to feel homey and cozy, but it’s easy to miss unless you’re looking for it. It calls to mind hobbit holes and environmentally-conscious homes that try to blend in and use the environment around them.
Cantilever? More Like Can-iliver
If you want to go more realistic, it’s time to start making Concrete or Terracotta. These are some of the few solid blocks in Minecraft that offer a wide variety of colors depending on what dye you have at hand, and they’re great for building more modern-looking structures. A cantilevered house is a great way to build something that looks magical and modern all at once. Cantilever structures feature a part that extends off of a hill, seeming to float in the air thanks to its structure. Of course, you don’t need a degree in engineering to build this because Minecraft, unlike reality, doesn’t inflict gravity on most blocks.
Lifestyles Of Determined And Ambitious
If you want to go truly huge, there are countless floorplans to start from. A build like this can take weeks or months instead of hours and will require a variety of materials–even if you start early on, it’s not one you’ll finish right away. At the same time, the end product can be stunning if you plan ahead and stick to that plan.
Keeping It Simple With An A-Frame House
You don’t need to start with a 10-, 50-, or 100-hour build, though. You can make a great-looking place in just a few minutes that would make anyone on House Hunters weep with joy.
This example, in particular, uses some more exotic materials found in places like Ocean Monuments and The End. However, you can sub in other materials, like brick and wood, and still get a great-looking result.
Make History With Traditional Designs
Looking to the real world for inspiration is a great way to go, but it can be tough to figure out how to make the somewhat limited blocks in Minecraft do what you want. With that said, where there’s a will, there’s a way, and even the curved corners of a traditional Japanese castle are possible.
