De'arian Villa

Written by EmperorCharlesII

You’re travelling through the De'arian countryside, taking in the rolling plains filled with flowers. Small homesteads are scattered throughout the plains, giving you a glimpse into provincial life here. But the nights you spend in the larger villas and towns.
A gentleman named Voro Colonasso houses you on the trip north from Can'arta. He owns a large villa not too far from the road, and your caravan is willing to pay for the night. Voro seems like a nice gentleman and his two or three servants help cater to your caravan’s needs.
The villa itself is the thing that stands out for you. A building of white stucco and bright red tiles, it is about two stories in height. It is built around a central courtyard. The roof seems to slope down into this courtyard.
Voro’s house has a large lemon tree in this courtyard, as well as a small clump of bushes at the base of the tree. “It’s my little garden,” he says to you when you arrive. “And this here,” he pats the trunk, “is the oldest lemon tree in the world. All my other trees were cut from this one.”
You can feel the pride of this man as he talks about stony soil vs loamy soil during dinner. You are in the large dining room, and his couple of servants are serving you and your other caravan members. It is a very pleasant experience and one you’ll carry with you, just like the small bag of lemons Voro have you as a parting gift.

Architecture

A villa is commonly around 25-30 metres long and wide, and either one or two stories in height. The exterior walls of the building are commonly of cement or stucco, painted a plain white or another bright colour. The roof usually slopes into the courtyard and has a shingled roof, also in a bright colour.
The most important hallmark of a De'arian villa is the courtyard. Here, the thing most important to the house's owners are on display, whether that be their craft, busts of the family's ancestors, or a prized plant or work of art.
Other major rooms branch off of the courtyard. In two-storied villas, the bottom level is more for everyday activities like cooking, dining, and entertaining guests, while the upper levels are storage and bedrooms for the villa's occupants. One-story villas will push bedrooms and storage towards the back of the structure for similar reasons.

Type

Mansion / Villa

In Popular Culture

The De'arians love welcoming guests and enjoying the countryside, so it's no surprise that the villa is the most De'arian of all buildings. Whatever activities done by tourists in De'aria tend to involve visiting manors and villas to try various wines and make the most of De'arian cooking traditions.

History

The villa has a long history in the De'arian culture. Up until recently, only the richest landowners could afford to have a large area of countryside that wasn't dedicated to farming, not even mentioning the servants and indentured farmers required to keep the villa standing. A recent influx of wealth into the nation due to its embracing of industrialization have made many ordinary non-nobles wealthy enough to join in this tradition.

Art Credit: emperorcharlesii (me!)