Greetings.
I am a man in a suit who has fallen into the world of Minecraft.
Last time, I built a dye house in town and arranged wool in all 16 colors.
This time, I want to build a rather unusual house.
First, a peek at the finished karakuri house—a house with a little mechanical trick inside.
Part of the wall moves aside to reveal a way into the back room.
Those levers behind me are the stars of this build.
Now, let us go back to gathering the materials.
Gathering Redstone and Building a White-Walled Karakuri House
Down underground, redstone ore shows in the wall beside the stairs.
I mine it with an iron pickaxe for the dust the mechanism needs.
This time, the walls will have a job beyond simply holding up the roof.
Back in town, I buy more dust from a cleric and craft sticky pistons, redstone torches, and levers.
I also make one redstone lamp for the floor.
The site is a patch of grass east of the road leading down toward the great bridge.
I start combining white walls with dark wooden posts.
An ordinary-looking house with a secret inside. Yes, I rather like that.
First, I make room beneath the floor for part of the mechanism.
Setting torches into these holes feels more like tinkering than housebuilding.
Best get this part in before covering the floor.
There is dust and torch wiring behind the wall, too.
For this door, two sticky pistons pull the wall blocks sideways.
The opening is just one block wide and two blocks high.
Minecraft’s official hidden-door article describes disguising a door with the same materials as its surrounding wall.
It is a build example from 2019; I take that idea as inspiration.
In my house, dark wooden planks below and white concrete above help the door blend into the wall.
After several days of building, the roof takes shape as well.
White walls, dark posts, and a tiled roof give it a quiet look.
Knowing that a wall moves inside makes it rather more exciting.
Opening the Three-Lever Door and Putting Away My Own Treasure
Inside, a white wall and three levers wait for me.
There is no doorway to see yet, and the floor lamp is dark.
Though those levers do rather give the game away. Ha!
I try turning the left and middle levers ON first.
But… nothing opens.
Simply choosing any two will not do.
Now I put the two outer levers ON and the middle one OFF.
It opens! The floor lamp lights up, too.
On this wall, that means the outer handles point down and the middle one points up.
Where there was a wall, a narrow passage appears.
It is enough room for one person, and quite a secretive entrance.
Let us head inside.
I place a chest in the back room and put away the valuables I brought with me:
one gold block, two diamonds, and five emeralds.
Even though I put them there myself, they feel rather more like treasure behind a hidden door.
I also fit an override lever inside the passage so I can open the door from within.
After changing the outer combination, I try turning the inside lever OFF…
A wall closes in front of me. Oh. That leaves me rather stuck. Ha!
I add a torch to the dark passage and reach for the lever again.
ON opens it again. Phew.
With the inside lever OFF, the door depends on the outer combination once more.
I nearly manage to lock myself into my own house.
I take another look around the back room.
A chest and a lantern feel like a proper little hideaway at the end of a secret passage.
Now I have the pleasant problem of deciding what else to keep here.
On Later Days, the Sheep Gate Gives Me Trouble Too
With the house finished, I turn to the sheep on later days.
A white sheep looks my way as I hold out wheat.
I make a pen beside the house and bring over two sheep to become the parents.
After collecting dyes last time, I want to improve their living space as well.
Then I leave the gate open, and all three sheep—including the lamb—get out.
Even after bringing sheep back, another slips through while I go in and out.
I fetch a lead, too. Who would have thought an ordinary gate could be harder to manage than a hidden door?
Over several days, the first lamb grows up, and a second lamb is born.
Look how small this one is beside its parent.
But I do not get everyone back into the pen.
By the end, the three inside are adults, while one sheep remains out in the field to the northeast.
I would like to bring that one back, too, so they can settle down.
The day after tending the sheep, I return to the karakuri house for a picture in the secret room.
My own valuables are in that chest at the front right.
Town has gained a spot where I can feel just a little pleased with myself. Ha!
Finally, I turn all three outer levers and the inside lever OFF, leave the door closed, and return to town.
Let us hope I remember the combination next time.
That is all for this time.
Greetings.