This lovely little house has a red roof and many other characteristics of a Gottschalk dollhouse. The latice pattern above the front door is often found on that brand of house. The pressed cardboard window frames for the tiny panes in each window are also a Gottschalk trait.
I love the configuration of the recessed front door with the box window above it. It is unusual, as is the 5-bay window on the other side.
Here is a picture of the dollhouse from the Gottschalk catalog. I don't know if my window panes are original as they are very different from these, but the rest of the house looks very much the same as this.
Perhaps mine is a later issue. My front door is lighter. The base on mine does not have a brick pattern. it may have been removed or it may have never existed if mine is a later edition.
The house also has the typical Gottschalk door with the paint outlines, and metal door knob.
The house has four rooms and an attic. The entry hall to the house has a removable staircase and a closet at the back. Gottschalk houses typically have a toilet in that closet, but this house is missing it.
Some well meaning soul decided to "fix up" this house and has stripped off the original floor and wall papers.
Remnants of the original wall paper are in the room above the stairs and both rooms on that side of this house have some of their original floor papers.
It just about breaks my heart to see these "improvements" but what happens to a dollhouse before it comes to me is out of my control. I may seek out reproductions of the original papers and try to undo the damage.
Here are the two larger rooms with their new wall paper. Yes, it's pretty, but it is not appropriate for this house.
The outside of the house has also been stripped. I wish I could find a picture of what it is supposed to look like so I could restore it. I am sure one will show up sooner or later.
I decided to furnish the house with Golden Oak Schneegas and German red stain furniture from the first decade or two of the twentieth century.
In the front hall little Freddie and Pal are playing with a couple of wooden toys. behind Freddie is a Schneegas chair with an upholstered seat and back.
The rug is a tobacco felt.
On the opposite wall is a German red stain buffet with a stemmed brass bowl on it. The large pink vase is contemporary to the room as well.
Gran is in the parlour. She has just enjoyed a nice cup of tea. But if all Gran had was tea why is that wine glass on the tray? Hmm ...
Most of the furniture in here is red stain, but the lamp is my only piece of Westacre furniture. Westacre was a company in England that made lovely hand crafted dollhouse furniture circa 1920/1930. I have heard it called the English Tynietoy, although it is very different in design.
The couch and chair are red stain as are the nesting tables, buffet and centre table. The metal pieces are from the early 20th century and were common dollhouse accessories at that time
In the bay window is a lovely little red stain radio.
When you lift the lid you find the radio knobs. Open the door and there is the speaker. I am sure the family is very proud to own such a fine appliance.
Beside the wing chair in the living room is a wonderful magazine rack. Troy of
Tulsa Tiny Stuff made this and I was lucky enough to win it when he did a give-away to celebrate 100 followers on his blog.
Isn't it wonderful? I think it goes so well with this chair.
The rug is a tobacco felt. The needlepoint cushions are new, but they look so nice with the green velvet I decided to use them.
Upstairs Father has a beautiful Schneegas golden oak desk in his study.
The shelf above the desk with the protruding nails was in the house when I got it. I have no idea whether it is original. It looks a little rough, so I am not sure.
Behind Father is a comfy Schneegas chair where he can relax when he is not working and a metal heater to keep him cozy. There is an elaborate clock on the wall which, unfortunately, is missing its turned wood decorations at the top.
Another tobacco felt is on the floor.
Mother is in the bedroom. It is also furnished with Schneegas golden oak. There is a smaller, less elaborate desk in here, but Mother likes it just fine.
In the bay window of the bedroom is a nice little washstand with pressed designs in the doors.
The decorative glass pieces throughout the house are all mouth blown. This type of glass was available for dollhouses for hundreds of years. I don't know the exact age of my pieces, but I am sure that some are from the early 20th century and I think some is mid-20th century.
When I have a small dollhouse like this I feel that rooms we don't see - the kitchen, children's room and Granny's room, etc. - are in a part of the house that exists only in my imagination.
That makes sense to me and I don't have to worry about trying to make the house functional. I can just decorate the rooms any way I wish.
This house though does have an extra area that we can see.
As with many Gottschalk dollhouses this one has a door to the attic. For an adult this space is not much good for anything but storage, and even that is not very convenient for larger hands.
But a child could put furniture in here and have a maid's room or a nursery.
Don't you just love the painted windows on the side. They are on the opposite side as well. This sides are grey and the painted windows appear to be intact, so I guess this is the original paint colour.
This was the third dollhouse I had in the car last July when I returneed from Pennsylvania after picking up my
Tynietoy Townhouse and my
Christian Hacker dollhouse.
I have finally gotten around to blogging it. I hope you enjoyed the tour.
Hugs,
Susan
