I prefer my Bortola home. The crop garden is more than ample to keep many veggies around for cooking (I have far more than a full larger bag of each type). I lived in Salatu for about 2-3 weeks before the reset just to try it out. I liked Salatu a lot, but the house just wasn't right for me.
I tried the 50K modern style house in Beta. It was all right, but the best thing about them is the ability to jump off your balconies. I find them stark, and the view is only okay.
I currently have a 15K cottage style house (the art type) in Groddle Meadow, and that's what I really prefer. The extra patch actually seems better to me than all that extra garden space, and I greatly prefer the color and style.
I'm still hoping that the Devs will soon provide either more styles or more ability to customize houses, because there have been hints all along that that is coming.
I expect the 50K houses to become more exciting when they are customizable. At that point, location will become everything, that is, if all houses are upgradable. I moved out of a big hollow 50K house and back to a treehouse, though. Everything was so spread apart needlessly. I want my garden near my cabinet and near my animals and trees, etc. Not up on a separate floor where I forget to tend it.
Hera: Bortola. I find the Alakol houses pretty stark. Not my cup of tea.
Agree. I don't like the feel of the expensive houses. I have a cottage in Bortola which has the lovely big backyard and everything I need is no more than three streets away.
Although I admit I was "meh" about the Fruit themed interior at first, I'm in love with it now and have named my strawberry in a pot McPedro.
I have the 15K Goth Barbie cottage in Groddle Meadow. I love the layout. The garden is large enough. I have a half dozen pigs, 5 butterflies, a chicken (one or two more to come) and there isn't an issue. It's likely back there but fun. The fifth tree patch and the bright atmosphre and whimsical interiors are, I think, more fun to be around than the the overgrown dentist's office.
Also, I find the 16 plot garden more than enough. I would not want to have to plant and tend and harvest 28 plots. If you use the arrow keys to move around the plots, it's easy enough to tend without the animals getting in the way..
To be fair, though, if you acquire/make a lot of stuff, there is more space to leave it on the floor in one of those monsters.
I love my 50k house. The pen is convenient (I have a lot of animals) and there's a TON of space to leave things on the ground, both of which I need. The cave house with the pen lacks the ridiculous amount of ground space to store items. One thing to remember about pens, is that they keep animals from roaming about, so you can even leave food on the ground without worrying about your piggies eating it. Jumping off the second and third floor makes moving around quick, and the place has a tidy feel to it, even with all my junk lying around (lol). Plus, if you like to have parties, there's lots of room for people in the 50k house.
I like the look of some of the 15k houses (would like them more if there was an all goth one for 15k, rather than the barbie-goth one out there, the 10k goth place is definitely too small) and the idea of having an extra patch, but in the end, the 50k suits my needs a lot better.
tldr; - 50k is better if you need a pen and lots of floor space for items.
I have the 50K house too. My 30 animals are definitely better in a pen! I like the extra crops and there is a ton of floor space to store stuff. The cabinet is nice and large too, so I can organize my music blocks. I'd prefer the garden in the yard rather than the balcony but the doors move you between floors so fast it's not a big deal.
Personally I love my 50k home (mine is actually in Salatu, no scenery to speak of but only one subway stop from Groddle Meadows). As others have said its really not bad navigating in it, just jump off the 3rd floor balcony to get down and I can get from the pen back up to the 3rd floor off one spinach.
For me the extra crop spaces and cabinet are a must as I like to store quite a bit and don't feel that I'm missing out too much on the extra patch. And once you set up your trophy shelf and start throwing items on the ground it really livens the place up ;-).
That said I probably would have gotten a 15K house if they were available when I was upgrading from my tree house. Not to mention the 15K houses seem like they could easily sell for 25K or maybe even 30K if the devs were to raise the prices.
I'm pro-Bortola - I like the idea of a 50k house, but don't care about the pen (I love that my pigs feed themselves when I'm out), and Alakol was not close enough to the ancestral lands or mining for my taste. I know there are 50k houses elsewhere, but Bortola (and a 15k house) seemed perfect to me. One bonus of a 50k house is that you might get one that comes pre-stocked with animals and trees; there was one available yesterday, which is how I determined I'd rather live in Bortola.
Just a note, 50k houses do not have more cabinet space than most of the 15k houses. 50k houses have 32 slots and all but one of the 15k styled houses have 32 slots. The one that has fewer is the artsy house, at 24 slots (which I think totally needs to be fixed; please, please, please fix this? *puppy dog eyes*).
As I said earlier, I did love Salatu (so pretty and calming there), though I didn't love the look of the house. And there was a lot of space in the 50k, but it was too much space for me, even with my millions of crops. There was this one spot with nothing in it, where a tree would've been nice (I was thinking of ways to fill it in a fun, creative manner). I was able to keep it looking fairly neat at least. All my veggies in bags up on the garden tier and a few toys on the second tier and most everything else in my cabinet.
I love the modern homes and purchased my Salatu (right next to Alakol and it shares the same housing background) house just a day or so ago. No regrets. :) I love the sleek, clean style and the soothing ambiance (background), as well as the many patches, garden spots, and pen. It might not have the maximum number of patches, but 4 lets me plant the trees I want without having to compromise.
I should also note that I love Salatu's location. There's a lot of mining around me and I'm relatively close to the subway station.
I had the 50k house for a few weeks, but I found that I was more likely to buy the food I wanted at auction than drop whatever I was doing and run home to harvest crops. I finally sold it and bought a nice little bog house, which is really very cute in a non-standard way. There are enough trees in the world that I don't need them in my yard. The herb plots are high enough that the wandering piggies don't get in the way like they did when I had a Meadows house (I move a lot). I think that if there are ever any more street projects, I will be glad of the resources.
I love my 15k in Bortola, in the oriental style with its pretty little zen rock and such.
Sometimes I do wish the crops were separate from the animals, but 16 plots is just perfect for halving up the 31 seed-version of the awesome stew recipe. 50k is just too much space for me, I'd be tempted to collect one of everything in the game and leave it lying around just to fill it up.
The pen is perfect, and I've sorted the floors for dropping things. The upstairs is the pantry, and all the crops and cooking supplies go up there, and downstairs are things like gas, bubbles, dirt, loam, sparkly. The main floor is kept clean so I can race my cubimals. :)
I'm still considering the 50K house just because of the pen. I want RHK and a bunch of pigs.
That said, I would keep all my stuff packed (like I did today) and watch the Groddle Meadow listings. A new quarter opened up that has sold quickly. Right now I have a 15K (asian) house in GM, and what I like most about it is the location location location. I am a block from IX, not far from the firebogs and just by crossing the region I'm in the egg caves of Groddle Forest. With the 50K houses you have to teleport everywhere or take mass transit, and have you seen how run down that's gotten lately? Houses in Groddle Meadows open up every so often, you just have to keep refreshing the listings.
15k house in Bortola! I don't need that many crop spaces. I don't like shutting up all my animals in a pen. I love pretty wall designs of those houses in Bortola. What's more, that 15k house is much cheaper while providing much more joy.
I have the Bortola house. I love having 5 trees but I really miss my animal pen. I had a 30K, Alakol home during Beta. It was cold and stark and did not have the nice view of the 50K home. It was roomy and the pen kept the animals under control.
When we get the option to "improve" our homes, I hope that includes a pen option and paint. I have the bright fruit furniture. I'd love to change the furniture and maybe paint the walls. If I could tone down the furniture, I could easily live with the cloudy walls. No matter what, I do prefer color more than the pale decor of the Alakol home.
I love my 15k Gaming Cottage. looks great, and the extra patch is fantastic. The extra crops and animal pen, simply don't compensate for the boring looks and price tag of the mansion.
I love my 50k Alakol home but it's really down to personal preference - I enjoy coming home to the peaceful and minimalist background but I appreciate it would not be to everyone's taste.
I get some sort of wierd kick out of leaping off my top floor balcony down to the garden below as well! Probably because I'd love that sort of thing to be possible IRL :0)
I just sold my 50k house and bought the 15k in bortola. The 15 had plenty of space for what you need. It took forever to wander my house in alakol and for some reason it just kinda felt lonely there.. If I forgot something...back and forth, up and down....UGH! I did really like the area though. I'm very happy in my 15k in bortla. I kinda wish I would have kept my 15k in the meadow. I also look forward to being able to upgrade our houses.
I love my 50K house. I love the levels. I want a house I can crawl around in and those flat houses just do nothing for me. I'm annoyed that the most expensive house doesn't have more than 4 tree plots. I can't wait for a house that has EVERYTHING. I want a damn herb garden.
My house is huge and a little empty feeling sure, but I live right next to a friend of mine so IDK it makes me feel less lonely.