The LEGO Friends collection is full of fantastic sets this year! We looked at several of the recently released sets already (see links at the end of this post), and today we will discuss the set that particularly piqued the interest of adult LEGO fans; the #42638 LEGO Friends Bed & Breakfast. So what’s so special about this set?
The #42638 LEGO Friends Bed & Breakfast is a 3-story French-style château set up like a hotel. The background story is that one of the characters, Renée, renovated the historic château, transforming it into a welcoming hotel. On the first floor, there’s the front desk and a sunroom. There’s a bedroom on the second floor along with a cozy living room and balcony. You will find the main suite and the bathroom with a claw-foot bathtub on the third floor, and there is also a mysterious attic with its historical artifacts. The set is recommended for kids ages 12 and up, but as I mentioned, there is also a lot of interest from adult builders.
First of all, the set comes with lots of useful pieces in beautiful and unique colors, including all the light-nougat windows, beautiful sand-blue turrets, and decor pieces in various shades of blue. The set is also inexpensive for what you get; 1,311 pieces for $99.99 make this an excellent parts-pack.
However, the main attraction to this set is that its style is very similar to that of LEGO modular buildings. Like other LEGO Friends sets, the back of the Bed & Breakfast is open for play, but the front is highly detailed and decorated, and thus it’s relatively easy to turn it into a full-size LEGO Modular Building.
If you’re interested in turning the #42638 LEGO Friends Bed & Breakfast into a LEGO Modular Building, there are several ways to approach the challenge. One is to keep the front intact, widen the floors towards the back, and enclose the back section with a fairly simple rectangle shape like most other LEGO Modular Buildings. An excellent example of this is demonstrated by LEGO fan designer Brick Artisan. Their model only requires an extra 230 pieces to build up the back section for a fully enclosed structure in LEGO Modular Building style. You can download the parts-list and building instructions for a few dollars on Rebrickable.com.
Another way to approach the project is to turn the #42638 LEGO Friends Bed & Breakfast into a half LEGO Modular Building on a 16×32 baseplate. This requires removing the wraparound porch, but the structure retains most of its charming features. LEGO fan designer Brick Artisan has an example of this as well with a downloadable parts-list and building instructions at Rebrickable.com.
And because the style of the #42638 LEGO Friends Bed & Breakfast is so lovely, you might also consider making it wider. LEGO fan re-bricked removed the wrap-around balcony and basically doubled up the front in a mirror image fashion. A nice feature of this modification is that it simply needs two copies of the set plus a 32×32 baseplate with no other parts required. Parts-list and building instructions are available at Rebrickable.com.
Yet another way to make the #42638 LEGO Friends Bed & Breakfast into a full-size building is to enclose it doll-house style with a hinged back section. The benefit of this approach is that you have access to all levels from the back just like in the original set. However, you won’t be able to incorporate it with other LEGO Modular Buildings as they are pushed against each other and are accessible from the top. LEGO fan designer Brick Artisan is providing a parts-list and building instructions for this version also at Rebrickable.com.
The #42638 LEGO Friends Bed & Breakfast is such a delightful set and it has so much potential for customization. If you want to check it out, you can find it at the LEGO Friends section of the Online LEGO Shop.
What do you think? How do you like the LEGO Friends Bed & Breakfast? Do you have it already? Have you considered turning it into a LEGO Modular Building? Feel free to share and discuss in the comment section below!
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