Moving Blog - Free Giveaway for Followers

I moved this blog. Good Bye DreamDollhouse.blogspot.com, Hello

ModernMiniHouses.blogspot.com »

The pictures on the right, are of posts that are waiting for you on the new blog. Here are a few of the reasons for the move:
1. By sheer coincidence, I have published 33 posts each year since I started this blog. So #33 seemed like the right time sign off on Dream Dollhouses and move to something more representative of what I do.
2. "Mini Houses" sounds way more modern than "dollhouses". "Modern" pretty much encompasses Contemporary Modern, Retro Modern and Vintage Modern, whereas "Dream" could be just about anything.
3. If you tell people you collect "dream dollhouses" they usually say "hmm, that's nice" and end the conversation thinking you live alone with 30 cats. If you tell people you collect "Modern Mini Houses" they seem more interested and I've been surprised by how many people actually want to talk about Le Corbusier.
4. Eventually, I plan to sell modern miniature houses, so after mulling over domain names for the last year, ModernMiniHouses.com was the best fit that wasn't already taken in some form (sorry there's nothing there now, I just bought the domain, no hosting yet). I like the benefits of blogger so I'm moving this blog to have the matching name. When I'm not blogging, raising two kids and oh yeah working, I've been designing some plans inspired by the Case Study houses and some vintage German houses. Just plans, no prototypes yet. As soon as I have prototypes, they willl be on the new blog.
5. I know the name Modern Mini Houses is similar to MiniModern (who I idolize) but I feel it better captures what I want my blog to focus on (modern miniature houses). When I started this blog, there were so few blogs on modern minis, I intentionally left modern out of the name as I didn't want to copy her. But when I tell people about my blog, DreamDollhouse.blogspot.com, it just doesn't quite describe it right.
6. Modern Mini Houses - MMH - are also my initials in real life.

Things to come on the new blog... I'm working on a post all about scales with a cheat sheet buying guide to help you buy the right scale, plus many posts on where to buy modern minis, more houses old and new, and whatever else modern I can drum up.

Free Giveaway for Followers of New blog!

Dear 113 Followers,
A. Wright, AF4564, Alafosca, Alison, Altera, amaya, Amber, Amy's Miniatures And Smalls, Ana Anselmo, Anama, *annina*, Anneke, aru, Ascension, BabbsBoutique, BarkingHill Studio, Beatriz, Brujita, callsmall, Carey, Carol, CasitaMini, Cathy, Chelle, Christina, Christine Ward, Cinnamon Sticks 46, Criscrisostomo, Cristiane Derizans, dales_dreams, Daphne Bassi, Dave Root, Debbie, diepuppenstubensammlerin, donald harvey, dora, Emily, Eva Krog, fayjk, fliss cockcroft, George the Miniguy, Glenda, Greenlupa, HannahFKW, insizlane, Jaie, Janice, jettatwix, Jolie, Josje, Kal Wallace, Karin, Kayjay, KLC, ✂♥ laura♥ ✂, LA CUBO, laprincesasarita, Lara, Lena, Lene Dee, LifeAdorned, Lisa Gerinder, Lize, lmdm65, Luli Alves, MAGF, Mags Cassidy, MAIJA, marivigano, Mary Williams, mberras, Meli Abellan, Mels Miniatures, MINILISA, Minilover, Minna, Missy, missyscott99, moetjatja, MONTSE, My Realitty, Myrealitty, Natalia, Natalie, neomig, Núria, Oese, Patricia Cabrera, PetitPlat Food Art, Pubdoll, Rebecca, Rosa (MiniC.), sandstock, Sans DD, Shelly S, Shriara Navarro, sinem yildirim, smidge girl, sonyait68, Studio SWS, studioseven, Susan, Susan Ghearing, sylvia, tarkus, The Lone Dollier, TINK, tinystuffs, ulla voijola, Victoria, Victoria Kleist, Violet, Zadie Xa,

I really appreciate all of you following this blog and I hope you will come with me to my new address. As a way to say thank you to everyone who follows me, I will have a surprise giveaway to one follower. Just sign up to Follow the new blog by Wednesday, May 26 8pm PST (my birthday) and your name will be automatically entered in the drawing.

ModernMiniHouses.blogspot.com »

Hope to see you there,
Megan

Plattenbau - Hochhaus

"Plattenbau - Hochhaus" 1966, Moritz Gottschalk, VERO

Okay, deja vu. I'm guessing many of you have already seen this VERO house over on Puppenhaus Museum and other places, but I was cleaning up my old computer and found some photos that I hadn't posted (more to come). Unfortunately, I didn't keep track of where I found these photos. Does anyone recall what website these two photos are from (Modern MC)? The appear to be the same house that is in the newspaper article at the end of the page at Puppenhaus Museum.

Anyway, I've hung on to these photos, as one day I'd like to build something similar, but for now that "to build" list just keeps growing and growing and ... I swear one day I will finish building a new house. Seriously. :)

Kaleidoscopes on Craigslist & eBay

If you live driving distance from San Francisco, CA or Grand Rapids, MI there are are two Kaleidoscopes Houses up on Craigslist.

San Francisco posting: $225. "Has been used, has some scratches and the white has yellowed a bit, but perfect for actual kid use (rather than the collector). Furniture not included." I would have bought this one in this condition, if I didn't already have one. Just a note, white plastic yellows with age so every Kaleidoscope house will have that discoloration. Gives it that antiquey look.

Grand Rapids posting: $300. "Was his daughter's, but she didn't play with it very much. Excellent condition. Has some furniture." I would jump on this if I lived close.

There is one on eBay in Gillett, NJ going for $425 + $199 shipping to continental US only. But it looks well used based on the condition of the furniture and cracks in the acrylic. In this condition and price plus shipping, I would pass on this one. If you are local, you could offer less if it doesn't sell. The small cracks are in the wall structure of the house which would be hard to replace, but the two large cracks in the removable yellow panel could be replaced with a new piece of acrylic from a plastics store. Depends on how bad you want one a K House.

(images from SF Bay Area craigslist post)

brinca dada - Bennett House

Altera posted this yesterday, but here are some photos; I'm still drooling.

UPDATED 5/14

Got an email from Modern MC who of course is super excited about the Bennett House, but with her collection is going to have to get creative to find a place for it. She has been getting emails asking about the "single set of stairs for the structure," and she wanted to pass along the information that "the Bennett will also have a working elevator. How cool is that?" Very cool indeed! Thanks so much for the update MC. We miss you!

UPDATED 5/13

Check out brinca dada's Facebook photos to see the latest designs of the Bennett House. Wow! Just heard back from Doug Rollins from brinca dada. Looking at the photos, I originally thought they were working on two different versions, but lo and behold, their beyond talented designer and architect, Tim Boyle, came up with an ingenious way to open the house. So the photos are the same house just opened and closed! I had to stare at the house for a bit to figure out how it opens; kudos dadas, the Bennett House is truly amazing. They plan to have the house ready for the holidays. Yes these holidays, 2010. I know what I'm getting for Christmas!

The Bennett House will be ¾" scale, same as the Emerson House. They have designs finished to furnish the entire house and are working on prototypes now. I love the living room designs on their website and can't wait to see what they come up with for the dining room, kitchen, kid's bedroom, master bedroom, bathroom and home office. I will be counting down the days until I can start buying.

(all images from brinca dada's facebook page)

Double Take

Wow. Its taking me long enough just to build one kit, let alone two?!? I can only imagine how many hours it took to build this 3 1/2 story house from two Lake View kits from Dolls House Emporium. Well if you live driving distance from Menstrie, Clackmannanshire, United Kingdom, this one of a kind house could be yours for £350.00 (auction starts at £300.00) on eBay UK.

The built house is cheaper than if you bought both kits, the £140 Bespaq fitted kitchen from Maple Street, the "wrought iron" staircases and wall cupboards in the garage.

(all images from eBay UK listing Item number: 220601854207. Seller dollshouseclassics0125)

MoMA Modern Play House Review

Petite Nouveau posted a ton of detailed pictures of the contents of the new MoMA Modern Play House, that you can check out here.

There are so many things I love about this house, first it's only $19.99! At that price I was really impressed by the quality. The sturdy cardboard of the reversible nesting boxes and thick glossy furniture/flooring look like they will hold up well with continued use.

The furniture is a snap to assemble. You just punch it out, insert the tabs into the slots, and you are ready to decorate. The table tops and seat cushions are reversible offering multiple options for the furniture. The vibrant walls and flooring along with the modern accessories lend to the "out of the box" approach to creating any design you can imagine.

The best part for me is that you can actually fit everything back in the boxes, making this a truly portable house that you can take anywhere. My 3 1/2-year-old son and I set up these rooms together and his favorite part was decorating with the vinyl clings. I can see this being hours of fun for kids of all ages, and young at heart adults as well.


ChronicleBooks.com:
MoMA Modern Play House $19.99
MoMA Modern Play Family $12.99

Vintage Mini-Modern House BACK on ebay

Apparently the price was not right. Looks like there were no takers at the $850 starting price so they dropped the opening bid to $499. Still only local pick up in NY. Any takers?

For more info on the house check out my previous post or "My Vintage Dollhouses and Other Treasures" blog post.

(image from ebay listing)