Modern Home

Design for
Minecraft


Modern Home
Pyramid House
The Library
Two Story Wood Home
Two Story Modern Home
Cylindrical Structures
Glass House
Second Story Room and
Designer Floor
Emerald Cottage
Modern Home with Swimming
Pool

Copyright 2014 Bluewater
Publishing LLC. All rights reserved.
Modern Home
Building modern style homes is
a great way to get creative in
Minecraft. Lets get started with
a design I came up with after
seeing a real house near my
neighbourhood that stood out.
It was all white and had
mirrored glass windows in the
front and a mirrored glass
garage door. Not being able to
use mirrored glass in Minecraft,
I came up with this design that
uses diamond windows:

To build this house well need
the following materials:
Quartz blocks
Diamond
Cobblestone
Iron Door
Smooth sandstone
blocks
We will start on the left side of
the house, where you see the
tall, narrow windows.

Lay down a single row of 5 quartz
blocks. Then build up on both edges
until the structure is 6 blocks high.
Connect up your two columns at
the top. Then build a third column
in the center, leaving two 1x4 empty
sections for the windows.


Above is how your wall should look
after filling in each column with
diamond. Alternatively, you could
use blocks of ice to simulate the
windows.

Next, go to the right side and build
back two more columns of quartz,
as shown here.


Now add a three block wide section
on the back. Include a 1 x 2
diamond window.


Here is an aerial view to make sure
you have it set up right.



Next we will do the front door. The
structure will include two iron
doors surrounded by diamond. First
add two columns to the right of the
section we just finished, offset by
one block (see below). Then build
up four diamond blocks, then two
rows across at the top, and then
down one column of four diamond
blocks. The doors can go in the
space. Cap off the section with a 4x2
block of quartz.

Next add two columns of quartz to
the right side (as viewed from
facing front).

Next we will add the garage. First
we are going to build out a wall of
quartz from the right side of the
door area, around 6 blocks.


The garage door will be 4 diamond
blocks in height, and 8 diamond
blocks wide. Then add two rows of
quartz blocks on top.


Now lets add a covering structure
for the entry way. First add a 6
block high column of quartz, to the
left of the diamond section that
encloses the front doors, and one
block out from the garage.


Now will in with quartz blocks.
Have your roof extend out as far as
the garage, and then add a block to
connect up with the support
column, forming an upside down
L shape.


Now build a nice entry way. I used a
four block wide section of
cobblestone, and will use
cobblestone for the driveway as
well.



Next, lets fill in the interior of the
garage with smooth sandstone. It
will be six blocks in depth and eight
across, to match the width of the
garage door.


Now build the exterior wall to the
side of the garage, and enclose the
roof above.


The next step is to build the outside
wall, first laying down one row of
blocks. The details here will depend
on your particular terrain, but I had
mine next to a natural body of
water, so I am going to put a porch
going out to the water and leave an
open entry way next to it. Here is an
aerial shot:

You will notice I started the interior
floor using birch wood planks. I
also put an iron door going into the
garage from the main house, and
directly above it are three light blue
stained glass blocks. I am using
light blue stained glass blocks for
windows on the back and side of the
house as well.

Next I am adding some walls for
interior rooms. The details of this
arent important you can build up
your interior rooms as you see fit
for your design. This aerial shot
shows the complete filling in of the
interior floor with birch wood
planks, plus the patio area with
cobblestone.

The rest is just filling in outside
walls with quartz blocks and
occasional windows of light blue
stained glass. Here is the side
coming back from the garage:

Here is the side with the patio.
Notice I added an iron door going
out to the patio, and used all glass
in the corner.


Here is a view of the back of the
house.


And an aerial shot, as seen from the
back. Notice I raised the roof on the
far right section and made it one
block lower in the back left.

Pyramid House
An interesting design is to build
a pyramid. Keeping with our
theme of modern I am going
to build a simple pyramid
house that is mostly glass. I will
use chiselled sandstone and
cyan stained glass. Start by
digging out an 8 x 8 hole:
Now fill with sandstone:
Now build a ring around this
with chiselled sandstone:
Notice I left a one block space
for an entry way. I wont be
using a door in this building but
simply have an open entry. Top
off the outside ring with cyan
stained glass:
Now here is the trick to
building a pyramid shape. Find
a corner and put a block there
at the level of the highest row.
Then put a block on top of that,
and use it to start building a
ring of blocks that is one block
inside from the previous ring,
and one block higher. When
you are done destroy the starter
block. Here I add the starter
block in one corner:
And now fill in the next level:
After that, its just a matter of
repeating the process until the
top gets filled in.
Here we are nearly finished
filling it in.
At the very top, I can fill it in
with a 2 x 2 section of cyan
stained glass.

To spruce things up add some
furniture to decorate your
interior.


In one corner of the pyramid, I
created what you could think of
as a bath or water fountain.
Wall in one section with
sandstone blocks. Then get a
bucket of water and dump it
inside.

The Library
I am calling this building the
library because I got the idea
from the library at the
University of California, San
Diego campus. Although it
really doesnt look like that. But
the idea I got was to create a
building where each successive
floor is larger than the one
below it.
In real life that kind of building
wouldnt be structurally sound
without additional supports,
but no matter. It will do in
Minecraft. For materials, we are
using:
Gold
Stone or use grey clay
Blue stained glass
Pillar Quartz
Iron doors
Lets start on the first floor. Dig
a 6 x 6 hole.

Fill it with pillar quartz, which
makes an excellent pattern for a
fancy floor.
Now add a row of stone or grey
clay around the outside. Then
add one iron door.

Next we will fill in one row of
blue stained glass. Then on top
of that add a row of gold,
followed by another row of blue
stained glass and a row of stone
or clay.

Fill the clay in all the way so it
will be the ceiling of the first
floor.

Now we want to extend it out.
Add a ring on the outside of the
ceiling that is two blocks wide
all around. From ground level,
you can see it overhanging the
rest of the structure.
Now all we have to do is repeat
the process, for as many floors
as you would like to have. I did
three floors. Just repeat the
pattern of blue glass, gold, blue
glass:
Then add a new ceiling, each
time extending it out 2 blocks
wider than the previous level.
Two Story Wood
Home
Like the first house we did this
one is based on a real design as
well, which includes a lot of
black stained glass and dark
wood. Spruce planks are a good
choice for dark wood. I used
oak and birch for inside floors,
and some cobblestone and
quartz as well.
We will start construction on
the left side of the building.
Create an 8 x 8 section of
spruce:
Next, dig a six block wide
trench.
Fill it with oak wood planks.

Now build up a front area of
black stained glass, 4 blocks
high. Extend a row of spruce
planks on top of it.
Now fill in to the top. With
black glass, and then on the
right side add a column of
quartz blocks, 8 blocks high.
Now fill backwards with four
more columns of quartz.
This takes us to the next area of
the house, where we will add
some more black stained glass
windows. First put a bottom
row of cobblestone, then 3
blocks high and seven blocks
wide of black glass. Then top off
with two rows of quartz.
Now go to the middle (the
fourth block) and add an
outside column of cobblestone.
To the right of this, we will add
our front doors. I will use two
wooden doors, although iron
would work with this design as
well.
You can see behind the doors I
have started laying down the
inside floor, for the bottom
floor of this house I will use
birch wood planks, which give a
nice light color. Now enclose
the doors with some quartz
blocks as shown here.
Next extend the top row of
black glass to the end, and then
the two rows of quartz above it.
From here, we can enclose the
boundary of the side and back
walls. The exact dimensions
arent that important, but here
is an aerial shot to use for
guidance. I am going to add
another door on the side.
Now turn your attention to the
upstairs area. Return to the
spruce section where we began
the house, and start adding
flooring, extending back from
the wood row that divided the
two sections of black glass. I am
using oak wood planks on the
second floor. Notice that I am
leaving an open area where I
can add some stairs.
The bottom floor is birch wood
planks. Next behind the original
spruce wood plank wall we
built, I added a wall of black
stained glass.
Now fill in the rest of the top
floor with oak wood planks.
Here is an aerial view.
Now fill in the roof. The roof is
made of spruce wood planks.
On the side of the house above
the front doors, I added a
skylight made of plain glass
blocks. It is 5 x 4.
The remaining tasks are to fill
in the back and the side next to
the front doors.
For the back, I filled in the
entire area with black stained
glass.

On the side I used mostly glass,
but filled in the center with
quartz and added a door in the
back corner.
Now clean up the yard from any
weeds and add some walkways
made of cobblestone.
Two Story
Modern Home
This modern home is built
using stone, quartz and cyan
stained glass. Begin by digging a
large square hole.
Use smooth sandstone to fill it
in:
Now go to the area that will be
the front of your structure. On
the outside, build a two block
wide section of stone from the
middle to the front, and wrap it
around. Do this on both sides,
and it will look like you have
two L shapes.
Now on the rear of each L,
build up two blocks.
Now build out toward the front
from the top as shown here,
two blocks wide:
Then fill the empty space with
cyan glass blocks.
Next add two iron doors in
between the two structures you
just built.
Now above each L, build two
rows of quartz, but start the
first row on the outer edge of
your L, so that the second row
of quartz creates an overhang.
Here is a view from below so
you can see what I mean
And a view from above. Note
the offset of the quartz relative
to the stone L.

Add two cyan glass blocks
above the doors, then connect
your quartz L shapes in the
center.
Now lets add the second floor.
Using smooth sandstone
blocks, start adding them into
the areas where we left the
inside offset with the quartz.
Here it is filled in.
Now add a row of stone blocks
for the second floor.
Top that off with cyan glass.
Then add another row of stone
blocks.
And then, a row of quartz.
On top of that, add another row
of quartz, two blocks wide, but
offset like we did on the first
floor.
An aerial view:
Fill out the ceiling with quartz.
When everything is filled out
halfway, which will be to the
end of the L shapes we started
with, it will look something like
this.
Now add three quartz blocks to
each back corner.
Then fill out from the two L
shapes with a row of stone, and
close off the back with a row of
stone leaving a space for a back
door.
I am going to fill in a lot of the
back area with plane glass
blocks. Fill in as you like.
I am topping off the back area
with quartz.
Adding another overhand of
quartz on the back:
And the back door.
Now at the edge of what we
have so far for the second floor,
add a set of steps made of
sandstone.
Side view of the steps:
Now add a wall around part of
the steps on the second floor:
An aerial view:
Fill in the rest of the second
story floor with sandstone. Now
fill in the back wall and sides of
the top floor with stone and
plain glass.
Then enclose with quartz.
Here is an aerial view of the
roof. Notice I dropped down
one block in height on the rear
half of the house.
Cylindrical
Structures
The next design is based on
another real house. It has a
large cylindrical structure to the
side where they have a spiral
staircase. Im not going to
actually do a spiral staircase,
but Im going to show you how
you can approximate round
structures in Minecraft.
Lets see how to do it. First start
with a straight row.
Make it an odd number of
blocks. On each outside edge,
go over and down one and add
another hole. Then repeat.
Now move over and down one
again, and add another row on
each side.
Then you duplicate the pattern
on the other half of our
simulated circle. Here is the
one I am using for this build:
For this structure I am going to
use the orange colored acacia
wood planks for the floor and
roof. The outside ring of the
circle will be quartz.
Now I start to build up, leaving
single column wide spaces for
windows on the straight sides.
For this project I am using lime
and purple stained glass for
windows.
Here is an aerial view. I am
leaving one side open because it
will connect to the main house.
Fill in the last section with
acacia wood planks.
Now extend about 3 blocks for a
hallway, and then build the
outer walls of the main house.
Raise the front wall with space
for two three block wide
windows and a front door.
The side wall will also have two
2 x 3 windows, and we will put
one large one in the back.
The back window is a large 5 x
2.
Now finish filling in the entire
floor area with acacia wood
planks.
Above the door, I placed a 2 x 2
purple stained glass window.
Notice I used wood doors, but
iron would work too.
Around the building, I will
alternate window colors a bit.
The first window to the right of
the front doors will be green
stained glass, and then the next
one over we go back to purple.
Following the same pattern, the
first side window over from the
doors has green glass, and then
the one behind that is purple.
The back window we go back to
green.
I placed another large window
in the back corner, but went
with green again because it
offers a little more interior
lighting.
Now top off the structure with
acacia wood planks to start the
roof.
After filling it in, starting one
block in from the outside, go a
block higher. Our goal is to
create a pitched style roof.
Raise again for the next row,
and have it 3 blocks wide at that
height. Then raise again, and
again in the center where it will
be 5 blocks high.
Here is how it looks from the
front.
Now cover the hallway and add
a roof to the cylindrical part of
the bulding.
Here weve filled in the edge,
notice that we have also filled
in the windows, including two
purple windows in the hallway.
Here it is completely filled in.
A couple of views of the house
from different angles, touching
up the front yard with some
grass and flowers.
Glass House
When deciding on a modern
style Minecraft house, one
option to consider is the glass
house. A glass house is not
entirely glass, but is mostly
glass. Lets build this example.
This house is made of white
stained glass and quartz. Begin
by digging an 8 x 8 hole.
Fill the hole with quartz blocks.
Build columns out of quartz 5
blocks high on all corners, and
then add some columns to the
centers of each side.
Now connect up all the
columns so that there is an
outside ring of quartz. Leave
the front open.
An aerial view:
Now fill in the ceiling of the
first floor leaving a space for
steps coming up to the top.
Build the staircase. Use two
blocks for each step.
Now lets add a quartz section
to the entry way where the
doors will be. The quartz should
enclose the doors, 3 blocks high
on each side, and 4 blocks
across. Position as shown.
Now fill in with white stained
glass.
Now going upstairs, add some
fencing in one corner up from
the stairs.
For the top, we will construct
all of it with white stained
glass. Build up 3 blocks and
then enclose it with the
exception of the corner with the
fence, which will function as a
balcony.
Build a wall around the back
side of the building.
Fill in with grass and plants as
desired.
Second Story
Room and
Designer Floor
In this project were going to
include a few enhancements to our
home building. First well create a
stylish designer floor using brick
and quartz. Then we will add an
upstairs room and then include
some interior design items by
adding furniture and paintings.
Im going to make a larger
structure, you can shoot for 18 x 12.
I picked a relatively open spot but
due to the rough terrain usually
found in Minecraft had to do some
yardwork smoothing it out by
adding some Grass Blocks.


Next Im going to add one
layer of Clay to form the
boundary of the house. To
add a little flair to the
design, the clay will only be
on the bottom layer and
well use sandstone for the
rest of the walls.


The irregular shape toward
the rear of the house was a
result of the nearby terrain.
I could have smoothed out
the terrain some more but
you dont have to make all
your structures perfectly
rectangular.
Now well go inside the clay
wall and prepare the floor.
Begin by digging it out
completely inside the clay
walls. Then begin adding
regular brick, but check
below as I am going to put
quartz in the entry area
from the front door.

Here is a shot of the entry
area. I added a 2 x 2 section
of quartz centered about
the front door.
Next I put a boundary of
quartz around the brick
area. Try experimenting
with your own floor designs.


For the next step, put in the
front door. Notice I left
enough space for a double
door.

Now start adding a couple
of rows of sandstone all the
way around, placing
windows where you like.

Then add a layer or two of
sandstone on top of the
windows. For the ceiling, I
will use wood planks. I dont
want the wood planks to be
visible from the outside on
the back, so will extend
them from the top layer of
sandstone. However well
leave the wood visible on
the front.

Also notice I placed a set of
double doors out the back.
Im also including some
glass in the ceiling for sky
lights. On the second story
we will include a single
bedroom with a balcony.
Facing the front door, the
stairs into the bedroom will
be just to the left of the floor
design we did above. So
place your skylights with
the bedroom in mind.


Here are the steps with an
open area that will lead into
the bedroom:

Now head upstairs and
build the bedroom walls out
of sandstone, adding a
couple of windows. Also
leave a space for a single
door that will go to a fenced
balcony area. My bedroom
extends to the back wall of
the house, but only about
halfway to the front just
before the skylight.
Now fence in an area to
your liking on the roof from
the bedroom door.

Here is how the bedroom
looks if you walk up the
stairs and turn around.

Next head back downstairs
and create some rooms by
building some sandstone
walls. Doors for the interior
can be optional.

The next thing I did was
some interior decorating.
You can add paintings and
build tables with slabs.
Here is the bedroom with a
bed, bookcase and some
wall paintings.

Emerald Cottage
When building your house in
Minecraft dont be afraid to try
unusual materials or colors for
a different look. As a way of
illustrating this I constructed
an emerald cottage that also
included yellow stained glass.
To do something different we
are also going to carpet the
inside floor.
The back of the cottage will be
rounded, and the front squared
off. To build the rounded
section, start with a row of four
emerald blocks. Then go off on
each side with 2 offset blocks,
and then build two straight
rows of four blocks.
Square off the front leaving
room for a door.
Now add a row of quartz on top
of the emerald as shown. Dont
put quartz on the back.
Now add four yellow stained
glass blocks to the left of the
doorway, and two to the right
side.
On the backside, we will add
two rows of yellow stained glass
right on top of the emerald.
To lay carpet in Minecraft, you
have to put something
underneath. So fill the inside
with cobblestone.
To keep with the color scheme,
I added lime green carpet.
Here is an aerial view of what
we have so far.
In the doorway, add 4 emerald
blocks.
Now add two iron doors.
Now lets make it more colorful
by topping off with more
emerald blocks.
Now lets start filling in the
side.
We can make a nice pattern by
alternating emerald and quartz.
Fill the pattern to the back.
Top off the back with quartz.
Now fill in the last side. I have a
single 3 x 2 window of yellow
stained glass.
For the roof, we will build a
pyramid. If you havent you
might want to read the chapter
on building a pyramid, we will
use the same technique here.
Start by putting in a dummy
block so that we can start
adding blocks inside the outer
ring at a higher level. The first
row of the pyramid will be
emerald.
Fill in all the way around, then
destroy your dummy block.
Then repeat, alternating
between quartz and emerald.
Fill in the top with a 2 x 2
section.
Here is our completed cottage.
Modern Home
with Swimming
Pool
In this chapter well build a
modern style home out of quartz
and glass. Well put a pool out back
designing it slightly differently. To
fit in with the house well make the
pool out of quartz as well. To get
started, dig a hole for the pool - I
chose to make it 6 x 10. Im going to
put walls and a bottom in the pool
so the water will fill an area 4
blocks wide. This time well make it
uniform depth, so dig 4 blocks deep.
Then fill the bottom and sides with
chisled quartz block. When I am
done mine looks like this:

Fill the pool with a
checkerboard patter using
dirt on alternating squares.
Make sure each empty
square is isolated. Then put
more dirt blocks (3 deep) so
the dirt sections are the
height of the pool.

Fill the pool with a
checkerboard patter using
dirt on alternating squares.
Make sure each empty
square is isolated. Then put
more dirt blocks (3 deep) so
the dirt sections are the
height of the pool.


When youve filled all the
empty sections with water,
change to another tool like
an iron hoe to be sure you
dont accidently pour more
water, and then destroy all
the dirt blocks. All the water
will run together. Jump in
and youll see its easy to
swim around in the pool.


Now were going to start
adding levels that will go up
to the house from the long
side of the pool. To build
these levels we will use
plain quartz blocks (not the
chisled). Start by digging
out two rows next to the
pool.


Then fill it in with plain
Quartz Blocks:


The house is going to be elevated
behind the pool with a series of
steps or levels. Start by adding
another 2-3 rows of plain quartz
blocks, one block higher than the
one you just added.


Now add another 4 rows of
blocks one block higher.
Here is how mine looks at
an intermediate step:

Adding another raised level:


Now well start laying down
the interior floor for the
house. To add some design
to the floor, Ill use Chisled
Quartz Blocks. Dont dig a
hole to put the floor in, we
will use the sides of the
Chisled Quartz Blocks to
add a nice design touch to
the outside of the house.


For the walls of the house,
except in the front, we will
use plain Quartz blocks.
Start by adding 2 x 4
sections on each side,
starting where you began
the Chisled Quartz floor.


Next connect up the two
walls you just added with
the first part of the ceiling.


For the backside of the
house which goes out to the
pool, well add Glass Panes
(not blocks).


Fill in as desired but be
sure to leave some space to
walk out to the pool.


Now lets extend the walls
toward the front. Add a 2 x
2 section of Glass Blocks to
each wall moving toward
the front.


Now extend the floor out
further to the front. For a
bit of design, first I added a
row of plain quartz blocks
and then built out a cross
pattern using plain quartz
blocks. The length of the
cross is 8 blocks. Then I
filled in the rest of the floor
area with chisled quartz.


When you are putting in the
new part of the floor, extend
it out one block on each
side, then build out the next
section of the wall on this
extended section. I built the
new part of the wall using
plain quartz and glass
blocks.

Now extend out the roof 5
blocks wide, including a 3
block wide section of glass
blocks. This section will
include an upstairs balcony.
Place the glass blocks one
row behind your outter row
of quartz.

On the other side, use some
plain quartz blocks to build
some stairs:


Now go upstairs and use
Chisled quartz blocks to
build a wall around your
balcony.


On the pool side of the roof,
build a one block high
Chisled quartz wall all
around. On the side
opposite the balcony, build
a wall as shown here using
plain Quartz blocks and
glass blocks. Then build a
row of plain quartz blocks
across the top over to the
backmost block of your
balcony area to connect
them up. I used Glass
Blocks to fill in the front
ceiling area, and plain
Quartz Blocks to fill in the
rear side (toward the pool).


Now lets go back
downstairs to the front of
the house. Facing the front,
fill in the right hand side
like this. Note the column of
Chisled Quartz along with
the front window, and also
note the drop down by one
later of the roof in the front
of the house.


Going around the front to
the left side of the house,
you can see how I filled in
the walls on the left with
quartz and glass blocks.


Now add some stairs to go
down out of the front of the
house. I added three rows
of stairs. If you need to clear
out the ground in front of
the house so you can step
down from it.

Here is the view of the right
hand side:


As a final touch, use plain
quartz to put a two level
(one block wide each) fence
around the pool: