What are your favourite/least favourite buildings?

[cymbaline]

I don't know if this has been discussed before but here goes...

Favourites in no particular order

• Summer Bay House. What can I say? It's iconic and still looks great if they ever bother to show it onscreen these days. If I had the money I'd buy it, close down the caravan park and live happily in it. 
• The Beach House. Another classic house that has survived for decades. Naturally, it has to be the original house with the round bit and not the pale successors
• The Norfolk Boat Shed. I'm choosing this one simply because of the location. The view from the main door was stunning and I'd happily sit in a chair here, not fixing boat engines

Least Favourites

• Morag's house in the city. It was a perfect home for her but it was too cold and impersonal for my liking
• Ailsa/Celia's store. To be fair, they were using an old shop that was scheduled for demolition. Even still, it was a dump. 
• Carly & Ben's farmhouse. Pink!

[adam436]

I liked Fisher's final house, Morag's mansion and Summer Bay House. If I lived in Summer Bay, they are probably the houses I'd like to have lived in.

[Old H&A Fan]

I liked Mr Fisher's house (the one Jack burnt down).

Michael and Pippa's house got burnt in a bushfire didn't it?

[adam436]

17 hours ago, Old H&A Fan said:

Michael and Pippa's house got burnt in a bushfire didn't it?

I didn't realise they had another house. 

[CaptainHulk]

1 hour ago, adam436 said:

I didn't realise they had another house. 

He means the real location in 2002.

As for sets I liked

Summer Bay House (Would love to have sat at the table with coldies with Tom/Michael, helped Pip serve up, squeeze in between Sal and Shannon on on movie night on the couch )

Diner V1 

Surf Club V3 (Grey motif)

Stewart House after the fireplace conversion 1990

Bayside Villas (I'm resurrecting those if/when I get a fic going)

Lance's mobile home (would have been great to see Colleen sifting through all the crap he left behind then after getting rid of it decided against selling and decides to stay put)

That last one because it was unique.

[adam436]

23 minutes ago, CaptainHulk said:

Diner V1 

I'm not sure how I feel about the diner set. I didn't like the exterior of the building at first, and I didn't particularly like inside. I know the windows were set up that way because it was a studio set, but I feel like the appeal of such a diner location would be the view

It's also hard to imagine the building exterior and the final version of the diner to be the same place 

It's obviously an iconic set, but I feel like they could have found a nicer building for it. 

[cymbaline]

15 hours ago, adam436 said:

I'm not sure how I feel about the diner set. I didn't like the exterior of the building at first, and I didn't particularly like inside. I know the windows were set up that way because it was a studio set, but I feel like the appeal of such a diner location would be the view

It's also hard to imagine the building exterior and the final version of the diner to be the same place 

It's obviously an iconic set, but I feel like they could have found a nicer building for it. 

I hadn't thought about that but you're right. Some windows wouldn't have gone amiss! The building they used for the exterior never looked right. It should've had a view like the one Michael's boat shed had.

The diner that replaced the Bayside Diner wasn't that great either from what I remember of it. It seemed to be quite cramped. 

[adam436]

3 hours ago, cymbaline said:

I hadn't thought about that but you're right. Some windows wouldn't have gone amiss! The building they used for the exterior never looked right. It should've had a view like the one Michael's boat shed had.

The problem with having windows was that it would have been too hard to show a view when it's a studio set, but it didn't make it feel inviting. I'm not sure if you remember Echo Point, but that had a cafe with beachfront views and it looked incredibly fake (and still!). It's no doubt easy and probably relatively cheap to do in 2024, but I imagine back in the 90s it wouldn't 

If you look at Summer Bay House, they got around the problem by having bushes by the window and Irene's house had that annex/alcove by the door.

[cymbaline]

No, I never saw Echo Point but I get what you're saying. Even if they had windows for some natural light they'd be a continuity nightmare. Speaking of natural light, should Summer Bay House be as brightly lit as it is? There are only two smallish windows (one over the sink, one beside the door) and the doors letting in any light.

[Dan F]

2 hours ago, adam436 said:

The problem with having windows was that it would have been too hard to show a view when it's a studio set, but it didn't make it feel inviting. I'm not sure if you remember Echo Point, but that had a cafe with beachfront views and it looked incredibly fake (and still!). It's no doubt easy and probably relatively cheap to do in 2024, but I imagine back in the 90s it wouldn't

They did try a completely unobscured one with the kiosk at one point

And I can't help but be reminded of this brilliant attempt

22 minutes ago, cymbaline said:

Speaking of natural light, should Summer Bay House be as brightly lit as it is? There are only two smallish windows (one over the sink, one beside the door) and the doors letting in any light.

Not disagreeing, though there are some windows on the fourth wall too