THE DOLLHOUSE

Gnome house.

  The Christmas of my kindergarten year my dad built my sister and me a sturdy wooden dollhouse from scratch. Since he no longer lived with us, he delivered it Christmas morning  complete with dolls and furniture( by Fisher Price ), and a realistic wooden table and chairs with matching dining table and hutch. To add even more to the delightful surprise, he had drilled holes in the second floor roof which he had strung mini Christmas lights through which made the whole house glow with a warm light. I can remember it as clearly as if it were yesterday. From that moment on I was hooked on the magic of miniature things and dollhouses. Something about things that are just like the large sized object in every way, and yet much smaller, gives me this kind of feeling that I think only miniaturists truly understand, but I liken it to seeing the presents under the Christmas tree on Christmas morning. 


   My sister and I spent almost every weekend of our childhood at our grandparent's house, and when my Opa found out I loved dollhouses, decided to build me a grand one. The plan was by Houseworks and is still in print as it's such a popular design. It was a grand, three story Victorian. He built it from scratch from a plan and I helped finish the details. We put hundreds of real mini shingles on the roof, I chose wallpaper and flooring and glued it on, he wired every room with light and plugs for the lights, and on and on. It was a treasure. Every now and again he'd drive my sister and me to this warehouse laden area of North Vancouver where we shop for parts and furniture in an amazing but very dusty shop. It was the only time we came to North Van. I looked so forward to these visits, and over the years, between this shop, travelling to Europe, going to miniature fairs and making my own things, I've amassed quite the collection of beautiful, tiny objects.


   After a number of years of enjoying this dollhouse, fast forward to me leaving for University from the small town I was living in at the time. My parents moved away as well, taking with them only a small trailer. The dollhouse was given to friends nearby for safekeeping. Sadly, the barn it was put it had mice and it was so damaged that it had to be burned. I never saw it again.

Two pieces of a branch with the bark sanded off  to make it look
 like giant posts are on either side of  the upstairs bedrooms.

   After mourning the loss of the house, I decided one summer, while staying with Dad in his country home complete with workshop, that I would get over it and build my own dream dollhouse. I had only a rough sketch and no real plans, but with perseverance,  I managed to complete the shell of my dream home, with a large stain glass window, thirteen rooms, a stage in a ballroom with a backstage and dressing room on the top floor, all working lights and tiny plugs, crown mouldings and much more. I finished this by my fourth year in university, moved back to Vancouver and got an apartment. Even when I had Westin, we were still living in an apartment. My dad in the meantime had moved to Scotland for a while, was renting out his house and didn't want my house in the way of the renters. So we moved it out to his little artist's studio. Despite my protests, he really didn't think he could keep it in the house, and we had so little room as it was, so it stayed there for a while. I went one day to check on it, and to my chagrin saw that mice had gotten in and it also needed to be burned for safety reasons. 

Mall parking garage.

  In the meantime I had also built a miniature cabin at my mom's house but when I visited one time, she admitted that she had kept it her storeroom, which, you guessed it, had been moved into by mice and destroyed. 


   Clearly I should stop building houses for myself and just make them for mice right off the bat because they sure are popular with them. It didn't help that everyone storing the houses for me lived in the country where mice can abound. But still, what are the odds?


  

Train shed.

So the last time we were at my mom and stepdad's house, I decided to build a house for the kids and keep it in our mouse-free home to enjoy for, hopefully, many years. I knew I'd build a fancier one once we built our shop, but I wanted a simple one with an open plan that would allow for anything their imaginations would allow them. 

So, using only my vision and scraps of reclaimed fence wood and barn wood, I built a five room house which looks very woodsy and natural and the kids just love! I hope this is the start of many long-lasting dollhouses.

My sister, Vanessa, playing with our amazing Victorian dollhouse.

A few treasures: citrus, glass and copper vases, citrus juicer and cookie cutters.

Vanessa and Jennifer mugs and fancy dishes from Germany.

Dollhouse windows I gave a stained-glass look.

The dining hutch I got with that first dollhouse.

The first fancy dolls I got for the Victorian house. ( From left: Sir Gregory, Lady Alice, the twins and Tommy)

A few things I made for a miniature sale a few years ago.

Tiny music books.

  When we moved to Norgate, I discovered by some lovely twist of fate, that my beloved dollhouse shop, which I hadn't been to in years, was actually within walking distance of our home. As a child I had no concept of where it was, so it was a surprise that it was so close to us now!

Thanks for sharing in my dollhouse joys and tears. If you have any of your stories, don't hesitate to share them in the comments section.