This is an Instructable for building a picturesque half-timbered house with a veranda.

Step 1: First Story: Part 1

Begin the house by building the floor and outlining the rooms as shown in Picture 1. Then build up the walls with cobblestone and windows and add a fence and stairs to what will become the veranda. Then add a ceiling to the first story at a height of 5 blocks. Add a roof on top of the veranda.

Step 2: First Story: Part 2

Now it is time to decorate the inside of the first story. All rooms should have glowstone lamps. A glowstone lamp is built by placing a block of glowstone, then placing a slab underneath, and then placing and closing trapdoors on all other sides. The entry/stair room should of course have stairs leading to the second story. The living room should have a huge sofa and a big fireplace. You can prevent the house from catching fire using two methods:

A. All blocks near the fireplace should be non-flammable, like cobblestone.

B. Use the command

/gamerule doFireTick false

This will turn off the fire's ability to spread. It also makes fire burn indefinitely.

The dining room should have a table and the table can have cakes placed on it. You can then make chairs to go around it out of stair blocks.

Step 3: Second Story

Begin by marking out corners and fractions of walls with spruce logs. Then fill in the spaces with panels made of wood and spruce logs as shown in Pictures 2-4. Put a layer of spruce logs around the top edge of the wall. Then mark out rooms as shown in Picture 5. Bring up the walls to the level of the top edge. Then it is time to decorate the rooms.

All rooms should have glowstone lamps. The study should have lots of books and a lower bookcase enclosing a desk. The small bedroom should have a single bed, and the large bedroom should have a double bed and some flowerpots.

Add a ceiling made of spruce planks to the second story at the level of the top spruce logs. It is now time for the roof.

Step 4: The Roof

To begin the roof, build two gables at each end of the ceiling. Build up rows of stair blocks using the edges of the gables as a guide.

Congratulations!

You have now finished the house. Landscaping happens in the next step.

Step 5: Landscaping

Begin landscaping by building a rustic path forward from the door and build a large fence around the house. Dig a trench from one side of the fence to the other. Then fill it with water. This will be a river. Put a cobblestone bridge over the river where it crosses the path and put saplings on either side. Then click with bone meal with the Use Item button to turn the saplings into trees. You may have to click many times for each tree. Plant saplings in 2x2 squares near the back of the house and use bone meal to turn them into a huge forest. Add blue orchids all over the fenced off area. This will keep the forest from becoming boring.

Congratulations!

You have completed the house!