Ashley Phillips house

The Ashley Phillips house, located at 246 S. Bronson Ave. in Big Rapids, MI, is a location for several scenes in the comic remake Blood Over Water. It is based on the tiny house actually located at this address in real life, where it currently functions as student apartment housing.

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This house was originally built in 1950, as a very basic one-family home with the bare minimum to it. As a location, the house was never visited during the Ferris study years. It played no role in the original Blood Over Water miniseries either, as Ashley wasn't in the miniseries' story long enough to warrant such details. This is because her actress, Angelica McClary, was never more than a cameo in the fifth episode in that version.

This house became the Ashley Phillips home for the remake of Blood Over Water in 2020, due to ease of reproduction based on available photos on Realtor.com. Due to its relevance to the story for that purpose, it was included in The Sims 4: Oughties Big Rapids Living Stuff, as well as its trailer on YouTube.

The house was originally private property, for a single family. However, its small size made it impractical for that purpose. It was finally sold from its last known private owner on July 20th of 2015, via Hometown Realty. The buyer was DNM Properties, LLC. DNM responded to this new purchase by immediately rebranding the house as an "apartment for rent." Given their emphasis on student housing, the house became a students-only rental.

By January of 2020, the house was listed for rent. This listing was removed in March of 2020, as a tenant was found for the May 2020 - May 2021 school year. The house's lease period lasts from May of one year until May of the following year, per rent contract.

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Ashley moved into this house some time before she started working at Sleet Mountain. While living here, she found herself caught in a love triangle with coworkers Mark Stefflin and Chris Kennal, while also trying to bury a seedy past that included an affair with the false preacher televangelist Harry Campelli - in order to avoid embroiling him in a scandal that could cost her everything as collateral damage.

While she does little in this house during the story, a few scenes clearly indicate her at home, panicking when she learns that someone has broken in and stolen her folder on Rev. Campelli. That this proves to be the only thing that was stolen, tells her that the intruder wasn't there to rob her per se...he was looking specifically for blackmail! What baffled her the most, however, was that she was unsure at first of who could possibly have that much reason to blackmail her. When she finally learns the truth, it nearly gets her killed!

With Aaron gone by mid-January of 2010, Ashley returns to Big Rapids on her own. But she only returns for long enough to close out the lease, and then flee town for good. The house was a standard rental when she was living there, as opposed to student housing. As such, she didn't need to be a Ferris student to live there. It's assumed that the realtor found another lessee to live there after she leaves.

Unless otherwise noted, it should be assumed that the house's fate in 2015 followed the same general path as its real-world counterpart. However, the takeover of America by Halal Affadidah in 2018 leads to DNM's future being sketchy. Affadidah's transformation of Big Rapids into a military base in 2019 further puts the house's fate into question.

Restrictions
After the home's conversion by status into a student apartment, DNM was required by state law to implement a strict no-smoking rule. This is in spite the fact that the house is only fit to house one tenant particularly well, with the bedroom requiring significant bunk and loft creativity to support more than one tenant. Only students or potential students and their immediate family, plus DNM staff and emergency services, may secure tours of the premises. Other visitors are typically discouraged. Section 8 housing methodology is not accepted here either.

Ant farms, fish tanks, or maybe a rat or iguana may be permitted, but only with pre-authorized pet security deposits. Cats and dogs aren't allowed.

Amenities
Hookups exist for electricity and internet service; but tenants have to order those services separately. Forced air gas heating, the standard in Big Rapids, applies to this home as well. Such natural gas heating is yet another service that tenants have to pay for separately, unless they wish to freeze to death in the winter. This puts the average cost of heating at somewhere around $60 a month for the cold months, meaning that tenants can expect to spend $360 a school year in the span of their tenancy to keep warm. This is in addition to the base rent of $600 a month, plus all added utility costs. Water service, sewer service, and trash service must all be in the tenant's name; as DNM refuses to pay for these. The house is devoid of a laundry setup as of DNM taking it over, requiring tenants to have to go to the Rapids Suds-n'-Dry if they wish to clean their clothes. This can add anywhere up to an additional $100 a month in cost for tenants, just to have clean clothes to wear. The only service officially provided by DNM for the location is lawn care.

Cost of living (in 2010s)
All of this means that while students are told only $600 a month for base rent, the actual cost of living at this location can easily add up to somewhere closer to $1,640 a month during the colder months. That is counting food, gas, medicine, and insurance needs; but not accounting for student expenses nor general merchandise needs outside of these basics - such as electronic accessories like phone charger cords.

At that rate, most students would probably rather stay in McNerney Hall, where they are more likely to qualify for the grant and loan money necessary to pay for their on-campus existence. Given the low availability of jobs in the area for students that will pay them more than $1,200 a month, this significantly narrows the students that are willing or able to live at this property solo. The cramped space is more feasible if two students stay here, in spite the need for a bunk bed. This allows the living expenses to be spread out, leading to about $2,000 a month total living cost for two students and only $1,000 in total cost for both. Rent, for starters, would be only $325 per student. The maximum practical student limit is 3, which puts the total living expense at closer to $2,500 total, or $833 a month per student, with rent being about $234 per student.

Those determined to save money with DNM would soon find that their rental property at 221 Ives Ave, just one of many homes converted into an apartment complex, is a far better deal. It runs students $450 a month in rent alone to live there, and includes all amenities except for TV and internet service. These savings add up to a student living experience of only about $1,200 a month, or just over $7,000 a year. Far more manageable than the nearly $18,000 a year it would cost to live one year on a lease at 246 S. Bronson Avenue! Given that wages in the mid-2010s for students were about 2/3rds of what they became in the 2020s, students making only $800 a month working at a place like Wal-Mart or Meijer would be flat broke after only two weeks - unless they had assistance from grants or loans to help pay for their housing costs.

Specs

 * Lot size: 6,970 sq. ft.
 * House area: 496 sq. ft.
 * Estimated market value: $48,400 (in late 2021)
 * DNM monthly rent (in 2021): $600 / month per single student, $50 additionally per month for each additional student. Up to $700 a month total in rent.

Nearby early education

 * Riverview Elementary School
 * Mecosta-Osceola Education Center School
 * St. Peter Lutheran Private School
 * St. Mary Catholic Private School
 * Big Rapids Middle School
 * Crossroads Charter Academy

Nearby later education

 * Crossroads Charter Academy
 * Big Rapids Middle School
 * Big Rapids High School
 * Mecosta-Osceola Education Center School
 * Ferris State University

Nearby grocers

 * Meijer
 * Wal-Mart
 * Aldi
 * Johnny's Markets
 * Dollar Tree
 * Big Rapids EZ Mart
 * Kilwins of Big Rapids
 * Old Pioneer Store and Emporium
 * Family Dollar
 * Red Fox Market
 * Eastside Market
 * The Market at Ferris State

Nearby fast food

 * Culver's
 * Jimmy John's
 * Arby's
 * Qdoba
 * KFC
 * Long John Silver's
 * Domino's
 * Burger King
 * Little Caesar's
 * Taco Bell
 * Wendy's
 * McDonald's
 * Fatty C's Doghouse
 * A&W
 * Subway
 * State Street Scoops
 * Pizza Hut
 * Nawals's Mediterranean Grille

Nearby insurance firms

 * Farm Bureau Insurance
 * Farmers Insurance
 * Bleeker Insurance Services
 * Bush Insurance Agency
 * Red Insurance
 * Schuberg Insurance
 * Bridge Title Agency
 * Daum-Meemic
 * Big Rapids Insurance
 * AAA
 * Wenger Insurance

Nearby gas stations

 * Meijer
 * Wesco
 * Marathon
 * Admiral
 * BP
 * Sunoco

Nearby pharmacies

 * Meijer
 * Wal-Mart
 * Walgreens
 * Rite Aid
 * HomeTown Pharmacy
 * Family Dollar

Area crime rate
Note: All data listed here is from 2019, given 2020-released FBI statistics. These are only the incidents actually submitted to the FBI after screening by local police reports, and not indicative of all possible incidents that went unreported.


 * Murder: 0
 * Rape: 6 (57.8 per capita)
 * Robbery: 0
 * Assault: 20 (192.5 per capita)
 * Burglary: 18 (173.3 per capita)
 * Standard theft: 114 (1,097.3 per capita)
 * Vehicular theft: 3 (28.9 per capita)

The most dangerous region of town in our Earth number appears to be Locust St., near the Spectrum Health Hospital.

Ashley's house in Oughties Big Rapids Living Stuff
Most of the house's interior consists of guesswork, given the limited availability of screenshots. It is listed as a Tiny Living residential property inside the game, granting Sims tax perks when paying their bills. Unlike real in life, this home in The Sims 4 is surprisingly easy to live in. Setting it as Brichester or Foxbury housing, however, can allow players to add some challenge to a Sim's living experience.