Doll House 35 Years In The Building

This is an article from the Daily Mail in England on a doll house it took a father 35 years to build for his daughter.  It is fabulous.

Doting dad finally finishes building his daughter an amazing dolls house - after 35 years!

• Geoffrey Walkley, 69, from Essex, spent 35 years building the house
• Has 13 rooms over three storeys, working lights and smoking chimneys
• Daughter Sarah, now 40, keeps the house in pride of place in her home
• The mammoth home was based on the 18th century Rainham Hall

By KATY WINTER

PUBLISHED: 08:18 EST, 18 April 2014 | UPDATED: 17:27 EST, 18 April 2014

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Many little girls dream of owning their very own doll's house, complete with tiny rooms and quaint model furniture.

But when one little girl asked her father for a doll's house, she was in for a long wait as the elaborate home created by her father took him more than three decades to complete. 

Geoffrey Walkley, 69, from Hornchurch in Essex, took 35 years to finish the project, which is a replica of the National Trust's 18th century Rainham Hall.

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Labour of love: Geoffrey Walkley and his daughter Sarah with the incredible doll's house that took 35 years to build

Weighing a whopping 200 pounds and costing more than £13,000 , it has 13 rooms over three storeys including five bedrooms, library, kitchen, dining room, marble hall and a utility room.

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A remote controls the individually wired light switches, six of the 14 chimneys are linked to a smoke generator, both front and back doors have a doorbell, while in a modern twist, the home includes an iPad Nano which powers the speaker in the music room.

Sarah Walkley, now aged 40, was five years old when she asked her father for the doll's house on Christmas Eve 1978. 

'My mum was tucking me in and I said I wanted a doll's house from Father Christmas,' explains Sarah.

'She said he had packed his sleigh and left the Arctic but she went downstairs and mentioned it to my dad and he said he was going to build one.'

Devoted father Geoffrey agreed but came up with a blueprint so ambitious, Sarah says she began to lose hope of ever seeing it finished. 

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Proud: Geoffrey based his blueprint for the impressive doll's house on a stately home six miles from his house

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Sarah, now 40, with her longed for dollhouse which she though her father might never get around to completing and right, at around five years old when she first asked for one

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Detailed: The drawing room contains real electric lights and a fire powered by a mini smoke generator

'I thought it would take a few years,' says Sarah. 'Once he started it became very clear that was not going to be the case.

'By the time I got to my teenage years, it had become a bit of a running joke - I used to say, "Will it ever get finished?"

'As an adult I could see there was progress. My dad always said I was incredibly patient.'

But the years of slow progress were about to come to an end when Geoffrey retired from his job as a city lawyer in the city in 2004.

With a new role as a part-time consultant, the loving father was able to devote at least 35 hours a week to the project.

Sarah, who lives with her husband Mark, 38, an electric engineer, in their five-bedroom home in Bromley, Kent, joked: 'Once he retired he swapped one full time job for another full time job. He would spend every day from 10am to 4pm in his workshop'

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Clever: The library is decked out in dark wood and has shelves filled with books as well as a globe

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Intricate: The attic contains two servant's bedrooms complete with jugs and bowls for washing

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Imposing: A tiny cat sits in the main hallway of the house, which comes complete with a tiled floor

Despite the progress he was making, Sarah says there were moments when her father's temper almost got the better of him.

'There was certainly lots of times he wanted to take a hammer to it because he was annoying him,' she revealed. 'He had to stop what he was doing and come back later.

'By the time he finished it he was probably sick of the sight of it. He did not really appreciate it until a few weeks later when he saw it again.'

The finished result, however, proved a stunning surprise. 'It's indescribable really, to spend that much of your life on one project, it's a real token of love and dedication.'

Describing her friends' reactions, she added: 'They think it's absolutely amazing and a little bit eccentric.

'They have never really seen a doll's house like it. Most people's perceptions of a dolls house is a basic wooden Sylvanian Families house. This is a real work of art.'

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All there: The dining room has crystal port and wine decanters and a case of silverware waiting on the sideboard

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Play: The nursery is packed with handmade toys, among them a rocking horse and a tiny Ark

She added: 'I've spent a couple of Friday nights sitting with a glass of wine and just marvelling at it.'

The 42 x 39 inch house now has pride of place in her home, although she did have to hire a van to bring it home from her father's workshop.

'It took four grown adults to lift it,' explains Sarah. 'My dad was sat in the back [directing operations] with a walkie talkie.'

After getting it home, the family threw a party to celebrate its arrival and give Geoffrey a chance to reflect on his achievement.

'I was desperately proud of it,' he revealed. 'I thought, "Wow, how stunning!"'

But while Geoffrey's doll's house has proved a hit with his daughter, it might be the last one built by a family member.

'My sister in law's husband said he started building one,' adds Sarah, 'but he said he may as well give up now.'

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Ensuite:The master bedroom has its own bathroom which comes complete with 18th century fittings

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Pride of place: The house is now the centrepiece of Sarah's own home and has proved a hit with the whole family

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2607688/Doting-father-finally-finishes-building-INCREDIBLE-dolls-house-complete-electric-lights-ipod-powered-music-room-little-girl-grown-took-35-years.html#ixzz3BN116bW7

Doll House Opulence

     

While surfing the web, I came across an antique dealers site selling furnishing for doll houses.  Most pieces were priced in the 250 - 750 price range,  They were fabulous, but this one is outstanding and so is the price.

      

French antique Cast metal gilt Miniature Boule Vitrine. 8" (20 cm.) x 5 1/4".  Of heavy cast metal the miniature vitrine in the Louis XVI style, has elaborately detailed carving,  unusual front with set-back side sections, six curved feet, & mirrored interior, glass also on sides.  2 shelves lined with velvet. It has a closure on the back & inside, under the glass area you see is a hidden compartment in the base. The underside has raised mark "Depose N. 25". Excellent condition, very rare to find, you normally only see single cabinets. French, c1880.  1295.00

Ultrecht Doll House

Ultrecht Doll House  1670

Utrecht House

In my continuing study of dolls houses, we have been studying the
dream dolls houses. While they cost mega bucks to create and are very
beautiful to the eye and would be a dream to own they are not
practical houses. We are now going to study replicas of the houses
real people live in. These houses give us a peek into the lives of
the people of the era in which the house was created. However these
houses were created by the well to-do, as they were the ones with the
money to have them created. There are very few dolls houses of the
common people of any past eras.

Utrecht House. The Utrecht House was built some time between 1674 and
1690 for Petronella de al Court (1625 – 1707) of Amsterdam, Holland. 
It was considered very fashionable in that day for a woman of means to
have these splendid handsome cabinets built and then fit them with the
most fashionable furniture and accessories they could afford. These
houses were not made for children, but rather for ladies in the
highest social circles. The importance of the Utrecht House is that it
gives a snapshot into the home of the well to do of the time. The
Utrecht House is located today in the Central Museum in Utrecht, the
Netherlands where it has been located since 1866.
There are eleven fully furnished rooms in the house
consisting of some1, 600 miniature objects and is inhabited by 28
dolls. All the dolls are dressed in the latest fashion of the day.
The first room is the Art Room that the owner displayed
replicas of the very best treasures of the day. Displayed there is a
table with a top carved from amber inlaid with ivory. There are many
east-Asian miniature porcelains displayed in a glass door cabinet. 
Many paintings in guilt frames signed by many notable artists of the
day lining the walls. A chest of drawers of wood and ivory marquetry
is filled with items made of ivory and silver. On the mantle above
the fireplace sits an ivory Mercury surrounded by a fragile set of
ivory plaques representing the Passion of Christ. Three gentlemen
dollhouse dolls repose in this beautiful room, the host at home in a
silk dressing gown and slippers. The other two men are wearing street
clothing including a hat and walking cane.
There are six wooden straight chairs with upholstered backs
and seats lining the walls on each side of the room. There are two
large pillows on the floor, one with a cat asleep on it. Also in the
room are several small tables with small items on them. 
The next room in the house is called the lying in room. 
There is a large fireplace with a mantle above at one end of the room.
The furniture is made of ivory, which gives a stark contrast to the
dark wood paneling. On the right hand of the room is a blue and white
porcelain display. There are carved picture frames and delicately
carved panels dramatically framed in black. There are many ivory
statuettes on a high shelf above the bed. The dolls in this room are
a new mama and an elaborately dressed baby, a visitor and two female
attendants.
The next area is a small crowded study where the master is
seated at a table filled with a ledger, invoices and accounts. He is
attired in a silk dressing gown and holds a real quill miniature pen
in his hand. Behind him on a high shelf sits coils of tobacco and a
basket filled with pipes.
We now enter the kitchen. Dutch dolls houses of the
period combine assorted scales, miniaturized utilitarian objects and
priceless art. A cook is seated in a small wooded chair. Behind her
are small doors leading to the storeroom and water closet. Miniature
tools, pots, pans, and fire irons are crafted in silver, part of a
tradition that continues in the Netherlands. There are dusters and
brushes hanging beside the fireplace. Across the room is a small
spinning wheel and large washtub. On a shelf to the right is
priceless hand blown glassware. The mantle is crowded with blue and
white dishes, some made of porcelain and some of glass. A wooded
saltbox on the rear wall dates to 1682.
In the dolls house laundry are three dolls neatly dressed
as maids. The furnishings of the room include large brushes and
delicate wicker baskets. There is a rack hung from the ceiling on
which to dry linens. There is a trestle table and silver irons. When
the laundry is finished it is loaded onto trays and baskets. These
small scenes of life are invaluable in giving glimpses of the people
lives. 
Most Dutch dolls houses of this period had a ground floor
room representing a garden. There is a board fence. In the garden
are fruit trees and a heavily planted flowerbed. To tend the garden
is a rake and wheelbarrow. There is a large trellis in the center.
On the top floor is a small linen room. A maid is filling
her basket to take downstairs.
In many ways this house is like the modern homes of
today. We use many of the same housekeeping utensils and tools. The
laundry basket is still much in use today as are dishes, pots and pans
brushes etc.
Below is a web site to the Centraal Museum in Holland
where the Utrecht house is located.
http://www.centraalmuseum.nl/page.ocl?mode=/&version=&pageid=291

Welcome To The Thorn Rooms

These miniature rooms are so beautiful it is hard to believe they are so tiny.  Look closely at the detail,

The Thorn Rooms pic

Thorn Rooms

Thorne Rooms – In my research on dollhouses the next dollhouse we will
study is a series of rooms contained in shadow boxes, called the
Thorne Rooms. These very detailed individual rooms are treasured as
works of art. The scale of these rooms is one inch to the foot, which
today has become the standard for miniatures.
There were many of these rooms made. There are sixty-eight of these
rooms in the Art Institute of Chicago.
 To see pictures of the one in the Art Institute of
Chicago go to:
http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/
 The other largest collection of twenty-eight is in the Phoenix Art Museum in Phoenix, Arizona. 
To see pictures of these rooms go to:  

Scroll down on the left to the Thorne miniature rooms.
There are many pictures of these rooms and the beauty and detail of
them will take your breath away. Be sure you have plenty of time to
go to each one and look at the minute details lf the room. I will not
attempt to describe them as mere words cannot describe the beauty and
detail the pictures show. Mrs. James Ward Thorne was the Lady behind
these rooms. They became famous in the 1930's and were on view in the
1933 – 1934 Chicago Century of Progress and the 1930 – 1940 World
Fairs in New York and San Francisco. These rooms reflect life almost
a century ago.
Mrs. Thorne, (Narcissa Niblack) was born in 1882 in Vincennes Indiana
and married at the age of nineteen the son of the co-founder of the
famous Montgomery Ward and Company. Mr. Thorne retired in 1926 at the
age of 53 and the Thorne's traveled extensively in Europe where Mrs.
Thorne visited and studied the interiors of the stately homes and
palaces of the time. Mr. Thorne took lots of photographs of the homes
they visited. The couple also collected an extensive collection of
miniature furniture.
Mrs. Thorne gathered many notable artisans including the famous
architect Edwin H. Clarke. As the depression swept across the country
Mrs. Thorne began her Thorne Rooms as they became known. These rooms
are a testament to the Thorne Family resources and her practical sense
of style and fashion.
Mrs. Throne with her artisans and craftsman also created many rooms on
a more modest scale as gifts to family and friends. Many of which are
still owned by these families today. There are approximately 100 of
these rooms in Museums, but many more are privately owned. Mrs.
Thorne died in 1966, but her rooms are a gift to the people.
 The other largest collection of twenty-eight is in the Phoenix Art Museum in Phoenix, Arizona. 
To see pictures of these room go to:  

http://egallery.phxart.org/view/objects/asimages/4524?t:state:flow=c0dafcb9-f2fc-4e42-a471-0e6a3fc2c2a7

More Pictures Of The Throne Rooms