Forum Discussion

Seasoned Ace

4 years ago

Castle, Palace, Manor or what?

If you play royals and/or high nobility houses, your sims probably reside in spacious conditions. Such big houses often hold history and traditions, and they most likely have a proper name to reflect their status. So, I'm curious to learn how you name those huge estates?

If you only play one royal family you probably have them residing a Castle. I just did some research and found that Castle would be the right name only if it is located on the countryside and has a large park. In real life many former Castles are now referred to as Palaces - simply because the surrounding village grew into a town and the old castle is no longer surrounded by open fields, as it used to be. We're of course not that realistic, but it made me think - should my Duke's big residence be named Castle, Palace, or Manor? And what's the difference between Manor and Estate, anyway?

Would be cool to learn how you name your huge house(s), and perhaps some of its backstory as well.

I don't play any royals, but I have 4 dukedoms (and some baronies), and their estates are all differently named (and probably categorized, too).

Chateau Cavalier (pictured) is the home to Duke Aquess de Cavalier and his Duchess Claudine. The rough stone building is very rustic and the exterior not so elegant. It is shaped as a bone, was built based on older stone constructions 128 years ago. I named it "Chateau" (castle) before I was aware of the differences between a castle and a palace, but as castles normally have a big park (a palace will normally have a smaller garden), and Chateau Cavalier does indeed have the biggest and most impressive formal greenery arrangement in my entire region, so I think it might just about fit the bill. Its location is rural, too, at Cavalier Cove in Brindleton Bay.

Rossie Palace is the home to Duke Jarret Ross, his wife Duchess Ribra Lynn and their 4 sons. I used to think about their home as "Rossie Castle", as it is the biggest and oldest (224 years!) of my four dukedoms' builds, but then I realized they probably have the small town pretty close, and the lot is not large enough for a major park arrangement. They have a rose garden, an apple tree garden with long traditions, and a limited patio with a pool. The location is actually outside my played region, so I'm hoping for a future pack with a suitable new world. So - I'll call it the Rossie Palace.

Von Windenburg Estate is home to Duke Merlin von Windenburg. He is an elderly man with an exciting backstory but no family. The build has a 125 years long and detailed story in my game, and the duke is currently renovating it to its former state. It is not at all a castle, but I feel the Estate name seems a bit lame for a duke, but I think I'll keep it. After all the build is not extremely big, besides this family was mostly pretty much down-to-earth. The dukes von Windenburg used to reside in an old castle that was part of today's ancient ruins, but it was completely ruined during a war long ago.

Finally, Meadows Penthouse (pictured), located at Fashion District in San Myshuno, is home to Duke Victus of Meadows, his wife Duchess Gloria and their daughter Lady Corva. This family used to reside at the Meadows, but one generation ago they moved into the top section of the new city Tower. I don't really have a name for it, but as it definitely is neither a castle, palace nor manor, I'll just refer to it as the Torini Penthouse or Meadows Penthouse. It's also rather new lacking the long history and traditions, allowing for a modern name.

My other nobility households reside in Manors and Estates, mostly. I don't really know when a home is a Manor and when it is an Estate, so maybe that should be my next research ;) Whatever, I rarely change those old names because I like that both families and buildings have a backstory.

How do you name the home of your top crest families?

stories

GalacticGal
Seasoned Ace
4 years ago
This is Greyson Castle.

https://i.imgur.com/kt60ePY.jpg

This is the Manor I created to house my Hawkins family. Joseph Hawkins built a palisades around his property during the Friend and Indian War. His place was referred to the Hawkins Complex.

https://i.imgur.com/jogI0yI.jpg

My sixth times great-grandfather would name his homes after something in or around them, starting with the Long Meadows. A creek by that name was nearby. He called one place years later, Mount Pleasant, one was Plum Grove, due to the grove of plum tress on said land. Marble Springs (which today is a State Park in Tennessee) was his last place of residence. It was called such, as he found marble on the land, and discovered springs, which he came to realize were therapeutic in nature. He suffered what was then called the Rheumatism, and now is called Rheumatoid Arthritis. Upon bathing in them, he felt better. :) We're talking the 18th century here, when they used leeches to bleed people All based on the four Humors …
JesLet40
Seasoned Ace
6 months ago
The historian in me got curious and looked it up, and according to several sources I found, the easy explanation is that manors have medieval roots in the feudal system (ie. it was a house, granted to a noble family by the regent or higher nobleman in return for military service and loyalty which in turn owned land on which farmers worked and rented land in return for protection). So in a way a feudal administrative unit.
Estate, on the other hand is a newer term for a large house with park land and surrounding farm land (either several rented farms, or one big farm controlled directly from the estate). Estate was not in any way tied to the feudal system, it's just a big house with farmland.

So, you could also say that all manors are estates, but not all estates are manors. Manors, think nobility and old medieval roots. Estate, think rich landowners of later times.
- Simmerville
  Seasoned Ace
  6 months ago
  Thanks, that makes sense! I have several centuries of history in most of my worlds so there might be builds that actually ought to be manors. I like knowing the backstory in detail, but I'll probably save this for a rainy day in November ;)
  - JesLet40
    Seasoned Ace
    6 months ago
    You're welcome. I didn't comment on the others because you have already gotten some correct replies there. A castle is a fortified building for nobility or royalty to be able to defend an area, while also serving as a residence which is what separates it from a fortress which is a primarily military facility. Most castles were built in medieval times. Think small windows, a keep in the center, towers, drawbridges, moats...
    Palaces, however, are mainly built for comfort and luxury. Think large windows and a distinct lack of moats and keeps. (Look at the difference between Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace). The concept of palaces is also newer, coming into use in the renaissance rather than in medieval times, when the transformation of the military made knights redundant and the feudal system started to lose it's importance as a military strategy. There were also during this time less need for castles and their use, and as palaces were more comfortable overall, they became more popular. They showed economic strength whereas castles showed military strength.
    When it comes to the french Chateaux, it's a much broader word and can mean either castle, palace, manor or estate.
Smellincoffee
New Adventurer
6 months ago
Because of performance issues, my royals live somewhat modestly. The exception is the Capps in my Sims 2 in Sims 4 save, with its massive grounds. I once built a castle but when I considered the epic project that would be involved in decorating it, I decided to leave my royals in their two-story Brindleton Bay home. I also tend to refer to the houses very generically, like "Goth Manor".
- Simmerville
  Seasoned Ace
  6 months ago
  Yah, most of my royal and noble homes are packed with historical deco stuff, most CC, and my game gets very slow at times. I tested a bit and found that a brand new save with the same mega sized Mods folder did actually run surprisingly smoothly on my old computer, so in my case, the performance is probably more harmed by my save being very old and packed with info, and by me playing way too many households. When building my first castles/palaces I did the typical mistake of creating everything way too big. Then I realized there will probably never be more than 8 sims around... I also have live-in servants, taking up a couple household member slots. So, while pretending the royal staff counts a few hundred persons, they are basically just 2 :) The palace chef cooks in a small kitchen, but I pretend the main kitchen is next room, and that the other 10 cooks are busy at work in there.
  My royal family now has 4 children shortly growing up, and I'll need to plan suitable homes fore them during their first YA years. Must be something quite small. Will be interesting.