Mid-19th Century English Doll's House

This beautiful doll's house measures 38" wide and 38" from the bottom to the top of the chimneys. I believe it was made in the mid 19th century. The exterior is hand painted. 

 

A previous owner updated the interior at some point. The wallpaper looks like the type used in the 1970s. Three of the rooms have built in fireplaces. 

The portico is beautifully done, but has accumulated a few scrapes and dings over the years. I am sure it could be easily restored.

The double chimneys are representative of the mid-19th century.

The lovely entry way and staircase are also representative of doll's houses of that era. 

This the landing at the top of the stairs.

A previous owner wired the house with miniature lights and sockets. The wiring is no longer intact, so I can't test it. I have furnished it with some antique doll's house furniture.

This room has a light socket and small bulb where the cook stove would be.

This antique bedroom set appears to be handmade. It is really sweet.

The living room has wainscotting and a patterned fabric representing wall paper. I believe the previous owner added these. The original fireplace is marbled.

Here are an example of mid-19th century English doll's houses that is very similar to mine. It is listed as - A mid-19th English Toyman's wooden  dolls' house

Gottschalk Dollhouse with Pull-Out Garden - Antique dollhouse

Today, I would like to share my German Red Roof Gottschalk Dollhouse with Rare Pull-Out Garden from circa 1921

It is a lovely little dollhouse with a big bay window in the front and a side veranda.

Inside there are four rooms if you can count the entry hall and upstairs hall as rooms

The garden slides out from beneath the house like a drawer. Steps to the garden are in the drawer as well

I wonder if the green areas were for specific pieces of furniture.  There are other styles of Gottschalk  houses with pull out gardens. Some have different shapes painted on them

Here is the furnished garden complete with trellis, fountain and sundial.

The house looks very good with the garden extended. 

Here is the upper hall. I have used Gottschalk furniture form the same period as the house in most of the rooms

Since I don't have an appropriate bed for this house I made this room on the second floor into a study

Most Gottschalk houses of this period have a water closet under the stairs. This one retains it's original toilet. The door into the house from the veranda is on the maids right.

I was excited to find this wonderful green pressed paper furniture suite for the parlour of this house. It is the same type of furniture that is in the garden and meant to represent wicker. The garden furniture is quite common, but I have never seen these pieces before except for the table. The sofa and chairs are of a different design and the large piece in the back of the room and the sewing stand are unique in my experience.

Two more pieces of the suite are in the bay window. I have seen the plant stand in a different colour, but not the little bench. Can you see the little white feet of the peeping tom in the window? She is not actually a tom, but she is curious. Lily was trying to figure out what I was doing during the photo shoot.

1895 Antique Doll House

I spent the weekend at my sister's and we had a happy hour or two furnishing one of her antique dollhouses with furniture from her collection.

This house was a Christmas present for a little girl in 1895 and was displayed each succeeding year near the family's Christmas tree for the next several generations. Eventually the newer members of the family discontinued this tradition and my sister was lucky enough to add it to her collection.

The house was originally built with four rooms. The kitchen was added a few years later

Prince Albert, a recently purchased Christmas decoration from the Victoria and Albert museum, is visiting.

The family is waiting in the parlour for the Prince to come down to tea. They are excited to have such a prestigious isitor.

The mother dog and her puppies are playing in the dining room. The furniture was made by Tynietoy in the 1920s. They will be shooed out if the maid catches them.

The children are playing in the nursery totally unconcerned about the royal visitor in the room next door

In the kitchen addition the cook and the maid are listening for the tea bell. The kettle is boiling so the water will be nice and hot for the Prince's tea.

My sister got this lovely tin stove at the Paris flea market last fall.

Someone has left his tools on the dresser.

This is such a wonderful antique doll's house

The family is waiting for Prince Albert to come down for tea

What could be keeping him, Mother wonders

Prince Albert is wondering why tea hasn't been announced. He is getting peckish.

In two of the  rooms there is fun and play

In the other two worry and expectation.  But I'm sure it will all work out. Thanks for visiting!

Small Stories - V&A Dollhouses at the National Building Museum in Washington DC

A few weeks ago I visited the National Building Museum in Washington DC for a special show titled Small Stories: At Home in a Dollhouse.

This is a collection of 12 doll's Houses from London’s Victoria and Albert Museum of Childhood.

It was wonderful to see these exquisite houses in person. I had often gazed longingly at their pictures in books, so seeing them in person was like walking in to a room and seeing Paul McCartney or Benedict Cumberbatch standing there.

Below are some pictures I took at the exhibit, but to see much better pictures go to this article:
http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/national-building-museum-dollhouses. 

My photos have been taken through the protective glass surrounding the houses and the interior lighting makes everything look green in the photos. Still, I am delighted to have my own pictures of these rock star houses. 

The Building Museum itself is a beautiful space.