All this week, I have been overcome by an all-new mania: Miniature madness. To guide the remodel and decorating of this vintage dollhouse that I bought at a Lenox estate sale about a month ago, I launched my research in earnest this week. And in a flash, I was absolutely sucked into a whole new, wild and wonderful world! Like, seriously, I could not eat or sleep or do barely anything but search and research about the furnishings that can go into vintage dollhouses. I’m having So Much Fun, and I want to plow forward — but I have three important questions for seriously experienced dollhouse people. Can you help me?
Here are my questions, and Photo Viewing Tip: Click on any photo and it should double in size on your screen… click on right or left of photos and they *should* run forward or back like a slide show (gets quirky, though)… escape of clock outside photo to get back to story:
1. What kind/pattern of vintage dollhouse do I have — or at least, what era is it from??
Of course, number #1 is: Does anyone recognize my dollhouse? I have done a fair amount of searching online and come up stymied. There were many plans out there for gramps or dad to make dollhouses. Perhaps it came from an A. Neely Hall Craft Pattern? … Does anyone recognize the designer/plan company?
UPDATE: I dug in online and *thought* I found it — an A. Neely Hall from 1937 — an early design, published in Science and Mechanics Magazine. It’s the Colonial Dollhouse — and the floor plan for the lower floor looks similar…. but not quite. In addition, my house is a Garrison Colonial (looking at the front of the house, the second story protrudes over the first story a bit.) Okay, so mine is not an A. Neely Hall Colonial — but, I really think mine is an A. Neely hall design. See the Cape Cod here — it is the same height, and the windows and doors seem to be in a similar scale to those in my house. Also fascinating: A 1905 book, The Boy Craftsman, by A. Neely Hall, digitized by the Gutenberg Project. Now I also need to research the seemingly prolific work of A. Neely Hall. Here’s betting that he and Royal Barry Wills were buddies!
It’s a pretty large dollhouse:
- 28.5″ wide by 18.5″ deep by 21″ tall (to the peak of the roofline, the chimney goes higher.)
- The roof is removable.
- The doors are all 6″ tall[doors themselves, trim not included]
- The downstairs ceilings are 8.5″.
- The windows are 4.25″ tall [glass surrounded by mullion-trim, but not exterior trim]
- The first riser is 1 inch tall, including the step.
- The rest of the risers are 1/3″ tall, including the landing step.
- The paint looks original, and pretty old.
- The “wallpapers” in the kitchen and bedroom are fabric, a small pattern calico. Looks pretty old to me.
- The “carpet” looks like wool cloth. Looks pretty old to me.
- All the moldings are pretty darn chunky.
Here are some more photos for reference:
What do you think? Any flashbulbs of recognition on plan- or pattern-designer? Or, era? And I will guess 1930s or 1940s — see more about my reasoning in #2. I will say: This dollhouse is beautifully constructed!
2. What scale is my dollhouse??
Second question: What scale is my dollhouse? I’ve read up on the subject a bit… the doors are all six inches tall, but, the house has a “big” feel. It also came with some furniture — including what I’ve learned is “Grand Rapids” style furniture — which looks pretty darned old — and which looks pretty darned good, scale-wise, in the dollhouse. The downstairs fireplace, which is glued to heck on the wall, also seems quite large (and looks great with the Grand Rapids dollhouse furniture sitting next to it.) On the other hand, the dollhouse also came with 1:12 pieces, including from Shackman. These look… dinky inside the dollhouse. All of this leads me to believe the dollhouse is not only from the 1930s or 1940s, but that it was built in a Grand Rapids size, more 1:10 than 1:12. What do you think, dollhouse experts????
Here are some photos for reference:
3. Is it a dollhouse decorating mortal sin for me to make changes to what appears to be an original finish vintage dollhouse?
I am, at heart, a preservationist. Of homes, for sure. But what’s the righteous approach with vintage dollhouses?
- Is it a dollhouse decorating mortal sin if I wallpaper the currently painted walls? Note: I plan to keep all the trim in the original paint.
- Is it okay for me to paper over the fabric walls?
- And the floors: Okay if I replace or cover over them (I’ll seek out vintage)?
- I have no desire to change the exterior paint — I love patina. But the interior: You know me, I am the world’s largest fan of vintage wallpaper and would love to add those design layers.
Why are dollhouses so much fun? I get to decorate an entire house! I can choose any style. Smaller is faster and cheaper (well, not always!) than bigger. This is so much fun!
All together now, these are my three questions about my already beloved vintage dollhouse:
- What kind of vintage dollhouse do I have — or at least, what era is it from??
- What scale is the dollhouse?
- Is it a dollhouse decorating mortal sin for me to make changes to what appears to be an original finish dollhouse?
- Okay and now I will also be greedy: What are your recommendations on the best websites and resources to learn more and engage with vintage dollhouses? THANK YOU!
Robin, NV says
Pam, I am no expert on dollhouses but for what it’s worth –
I’d guess 1940s for age. The colonial design cues and the furniture all speak to that period for me. I’d also guess that it’s homemade and probably not from a pattern. That would explain the chunky bits and the mystery scale size. My dad made me a similar dollhouse in the 70s out of scrap wood he had in the barn. This may be a similar situation where bits of wood were found in the shed and Mom donated some scrap fabric for the carpet and wallpaper.
Did anyone else notice how similar the kitchen wallpaper in Pam’s dollhouse is to the wallpaper in Kate’s?
pam kueber says
Classic 1940s cheery colors!
lynda says
Wonder if you sent pictures to “experts” if they could help?
http://www.thedollhousemuseum.com/team.htm
or maybe someone at the Smithsonian??
http://americanhistory.si.edu/exhibitions/dolls-house
or
http://www.museumofplay.org
just a thought.
pam kueber says
Thanks for the links, I’ll take a look for sure!!!!
pam kueber says
hmmmm…. this just came up today in my ebay saved searches – a dollhouse in New York that has features quite similar to mine. I still am thinking pattern! See the fireplace exterior in particular — http://www.ebay.com/itm/doll-house-primitive-folk-art-wood-wooden-hand-crafted-1930s-miniature-/291457244689?
lynda says
Love how much you love your new dollhouse! Wonderful when that OCD part of your personality kicks in, right? We have 3 daughters and 3 doll houses my husband made from plans, not kits. He built them in the 80’s. Most toy stores had miniature sections in the store that sold furniture, wall paper, moldings and lights. Kids over the years have always loved playing with them. I think your doll house is charming. To me it looks like a 1940’s house. So fun for you to tackle this beauty.
pam kueber says
What a great gift to your daughters!!!! Story: A friend of mine has three daughters, ages 6-11. I asked her if they might want to come help — but the mother said SHE was the one super interested in miniatures and had even taken a class! So I invited her!
Tony Pinizzotto says
This is magical! Probably homemade. Why not do an upload weekend of homemade houses? I think that might be fun. My husband’s father was an artist in the 50s and we have some wonderful homemade miniature houses including an exact scale replica of the house from the film Psycho! Fun! Fun! Fun! It would be great to see what others have to share.
tammyCA says
I’m not an expert, just a dollhouse/mini lover, but it does look homemade & solid & could be from ’40s-’50s, the furniture too, & updated decor in the ’70s because of the colors & calico on the walls. I know about that feeling like you want to preserve, but I think you can make some changes to refresh & still keep that vintage look. It’s exciting that you are now “in the mini world”..it’s so much fun to recreate what you can’t always do in real size..
lisa in Seattle says
I doubt the “wallpaper” is original to the house — probably a much later vintage. Because the fun of having a dollhouse is redecorating! My childhood house was never “finished” until I got too busy with high school and then moved away from home. I also used fabric on the walls. In the early 1980s dollhouses were hot and miniature wallpaper widely available at places like Michaels, but fabric was cheaper and had way more variety. All mine came off the remnant table. I had some charming rustic furniture similar to yours. It belonged to my mom as a child, and she was born in 1940. Most of my furniture was bought new in the 70s and 80s and was more realistically detailed.
Sherrill says
After years of renovating and restoring real life houses, I needed a hobby that used all the skills I acquired and challenged my problem solving abilities. I too was sucked into the world of miniatures. I have discovered that there are three types of miniaturists: collectors, decorators, and builders. Collectors go for either folk art or commercial houses and keep them as found. Decorators purchase fine specimens of miniature furniture and accessories and arrange picture perfect settings in houses and room boxes often built by someone else. The builders start with a plan, kit or their own inspiration and build everything for their tiny home. Clearly there is some overlap, but what you do depends on which type of miniaturist you see yourself as. Most importantly, have fun!
pam kueber says
I am a decorator, no question! The reason I am loving this so much: I get to design roomscapes! YAY!
Robin, NV says
Just make sure you let the house “speak” to you before you dive in and start tearing things out. 😛
pam kueber says
Yup! Same advice as with a real house!!
Sara says
What a treasure! I would wait to make any changes until you do a little more research- my first instinct is to just keep it all the same unless it needs repair, just like I would with an old house ;). After you know more about it you can make those important decisions.
I totally have the same affliction- when something piques my interest I literally lose sleep over it I’m so excited! My husband calls it my “phases”, he’s being nice. I call it my mental illness! It’s consuming, but so fun!
Lynne says
Pam, I forgot to mention that there were three magazines published, if you want to look at them for ideas and inspiration, and information. I’m betting you could find them at good prices on Ebay.
The Nutshell News, Miniature Showcase, and Miniature Collector.
Lynne