The Dollhouse

As I mentioned in my last post,  I was sorely tempted to buy Jodi's dollhouse for myself. It has such big rooms that it would have been a joy to furnish. BUT I showed some restraint and found a buyer in my DS Marie who bought it for her grand-daughter, Elizabeth (with David and Laura's permission).

This is an incredibly well built dollhouse. It's constructed from  1/2" wood (doesn't even appear to be plywood). And it is HUGE! It is 38 3/4" w. x 26" h. x 18 5/8" deep! I'm pretty sure that the size deterred most club members from thinking about buying it. (As did I.)

The roof appears to be shingled with tar paper but that's in poor shape and will have to be replaced. My biggest concern was how the shingles had been applied but I've pulled on them and they're coming off quite nicely.

Because Elizabeth is very young and will have a new brother soon, I will have to keep it very child-friendly.

With that in mind, I think I will put on a simple roof (perhaps matboard) with a drawn-on simple scallop design.

I have a few strong, age-appropriate pieces of furniture and a doll to put in it. And some ideas for a few other things.

On the other hand, Elizabeth may choose to use it simply as a toy storage box.

This is the view from the open side of the house.. The books under the staircase are there to level the house since the "crawl space" has only three sides.

Right side of the house: Other than a good wash, this doesn't need any work.

Left side of the house: Both corner pieces have to be replaced.

Couldn't get a good shot of this side of the house but it needs a good wash, one window shutter and a front step below the door.

Master bedroom: wallpaper needs to be glued down in the back corners, wallpaper needs to be refreshed and the carpet needs to be vacuumed.

14" w x 15 1/4" d. x 8 3/4" high (low end of vaulted ceiling)

Upper staircase: just clean wallpaper and carpet

6" wide

Nursery/Child's room: Walls and carpet

14" w x 15 1/4" d. x 8 3/4" high (low end of vaulted ceiling)

Downstairs:

Lower left:  Kitchen (L-shaped 15 1/4" deep and 14" wide at the back with a 6" x 6" bathroom in front). The ceiling is 8" tall. Just general cleaning and remove the toilet and replace it with something modern.

 Staircase: Room is 6" wide by 15 1/4" deep and 8" tall. Again, general cleaning.

Living room: Re-gluing wallpaper and cleaning. This room actually had a light in it so I will have to check out the bulb and see if I can figure out the battery set-up.

14" w x 15 1/4"d  x 8" h

I am really looking forward to bringing this house back to life.