Review: 41679 Forest House

In the Mountains near Heartlake City, a small Forest "Tree-House"provides shelter near wilderness activities.

 

Raccoon is one of my favorite Friends animal designs and it was new for 2021, and was also in Forest Camper 41681. It looks to be making an appearance again soon in the Recycling Truck.

Mia is wearing a new-for-2021 teal and yellow plaid shirt tied at the waist over a magenta top. She'll be wearing it again in Summer 2022.

The plaid is printed on the back -- as is Raccoon's striped tail ;-)


The raccoon is quite endearing -- especially the side tuft of fur below the ears. Kids should not try to get near them though -- the way the box art (which we convey in title image) depicts.


Magenta kayak is a new color; a dark purple one first appeared in Friends 41315 Heartlake Surf Shop in 2017.


The concise scenery module is built first. Although small, it manages to fit in an evergreen tree, rock formation, flowers, and a flowing stream.
Raccoon needs a sip.


Ann is Mia's mom and has dark orange soft hair with a braid down her back. She is wearing the same outfit as  Mia's House.


Ava is a micro-doll that first appeared in Organic Cafe, and is apparently Mia's younger sister.


Now we begin building the house itself, and of course a Friends bathroom! I like the simple use of the curve bar on the grey 1x2 to secure the toilet.
Since it gets placed inside the cavity of an old tree trunk, it will be stable when reaching in through the door.

The 2x2 curvy brick with inside bow in medium nougat were new in 2021 and seem to still only come in this set.


The other side of the bathroom is enclosed with a rare in medium nougat 3x3x5 wall arch that also came in Rescue Ambulance.


Building upon that hollow tree trunk is enjoyable while imagining what else could be built inside or on top. The side patio L-shaped outdoor sofa gets built with 3 layers. A one piece stairway gets dark orange tiles.
Under the stairs on the right side is a rare medium nougat 2x2x5 wall 1/4 circle that helps round-out the base.

Creating the floor boards of the house are newly recolored 6x6 plate with bow (curve) in medium nougat. Dark pink sofa is installed with magenta back cushions.


Bottom floor framing is next, along with some flowering tree branches and Trellis with hanging Grapevines.

Since I'm planning to do a few re-builds of this set, the white 2x3 flat tile is blank; otherwise a Camp sticker goes on it and attached to the front facing studs on the left.
I like the colored glass windows. Many forest structures have to see what is available for repair; at least that is what it conveys to me.


Interior is simple with a table and sink. Seating is only outside -- so hope for no rain.
The solid brown bathroom door can take sticker #2 that looks somewhat like an outhouse -- yet with a purple heart instead of moon shape.


The top Loft floor has been added with a new-for-2021 nailed wood plank printed 2x2 curvy tile framing the round window from the front.
To the right of it is where another 2x3 white flat tile is meant to attach, with a cute animal in a bed sticker.

We've added an evergreen tree, an outdoor grill with sausage and fruity drinks to a table.

Inside the dark purple (rare 6x10 plates) hinged-roof Loft are sleeping bags, a hairbrush and shampoo. The use of the shield parts as hinges are still good to me, as well as nice for access.


The forest house is finished. A small, somewhat hidden in the branch, is a green tinted window that looks out over the trellised patio from the table inside.


The completed set -- minus stickers on tiles -- exposing the front facing studs for other possible uses.

It's a fun forest setting and would have been a nice addition to the Wild Heart Camp series a few years ago.


Spare parts are the small, easy-to-lose kind -- and useful for slight modifications of this set build.


Since I plan to re-build my set and I've left off the tiles with stickers -- here are some other ways to uniform the front: Adding a matching flower to the right side of the round window and a tree branch sprout to the left of the door (where the Camp sticker goes) are just a sample of simple changes.


Box front: Here you can see it as intended; of course, background box art scenery showing the Forest House near a stream by the Mountains outside HLC helps.

The upper right corner BFF Heart motif inset is one of the last ever for Friends; in 2022 it was removed to avoid gender-bias.

Contents: 4 parts bags, 8x16 green plate, sticker sheet (loose) and instructions book with 123 pages.


Sticker sheet.


Top of the box uses the Raccoon as the part size ratio. So cute!


Box back: Shows how the roof panels open for play in the loft bedroom.

New and rare parts have been mentioned here -- although since this set is a year old, status might have changed for some; for a complete list of parts visit the inventory page.

A RE-BUILD with the parts from this set:


"Cottage in the Forest" is a re-build of the Forest House. I wanted to see what else I can do with the printed tiles, while also building some interior in the tree trunk parts.


The interior features a fireplace for grilling sausages, herb rack, a sleeping cot, night table with camera, a sink and side-table for Grape wine.


A cozy little cottage for a forest dweller.


Summary:

This set's concept of a small house in the forest for people to stay near activities, such as a wilderness Camp, is great. I wish it came when the other camp sets released. The overall look captures the setting perfectly; it could have been Joy's house.

Even for a 326-piece set build, it has several inspiring techniques and parts usage. Since it had to be in a specific parts/price bracket -- it is a bit sparse.
Either modifying it with your own parts or combining two sets to create more interior space would be nice. Plus, a few more trees would be great!

One part that inspired me is the nailed wood plank printed 2x2 quarter round curvy tile. Straight away it gave me a few re-build ideas. The use of them in the set for a round window that resembles a Birdhouse is really fun; I like building Birdhouse type of creations.

Hopefully my re-build can demonstrate to other AFOLs -- particularly non-Friends fans -- that these sets have loads of clever ideas and versatile parts.


Photographs are property of FriendsBricks and are not directed by TLG in any fashion.
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