House of Fallen Trees

The House of Fallen Trees is a residential lot in Downtown, from The Sims 2: Nightlife. It can be purchased for §85,505. The house is haunted by the ghosts of Fricorith and Gvaudoin Tricou, and Rainelle Neengia.

This mansion was the home of the Tricou family, before they all met their mysterious deaths. The house was then owned, or at least occupied, by Rainelle Neengia before she was scared to death by the Tricou ghosts. The house has three floors; four including the basement, which is very deep. The lowest floor is sparsely furnished, with a basic kitchen and den.

A basic bathroom and bedroom are upstairs. The furniture was probably owned by Rainelle before her death. Strangely, the basement is home to two coffins. This may indicate a vampiric streak in the Tricous, but it is not clear when the coffins were placed there, so it is not certain. There is a garage to the left side of the house. Uniquely, it is the only house with four floors.

The backyard is extensive and ridden with weeping willows. It is home to the graves of Fricorith, Gvaudoin, and Rainelle. The backyard sports a large pond, with a statue of the Gray Lady of SimCity on a platform in the middle.

It is possible to assume that the Gray Lady of SimCity (for whom the flame resistant qualities of infants is credited) is also a former resident of the mansion, due to how the statue is prestigiously placed on a pedestal. This suggests that it is intended to be the original memorial. It's also interesting to note that both the Tricou teenagers died in fires suggesting the house is cursed by fire (the cause of the Gray Lady's death).

The graves of the rest of the Tricou family can be found in Gothier Green Lawns, a cemetery downtown.

The Haunted House Effect
The House of Fallen Trees seems designed to carry a spooky ambience. Even if the Tricous and Rainelle Neengia are all resurrected by the player—so that the lot is no longer explicitly haunted—the house interior will never lose its dimly-lit mien after dark.

No matter how many bright lights a player places inside the House of Fallen Trees, after night falls, many of these lights will dim substantially, while others will appear to turn off altogether. Using the various in-game lighting commands only appear to change this temporarily, at best.

Even if the House of Fallen Trees lot is moved to a different location within The Sims 2, the darkened evening interior will remain.

Given the gothic stylings of the house in general; the pair of vampire coffins laid out in the basement; and the dim night lighting, players wishing to set a family on this lot might do well to reserve it for some sort of good-natured Addams Family-style mix of vampire, werewolf, and witch. These sorts of characters might feel most at home. It is possible to kill normal Sims from fright if they are put in the house, unless the Sim wants to see a ghost.

Trivia

 * If the player wants to copy the lot and place in the neighborhood, it's best to place the house on the hill. The house has very deep basement so, if the house is placed on the water level (example: in the place of Goth Manor in Pleasantview) the basement will be flooded.
 * The Tricou family and house are actually based on a real home in New Orleans. The house has a huge, narrow and dangerous staircase down which Penelope, the granddaughter of the home owner, fell. Penelope died and now supposedly haunts the house. Other strange things happen in this house, such as a scary man with razor teeth that haunts the balcony, and a statue that moves with red lip marks on its behind. The house became a restaurant and popular attraction with the hauntings, but closed in 2005.