Minecraft lets players build absolutely anything they want. That freedom can be scary! It's not always easy to decide what to build. From titanic castles to underwater hideaways to simple cabins in the woods, the possibilities are literally endless.
Thankfully, since Minecraft's community is so huge and imaginative in its own right, there's no need for players to hem and haw over their next construction. The world is full of ideas, and it's beyond simple for players to put their own spin on things. Don't settle for another mediocre cobblestone house. Take inspiration from these unique Minecraft homes, and get building!
10 Cliff Side House
For players who enjoy mountain biomes, a cliff side house is a perfect option. The pictured house, which looks like an old, broken bridge, might be a good fit for those who like fantasy-style builds. Another option for a cliff side house could be a huge tower of stone brick, or maybe a skull-shaped fortress with flaming eyes.
In any case, a base built into the side of the mountain gives the player plenty of space to build out mines or other subterranean corridors. On survival mode, this comes with the added bonus of netting some resources just for digging out a living area.
9 Greenhouse
A greenhouse is a great option for those looking to incorporate lots of plants, even farmable crops into their house build. With glass blocks, it's pretty easy to set up a convincing roof (especially if light green or white glass is used). The rest of the structure can be a simple frame made out of wood, stone, or possibly iron blocks.
A greenhouse could be not only a good player home, but a good fit for a small town, with an appearance that really stands out from other buildings. Pair it with a water or lumber mill, or place it on a farm to complete that rural agricultural feel.
8 Aesthetic Cottage
Following on the rural theme, the Aesthetic Cottage will always be a popular choice. Cottages are suitable for survival mode, since they're fairly small, and they can be made using easy-to-find materials such as wood, stone brick, and sandstone. By following a simple guide or reference image, players can make beautiful constructions with amenities like peaked gable roofs and scenic balconies.
Players can complete the aesthetic of their tiny home by surrounding it with greenery, potted plants, or farms. The pictured cottage looks overgrown with leaves and moss, but a well-manicured cottage with hedges and potted plants can also work well.
7 Smart House
Minecraft can feel medieval at times, with its swords, armor, and magic tomes. However, with Redstone, players can build mechanical marvels. Things like switched lights, automatic doors, and even elevators can make a player's home life just that much easier. A well-made "smart house" can be a very impressive thing.
Smart houses are the perfect opportunity to inject a bit of modernity into a design. Rather than relying on wood and stone, materials like iron and concrete should be used to create surfaces with a smooth, clean look. A modern touch, such as a swimming pool, is another appropriate addition here.
6 Hobbit Hole
For those who have ever dreamed of life in the Shire, a hobbit hole is the perfect cozy getaway. Even without a decent hill, it's possible to build a small sloped house to then cover with dirt. Like a cliff side house, a hobbit hole provides easy access to mines. It also looks like a natural part of the environment. From the back, one can't even tell it's a house.
Hobbit holes are cozy to some, but cramped to others. The house's beauty and novelty makes up for its small size. The circular door is tough, but a facsimile can be made using stairs. Complete the build by decorating with barrels, lanterns, a garden, a small chimney, or whatever else feels appropriate.
5 Lake House
A lake house can be great for builders who want to make big farms without going through the trouble of irrigating them. The lake water takes care of that job naturally. In addition to being unique and often beautiful, lake houses are difficult to get to and easy to defend. Players may need to rely on boats. Or, on a server, warp commands can be used to complement a truly isolated home base.
To make a lake house a bit more believable, players can build stilts or docks on the water. This can make the build process considerably more difficult, as building underwater is known to be a bit of a pain. However, the results are more than worth it.
4 Mimic House
Some of the coolest houses in Minecraft are built to mimic particular blocks or mobs. There have been some unique ideas on this front—players have lived inside houses made to look like giant chests, furnaces, etc. The pictured creeper house would be terrifying to see looming over the horizon.
Mimic houses generally aren't useful or practical, especially in survival mode, but they're some of the most fun houses to build. The theme can get really in-depth. A creeper house could be filled with TNT, to surprise unwitting guests. Or, a furnace house could have a floor of burning Netherack, to keep its inhabitants toasty!
3 Mediterranean House
Artists rarely work without a reference. By the same token, using real-world architecture as a jumping-off point for Minecraft builds can have amazing results. Such is the case with the absolutely gorgeous Mediterranean House pictured above. The build is beautiful, with a warm feeling, like a tropical vacation home.
Of course, there are tons of architectural styles in the real world for builders to draw inspiration from. Minecraft players have had lots of success with Japanese-style homes, for example. There's also the ubiquitous European Tudor style, which is very easy to mimic in Minecraft using simple sandstone and shaved wood blocks.
2 Underwater House
Who wouldn't want to live under the sea in Minecraft? Underwater homes are very cool but notoriously difficult to build and get to. They're like lake homes turned up to eleven. Still, looking out the window to see dolphins swimming by never quite gets old.
The trick when building an underwater house, especially in survival mode, is to find a good location. It's important to build in an area that's deep enough to fully submerge a small house, but not so deep that it's hard to get to. At the bottom of a deep ocean, it's unlikely that anyone will even find the house (though maybe that's the intended result). Like a lake house, using warp commands can really improve the viability of the underwater lair.
1 Castle
The castle is the ultimate Minecraft build, and something many people aspire to. It's easy to go overboard with this design, and there are a few absolutely monolithic fortresses out there. However, castles can also be relatively small and functional, like the one pictured above. Players who want to build castles might have more luck starting small with something like this, which would be appropriate even in survival mode.
The cool thing about castles is that there are so many designs for them. Players can make gargantuan fantasy-style fortresses, realistic bits of gothic architecture, or really anything in between. Castles can feature any number of architectural quirks — balconies, traps, secret passages, and so on. Every castle is a unique testament to the building skills of its creator.