A Haunting We Will Go: The Cutteridge Estate
by Burbie52, HSM team writer
Do you like haunted houses?
Ever been in one? No? Now is your chance. There is a new developer in town and they have given us the newest thing in personal spaces: the Cutteridge Estate, brought to us by Juggernaut.
I have to say the first time I stepped foot in this newest addition to the Home real estate collection I was very impressed. I am a sucker for old houses, and this Victorian manor really appealed to me right from the start. It is a very large house with dark wood floors, stained glass in the leaded windows and window seats. There is detailed wood carvings in the moldings and walls, as well as antique designed wall paper throughout the house.
When you first step into the house you are greeted by a large staircase that divides two ways at the top. There is a large mirror at the top that has a perfect reflection when you look into it. There is a symbol carved into the floor right past the double front doors that are flung wide open. The foyer leads to a dining room to the right with a burned in table and shelf. Then you go into a sitting room with a long, built in cushioned window seat.
Past that you find large library with walls lined with books and two built in shelves with an animated fireplace and oil lamps scattered about the space. This space is very dark, but if you are having an issue with that, you can adjust the gamma settings in your start menu slightly to make it easier to see things. This helps a great deal when you want to play the mini-game that comes with the space. It is in this library you find a book resting on the shelf that takes you into a rather hard game that has ghosts chasing you all over the house and nets you a nice costume for your troubles.
As you walk through the house you will be accosted by some of these ghosts, and you will hear a woman crying and glass breaking occasionally. There are other ghostly sounds like the wind and rain that comes and goes in rapid succession. Once in awhile a ghostly lady in black will appear in various chairs that are set about both in and outside the house.
The other side of the first floor has a pantry and kitchen area with a built in sink and a large field-stone fireplace. There are pots hanging from the ceiling and two built in shelves here as well as a small working table. There is a good sized parlor room just before the kitchen to entertain guests in as well.
If you go up the stairs you will find the master bedroom and a smaller bedroom to the right, and another door that is closed. I wonder if there is a way to open that one? The master bedroom has a small covered porch outside that you can put a chair or two on and look out over the gloomy scene below. It is a foggy place with a nice lighthouse on a pinnacle of rocks that jut out into the ocean in the distance. The scene reminds me of many an old black and white horror flick I have seen.
The other side of the second floor has a small attic space and another bedroom with what is obviously the bathroom between them. The bathroom is the only tiled area in the house. There is a nice veranda that stretches around the front of the house, though it is open and exposed to the rain that comes with a good deal of frequency.
Now we will go out the front door of the house and find a covered porch with ornate pillars holding it up. There is wrought iron filigree along the top of it. No detail was spared in the building of this space, right down to the flagstone base that supports the rest of the house. Once outside you find a stone and iron fence that shields the property from the world outside. A world that has ghosts floating through it everywhere, ghosts that attack you occasionally.
Around the side of the house there is a pond with a short dock extending into it. There is a nice park bench there to sit on if you like. A solitary lamp lights the area, with cattails and shadows hanging everywhere about the pine trees and dead branches that poke out and sway wildly whenever the wind begins to wail. We have been asking for changes in the weather in Home personal spaces for a long time, and they have given it to us here with a vengeance.
The backyard boasts a high cliff that drops to jagged rocks below and looks out onto the sea and that lighthouse that casts its lonely light in an never ending circle, as though it is trying to hold back the darkness that encroaches everywhere around you. You can hear the waves crashing against the rocks below. It is an eerily beautiful scene that is spread out before you. I like that this space allows you to place furniture outside anywhere within the space; it is a feature that every personal space should have I think. It is very rare to have a personal space that has both a residence and property to explore all in one.
The other side of the house has a well and a half grown corn field that stretches into the distance beyond the closed gate. From the overgrown weeds you can tell that this gate hasn’t been used in a long time. It makes you wonder what the story of this house is. What happened here that makes the woman in black so sad? As you hear her sobbing, you can’t help but want to know what secrets this dark house hides.
With all of the ambient sounds and effects they have added here, I think this is going to be a very popular personal space. Though it is priced a bit higher than the usual at $6.99, I think it’s worth every penny. There is also a furniture pack available for the Cutteridge Estate, which includes a rather nice candelabra and picture frame. I for one am glad that Juggernaut has decided to join us here in Home and has brought us such a wonderful first offering.
- The useable space is well designed.
- There is a great mini-game included.
- Game will drive your friends nuts trying to win.
- You can add furniture outside anywhere you like.
- Has many secrets to unfold.
- It is a bit dark inside.
October 29th, 2011 by Burbie52 | 19 comments
Burbie52 is a 62 year-old published author and founder of the Grey Gamers group within Home. Born and raised in Michigan, she has lived there her entire life, with the exception of a twelve-year residency on the Big Island of Hawaii. She enjoys reading and writing, as well as video games, especially RPG's. She has one son in his twenties.
The Villians lair and the Log Cabin were my 2 favorite spaces on Home,I now have a 3rd favorite space.the mini-game is kind of hard but practice and a little luck got me through it in under 30 min. This place hints at other secrets but I’ve yet to find any other than ambience enhancing details,very Lovecraftian all the way around.The view off the backyard cliff is pretty awesome,I keep expecting the “Flying Dutchmen” to appear in the distance or half frog half man beasts climb up the cliff.There are many great details in this place but there’s 1 thing I’m unsure about.Is the pentagram at the end of the mini-game what’s behind the locked door?Like alot of things about this place it’s not exactly clear.There’s nothing wrong with uncertainty,in fact it makes this space more interesting to me,but I do kind of have a problem with having a door locked on me as I’m the master of this house.If the pentagram is indeed what’s inside of that door then it’s not really locked in my view.If the pentagram isn’t what’s behind the locked door then what is behind the door?Can the door be unlocked?Where was the pentagram located at if not there?You see how many uncertainties 1 locked door can bring up.It’s worth the $7 to me and I’m not even sure I’ve found all the rewards from it yet, it’s a great space.
The pentagram which the ghosts get pulled into is not behind the closed door upstairs. It is in the library (the room where you launch the game).
One needs to wonder if we’ll be seeing updates to this space.
The only thing I wish it had was a day/night cycle. It could be much shorter than 2 hours but it certainly have been nice to see that space in the daytime as well.
Yeah maybe in the day form there could be poltergeists flying books and stuff around the house, then the ghosts at night, lol.
Well as you know Granzella did such a wonderful job with their personal space over at the Island in Japan with respect to a day night cycle.
I would so love to see the Estate in the day as well as the nighttime.
I suppose that wouldn’t happen cause the original space was sold without one and that might upset users who bought it with nighttime only. I just wish developers made better use of that as an option when developing spaces in general.
I am sure they can add that if they choose to, like Loot did with the Sunset Yacht.
I’ve spend a lot of time examining the Cutteridge Mansion for hints and clues for what is to come. I went around with my camera (because it has a flash) and took photos of everything to see what I could find hidden in the darkness. After looking at everythng (from the books on the shelves to inside the water well) the only interesting thing I found was a hole in the wall in the recess to the far right side of the lobby (by the stairs at the bottom of the wall).
The closed door upstairs with the green glow shining from beneath it and the shut window (visible from outside) has sparked a lot of curiosity in me. I don’t know whats inside but I am eager to find out.
As for the minigame; well it is pretty easy; I got the reward on my 4th try.
I am looking forward to future updates to this personal space. Access to the grave yard would be nice (the scarecrow looks so welcoming).
I kind of wish the waves at the cliff edge and around the lighthouse were more dramatic. Something like this:
Maybe perhaps we could -- in the future -- see a lighthouse personal space? I’ve got plenty near where I live and could take lots of pictures for reference material if needed.
imo a masterpiece! a space with real “atmosFEAR” (^^)!
between A.E.Poe and H.P.Lovercraft…
i love the darkness, imo light destroy all this misterious and perturbing ambiance, i love to put some lamp or candles….booooohoooo(^^)
an exemple for the others devs who forget wath a good space is really!
well, sneaking around like a mouse,as usual, found a fe w things. look at an angle at the floor design at the front door and see another pentagram. a light on the floor helps. also, down the hidden hall to the back of the mirror (perv mirror) upstairs, put a light down. theres a trap door, or drop which i cant get anything threw. and on an odd note, the scarecrow moves around. he was at the gate to the cornrows. then when i was sloshing around in the water by the little dock, he was in the trees by the rocks. odd that.
Great read Burbie, very descriptive. The locked door upstairs has been driving me a little batty, I’m very eager to find out what secrets it holds. I did notice a couple things though. In the room next to it, there appears to be a gold-colored trap door in the wall with an emblem of sorts on it. I went outside to take a look front the other side and it looks exactly the same. Also, you will notice a ledge beneath it on the outside of the house, that does not appear on any of the other sides of the estate. I stacked up tables and chairs in order to climb up there, and after a bit of labor I was able to reach the ledge. I stepped off onto it and discovered that it was solid. I was able to walk all the way down to the closed window that leads to the locked room, but was unable to open it or see inside through the crack. I turned around and walked to the trap door and found that there was an invisible platform underneath it that will support you. I’ll post again if I figure out any more, but I think that gold emblem that I keep assuming is a trap door to be the key…
-Zero
Yeah the game inside has been driving some of my friends batty as well. My suggestion to those of you having a problem with it is to do the smallest rooms first, starting with the attic, then go to medium sized rooms and leave the dining room, library and room between them for last.
I am wondering about that closed room as well, I just know we haven’t gotten the whole story here. Tbaby has said she heard they will be updating, maybe we will know then.
nice review burbie. yea, i like the space and i agree that there are parts that might be a little too dark to see. i adjusted the brightness on my tv so i could see better upstairs to make it easier to find my way to the attic. the sounds effects are cool and the game was hard at first, but once you got a good path, it wasn’t too bad. its a good sized space too with plenty outside and inside. a lot of detail went into the outside surroundings. not sure if it is worth $6.99, but i don’t really buy personal spaces. i also heard this morning that the estate will be getting updates in the future.
If you go to start>tools>settings>visual>adjust gamma while in Home you will be able to see everything perfectly without having to change the brightness on your TV at all. You just need to set the gamma up a bit, a little past half will do I think.
TY Burbie. I forgot about doing that.
Got to meeting someone from Jaggernaut at a party last night and was interesting to talk to him about the space and future content from the company. Can’t wait to see what they come out with.
Not sure if you have all found all the secrets hidden in this space yet but I saw one last night in the attic and heard about another you can get to under the stairs using a glitch.
They made a statement as well in the Forum that they are planning updates to the space. One can hope that is in fact the apartment itself and not simply personal items to go into it.
It’s great to see the developer at the official forum as well as other fan sites.
Well done, as always! I really like reading your reviews. This time, I especially like how you have shown “Game will drive your friends nuts trying to win.” as a “pro”. lol
I really enjoyed the Cutteridge Estate! I thought the rain was magnificent! It added so much suspense, and seeing the woman crying outside (I first saw her when I looked outside a window)I started to actually feel sorry for her! It’s very scary, but it is also very depressing. I had the honor to get an actual haunted house tour with the PST crew! It was a blast! I am definitely purchasing this!
To combat against the stark darkness of the “Cutteridge Estate,” I’d suggest slightly adjusting your televisions “Brightness Setting” a sliver higher. After I did that, the space became easier to navigate since I could know see in all the Mansion’s nook & crannies. Wishing everyone a Spook-taular Halloween.