Hello Everyone,
In my last post I reviewed the book “From Dust to Stardust” by Kathleen Rooney and I shared with you the main character’s love and fascination with dollhouses and everything miniature. I promised to share my very own dollhouse and its story with you. Here it is.
It was the last Saturday in May of 1996 when a friend and I made a day trip to Shelbyville, Kentucky, a town just east of Louisville. We loved this little town with all its quaint little shops, eateries, and antique stores. On this particular trip I asked one of the locals if there was a doll shop anywhere in town. My daughter and I had collected several dolls and I thought it would be nice to add one to the collection. She said there wasn’t a doll shop, but there was a shop that sold dollhouses and miniatures on 10th & Main. We thought that sounded rather fun. We had only walked a couple of blocks when we came across this very charming Victorian mansion, painted white with a wrap around porch, and a sign that read Small Places.
We entered the magical world of miniatures and submerged ourselves in the enchanting surroundings. There were a variety of dollhouses displayed. For example Victorian, Georgian, French Manor houses, Gothic styles, and Colonials just to name a few. There were also shadow boxes depicting such scenes as a general stores, school houses, and gardens with fountains. If all of this was not enough, there were hundreds of accessories to fill the houses. Furniture, miniature paintings, tea sets, vases, flowers, toys, and the list goes on. They even had wallpaper, different floor finishes, lighting fixtures, hardware, and tools. If you could think of any item you’d find in most homes, they supplied in miniature form. Needless to say our heads were spinning.
Small Places was owned by an elderly couple. The lady proprietor was plump with a pleasant disposition. She told us that she always had a love for dollhouses, so she and her husband turned her passion into a business. As we were talking with her, her husband walked in. He was a tall lanky man and when he spoke, he immediately reminded me of the actor Ed Wynn. He even took us back in the shop to show us this absolutely stunning home he had been commissioned to do for a lawyer from Louisville. The house was the exact replica of the lawyer’s house, from the exterior to the interior and all of its furnishings. He had been working on it for two years and it was something to behold. What a treasure of an afternoon it was with this delightful couple.
I truly wasn’t planning on making any major purchase that day, besides maybe a new doll. And I never dreamed I would come home with an unfinished dollhouse. But I did! They had beautiful houses displayed, but if you were to purchase a house, it came assembled, but were unfinished in the sense that they were bare wood and a bare exteriors. I guess you could say they were DYI miniature design projects. I looked around and one in particular caught my eye. I liked it because it was simple with straight lines and it opened from the front. It was called “The Mansard Roof Townhouse resembling a French Townhouse you’d see in New Orleans. The price was $220.00. In 1996, $220.00 was much more than I could even conceive of spending on virtually nothing more than what would be considered a hobby. So, I took a deep breath and thought, what the heck. It would be my project and something I can pass down to the grandchildren.
I worked many hours on the dollhouse. I couldn’t do everything all at once. I was a working mom with little extra time on my hands. Also. miniatures were expensive and I had to purchase a little at a time. I can remember having the house on my kitchen table as I painted the exterior a soft beige and the shutters a dark evergreen. I wanted the door to stand out so I painted it red. My husband wired the house and there was a time when the exterior and interior lights worked. Sadly not today. Through the years and letting little fingers explore and play, the dollhouse, like any loved toy, has a gently worn look. That’s okay with me. My granddaughter spent hours playing with this dollhouse for many years. She’s fifteen today, but her little sister who’s just a year old will discover the magic of the dollhouse.
In the years that I worked on the dollhouse I kept a journal. I thought it was important to remember my dollhouse journey and what was happening in our lives and the world during those late years of the 90’s. I kept samples of wallpaper, flooring, and electrical plans. I wrote down what was happening certain days I worked on the dollhouse. I clipped out news articles of major events or even every day things taking place and I shared my thoughts in this journal. I even inserted an article about the recovery efforts of JFK Jrs’ plane crash and an article about fruitcake, because it mentioned my very favorite of all time Christmas story, The Christmas Memory by Truman Capote (yes, the author of In Cold Blood). I keep the journal in the attic of the dollhouse for future reference. I think it’s important to know the story. It’s my small gift to keeping memories alive.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this month’s blog. I’d love to share my stories with new folks as well, so feel free to let others know about my blog. I’m still writing and though I enjoyed working on the dollhouse, writing is still my number one hobby.
Cheers!
