My Dollhouses

 

My first dollhouse was built by my grandpa  in 1974. He actually built two nearly identical houses. One for my older sister and one for me as a Christmas gift one year. We put them together to make one grand house, with each side having six rooms. My grandma lovingly decorated and furnished it, and it came with a full set of plastic furniture and a family of caco dolls. I played with it when I was young, lost interest for a while, and then gained interest again as a teenager, collecting nice furniture for it.

I started building the Bellingham Farmhouse in about 2005. As you can see, it wasn't exactly the "Mansion in Minutes" that the box cover promised. My husband gave me the kit for Christmas. I think it was a joke at the factory that they called it a "Mansion in Minutes", because when we opened the box and saw all the pieces, we certainly laughed. I'm still in the process of adding wood shingles and trim.  

My latest acquistion is a circa 1960's Wallmer "knockdown" dollhouse that I found on Craigslist. I'm sure there are purists out there who would hate me for what I want to do with this house, but I don't like the mid-century look of the stairs and railings. I want replace them and the windows and doors with nicer quality materials, and put an addition on the side to add some rooms. I'm tinking about a French Provincial style with stucco, window pediments and cornerstones. I haven't done any of that yet though, as I'm still planning and collecting materials. I'll be documenting my dollhouse makeover as it goes. I have some Before pics to post soon, so check back to see my progress.