MOC: Plantation Home

[Brickadier General]

After having written a 22 page research paper 2 weeks ago (it was crazy!), I decided I needed some time to relax, so of course I used it to build something! Ever since my building my Civil War diorama, I decided I would like to expand the scene by adding a Southern plantation, and now I've finally begun on it. Mind you, this is only going to be a fraction of the overall plantation. I plan on adding an orchard, a cotton field, a barn with animals, and slave cabins.

I partially based the design of this real antebellum plantation house. I used a heck of a lot of 1x4 headlight bricks and technic bricks with pins to SNOT white tiles like siding. In my flickr gallery, Mister oo7 suggested I add shutters and tile to the stairs. I like his ideas and would like to incorporate them, but it definitely won't be for awhile, because I'd have to do a rebuild (well, the tile idea would be easy at least). Even without shutters, I'm content with it the way it is though, so I might even just keep it as it is and build a totally new plantation home with more intricate features like that.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy what I have so far. Your input, as always, is welcome.

[Still Raindrop]

Wow. I was going to build a plantation house a while ago (for a Faulkner-inspired creation), but I ended up scrapping it. This one, however, is simply brilliant! It truly captures the look of a plantation-style house.

[Guss]

this is a really cool house Brickadier( brigadier ?) General, I love the stairs and the flowers at the front!

[Brickmaster]

Very nicely done. Especially the front stairs.

[NewRight]

Amazingly done. Its size and details win it an award.

Edited November 27, 2008 by NewRight

[Erdbeereis]

That's beautiful!

The spiral stairs are brilliant and your trees are nice as well. The overall design of the house is just superb. Does it have any interior?

Great work!

[Klaus-Dieter]

That's a great MOC, Brickadier General!

I really like it! It looks very realisitc.

I mainly like the foliage, the minifigs and how you built the stairs with the railing.

Very well done!

Klaus-Dieter

[Derek]

This is really my new favorite historical MOC's. The architecture is perfect, and I knew exactly what is was as soon as I saw it. The stair case is brilliant, and so are the trees and flowers. The minifigures look to be very realistic. Outstanding.

-darthperson

(PS- I checked out your Civil War diorama, Its great! )

[5150 Lego]

While i think you did a great job onthe detail of the house... Can i ask what makes you want to do a recreation of a plantation? Above that slave houses?? While i understand this is a part of american history i don't see whay someone would want to recreate this in lego's.

[Still Raindrop]

5150 Lego said:

While i think you did a great job onthe detail of the house... Can i ask what makes you want to do a recreation of a plantation? Above that slave houses?? While i understand this is a part of american history i don't see whay someone would want to recreate this in lego's.

I imagine there are lots of reasons. In this case, I would assume that Brickadier General likes the beautiful architecture of plantation houses, or that period in history--or both. One doesn't have to condone something to use it artistically.

Edited June 12, 2017 by Still Raindrop

[5150 Lego]

I imagine there are lots of reasons. For example, William Faulkner (in my opinion, one of the greatest authors) did not approve of slavery or racism, yet he set all his stories in the antebellum South. This actually allowed a stronger view of how evil racism was. In this case, I would assume that Brickadier General likes the beautiful architecture of plantation houses, or that period in history--or both. One doesn't have to condone something to use it artistically.

BUt this isn't a story.. Its a Moc. NOw if he just did amoc of the plantation house, that would be fine. I personally wouldn't see any problems with that cause that like you said, would just be mocing the architecture of the house. But to want to add a cotton field, slaves working in the cotton field, and slave houses.... Is a bit much. Again, just my opinion.

[Brickadier General]

Thanks for the kind words everyone.

Wow. I was going to build a plantation house a while ago (for a Faulkner-inspired creation), but I ended up scrapping it. This one, however, is simply brilliant! It truly captures the look of a plantation-style house.

Thanks. If you ever decide to have a go at that plantation, I'd be interested in seeing it.

this is a really cool house Brickadier( brigadier ?) General, I love the stairs and the flowers at the front!

Thanks, and yes, my name stems from Brigadier. I just like wordplay and decided to give it a "Lego touch."

That's beautiful!

The spiral stairs are brilliant and your trees are nice as well. The overall design of the house is just superb. Does it have any interior?

Great work!

Thanks Erdbeereis1. Unfortunately it does not have an interior. I wanted to do one but ended up throwing out the idea for now. If I ever do one with an interior, I think I'd make the building bigger, so I can have ample space for decent sized rooms, hallways, and stairwells. Unfortunately, I don't plan things too well. lol

While i think you did a great job onthe detail of the house... Can i ask what makes you want to do a recreation of a plantation? Above that slave houses?? While i understand this is a part of american history i don't see whay someone would want to recreate this in lego's.

I'm glad you like the building, and I understand where you're coming from. Therefore I'll answer your question and explain to you why I'm doing this:

#1 If you read my initial post in this topic, you'll see that I've already made an American Civil War diorama. After finishing it, I thought of ways that I'd like to expand the scene. I decided that rather than make it military specific, I would like to depict other scenes reminiscent of life during the war. The plantation is naturally going to the left of the Confederate campsite, illustrating the institution they were trying to protect. I also plan on adding scenes of the Industrialized North near the Union soldiers and would like to do a scene depicting the New York draft riots (ala Gangs of New York). So as you can see, I'd like to portray all sides of the issue to show a contrast between the north and the south. This is the most important reason I decided to make a plantation.

#2 I've already set up the historical context for the plantation with the Civil War battle scene. I'm not trying to glorify slavery, as the plantation is not standing by itself. It's a part of the bigger picture.

#3 As you can probably tell, I love history (it's my major in college). And only history geeks like me would want to tackle this, let alone a Civil War battle (you gotta admit, you don't really see many Lego fans making them).

#4 I understand slavery is a touchy area, but I'm trying to handle this as tastefully as possible. For example, there will be ABSOLUTELY NO scenes depicting whippings, beatings, raping (definitely happened) whatsoever. I have been thinking of adding something akin of abolitionist, John Brown's Raid though, in which he tried to lead an armed slaved rebellion.

BUt this isn't a story.. Its a Moc. NOw if he just did amoc of the plantation house, that would be fine. I personally wouldn't see any problems with that cause that like you said, would just be mocing the architecture of the house. But to want to add a cotton field, slaves working in the cotton field, and slave houses.... Is a bit much. Again, just my opinion.

Actually, I'd argue that a MOC is completely capable of telling a story. In today, people often learn through images, and a model is another way of learning. I'm telling the story of 1860s America through a series of scenes connected together.

And you say that adding the details you mentioned is a "bit much." Well, I say you can't have enough. I love the details. To me, a plantation with an empty field in an 1860s scene is bland and would also look kind of...bland and odd. So while I respect your opinion, there.

I also want to point out that slavery is not the only touchy subject to be modeled in Lego. For one, check out the Pillage the Village Contest, and Al Freddo's MOC "Atrocity Island" (I'm not ragging on it, just using it as an example). Here, we have English pirates slaughtering native island people. Unfortunately, that was something native tribes really dealt with in the age of European colonization. Rape and pillage, not just by pirates, but by other Europeans as well. And let's not forget Lego's Western line. Federal troops and Native Americans essentially represented another painful chapter in American history, the government's subjugation of an entire race to crappy reservations in the West and atrocities abound.

Sorry if I come off sounding condescending. Just defending myself. I do appreciate your comments though, because they made me realize that if I'm taking this to shows, I'm going to have to add a paper with a "disclaimer" on it about why I made it, as well as the reasons why I didn't make it. Probably would be a good idea to feature a sign explaining the historical context. So in summation, thanks, and no hard feelings.

[Brickmaster]

Whether or not you recreate something in lego's does not make history go away.

Look at what other people build, WW2 ghettos, tanks, etc, things related to Terrorism, and many other tragedies, heck, even some spaceships shaped like some odd things.

Whether or not you ignore the past, it was still there, and I think we should be free to build what we want.

Maybe if he was making a proclamation of if a race, ethnicity, or anything was superior/inferior, or if he showed any agreement to the ideals of the past, but, he does not. He is simply building a plantation house.

I recall many mocs built of 'distasteful things' like this, for school projects.

[samthelegoman1]

A nice scene. I love the Arealight hairpiece!

[5150 Lego]

I'm glad you like the building, and I understand where you're coming from. Therefore I'll answer your question and explain to you why I'm doing this:

#1 If you read my initial post in this topic, you'll see that I've already made an American Civil War diorama. After finishing it, I thought of ways that I'd like to expand the scene. I decided that rather than make it military specific, I would like to depict other scenes reminiscent of life during the war. The plantation is naturally going to the left of the Confederate campsite, illustrating the institution they were trying to protect. I also plan on adding scenes of the Industrialized North near the Union soldiers and would like to do a scene depicting the New York draft riots (ala Gangs of New York). So as you can see, I'd like to portray all sides of the issue to show a contrast between the north and the south. This is the most important reason I decided to make a plantation.

#2 I've already set up the historical context for the plantation with the Civil War battle scene. I'm not trying to glorify slavery, as the plantation is not standing by itself. It's a part of the bigger picture.

#3 As you can probably tell, I love history (it's my major in college). And only history geeks like me would want to tackle this, let alone a Civil War battle (you gotta admit, you don't really see many Lego fans making them).

#4 I understand slavery is a touchy area, but I'm trying to handle this as tastefully as possible. For example, there will be ABSOLUTELY NO scenes depicting whippings, beatings, raping (definitely happened) whatsoever. I have been thinking of adding something akin of abolitionist, John Brown's Raid though, in which he tried to lead an armed slaved rebellion.

Actually, I'd argue that a MOC is completely capable of telling a story. In today, people often learn through images, and a model is another way of learning. I'm telling the story of 1860s America through a series of scenes connected together.

And you say that adding the details you mentioned is a "bit much." Well, I say you can't have enough. I love the details. To me, a plantation with an empty field in an 1860s scene is bland and would also look kind of...bland and odd. So while I respect your opinion, there.

I also want to point out that slavery is not the only touchy subject to be modeled in Lego. For one, check out the Pillage the Village Contest, and Al Freddo's MOC "Atrocity Island" (I'm not ragging on it, just using it as an example). Here, we have English pirates slaughtering native island people. Unfortunately, that was something native tribes really dealt with in the age of European colonization. Rape and pillage, not just by pirates, but by other Europeans as well. And let's not forget Lego's Western line. Federal troops and Native Americans essentially represented another painful chapter in American history, the government's subjugation of an entire race to crappy reservations in the West and atrocities abound.

Sorry if I come off sounding condescending. Just defending myself. I do appreciate your comments though, because they made me realize that if I'm taking this to shows, I'm going to have to add a paper with a "disclaimer" on it about why I made it, as well as the reasons why I didn't make it. Probably would be a good idea to feature a sign explaining the historical context. So in summation, thanks, and no hard feelings.

Thank you very much for your explantion. After reading this i see your point and agree with you 100%. If history is your passion, then i see nothing wrong with recreating a very import part of it in Lego form. I apreaciate you understanding my concerns, and apoligizeif i cameacross harsh. Your moc as opened my eyes a bit as well as not to imeadiatly look for the bad in somthing, but rather look for the good. Great job!

[Norrington]

I partially based the design of this real antebellum plantation house. I used a heck of a lot of 1x4 headlight bricks and technic bricks with pins to SNOT white tiles like siding. In my flickr gallery, Mister oo7 suggested I add shutters and tile to the stairs. I like his ideas and would like to incorporate them, but it definitely won't be for awhile, because I'd have to do a rebuild (well, the tile idea would be easy at least). Even without shutters, I'm content with it the way it is though, so I might even just keep it as it is and build a totally new plantation home with more intricate features like that.

Very nice! I am a fan of Antebellum houses, and you don't see many around here. There are interesting and unique techniques (skeleton arms for banisters, tiles & round tiles for the cornice, etc.) I think the windows, could be improved (trans bricks rather than plates, panes, etc.) and there could be more of a portico. Something like this:

The Disneyland Haunted Mansion facade

Papermodel of the same

Here's a link to a 3D model of the DL HM:

Ray Kiem's Haunted Dimensions

I jumped on myself for immediatly thinking of Dl, but the facade is a good example of this style of architecture, although it is based on a Baltimore mansion, rather than Southern.

The Shipley-Lydecker House, Baltimore, MD