Andrea's 1954 Ranch

Andrea L. sent me these photos of the dollhouse version of her house that her dad made for her daughter. This was her father's first attempt to make something like this and it took him most of last winter to build it. She's looking forward to furnishing it with some mid-century goodies, but sadly it moved to the basement due to space and her daughter breaking the front porch off a couple of times.

Andrea, please send more photos when you do get around to decorating. We'd love to see more of your house. Welcome to the modern mini world!

So you want a modern dollhouse

I have gotten several emails requests, so I thought this might be helpful for people interested in joining the mini world. Please send me links to other houses on the market, this is just a start. Here are some houses you may want to own (note, I haven't touched on Lundby, Brio & vintage options yet, more to come).

How to Get Started

My biggest piece of advice is to obtain a house first and then get the accessories that best fit the house. I started collecting accessories before I had a specific house to put them in, and now that I’m filling my Kaleidoscope House I’m realizing 80% isn’t what I want and is taking up space in boxes in the garage.

Step 1: Do some research. :D There are more and more great mini mod blogs out there but I recommend reading The Shopping Sherpa and MiniModern first. Most modern mini bloggers would credit one of them for inspiring them to start their own blog. The more you see, the more you’ll be able to pinpoint what you want to own.

Step 2: Find a house that best fits your personality, skills, time, budget and space. Do you have the patience, skills, time and tools to build a kit from scratch or renovate a house? Do you want a built, but blank canvas to paint and wallpaper? Do you want shiny, new, already assembled house ready to drop furniture and accessories in? What kind of space do you have for mini storage and to display your house(s)?

Out of the box and ready to play

M112 Pods 1:12 scale ($225 - $485) by Paris Renfroe Design www.parisrenfroedesign.com

Villa Sibi 1:10 scale? ($750-$850) by Wolfgang Sirch and Christoph Bitzer

Emerson House 3/4 scale (pre-order $299) by brinca dada www.brincadada.com

MH1 1:12 scale (wait list $299) and MH2 (check website for details, you have to REALLY want this big boy as it is a beast to ship) by Wes Christensen mymodernmini.blogspot.com

Kits (not many modern, but there are a few contemporary)

Clearview 1:12 scale (kit £395) by MIAIM based in London www.miaim.co.uk
Ocean Drive 1:12 scale (kits start at $99 but not available in US) by Dolls House Emporium based in London
www.dolls house.com

Lake View 1:12 scale (kits start at $179.52) by Dolls House Emporium www.dollshouse.com

1, 2 & 3 Waterside Way 1:12 scale (kits start at $250.24) by Dolls House Emporium www.dollshouse.com

Brookwood
1:12 scale ($102 and up) by Greenleaf Dollhouses www.greenleafdollhouses.com

Contemporary Ranch Dollhouse
1:12 scale ($162.95) by Real Good Toys

Summer House 1:12 scale ($121) by Celerity Miniature Homes www.celerityminiaturehomes.com

Auction sites, ebay, craigslist, garage sales, etc.

Look for an older dollhouse you can refurbish. Check out Craigslist, as many people don’t want to deal with shipping so you might be able to pick up a gem.

Search auction sites for discontinued houses
Kaleidoscope House 1:12 scale (discontinued) by Bozart Toys - Laurie Simmons and Peter Wheelwright

Malibu Beach House 1:12 scale (discontinued) by Dolls House Emporium www.dollshouse.com

Mackintosh House 1:12 scale (discontinued) by Dolls House Emporium www.dollshouse.com

Custom

Go to your local dollhouse shop/hobby shop/toy store, they might know someone who could assemble a kit for you, or someone who could design and build an original for you.

Put an ad on craigslist for a custom modern dollhouse. You might be able to find an interested architect/woodcrafter/design student that could build you a one of kind within your budget.

Please send me websites of other builders, but here are a few that do custom one of a kind modern houses and roomboxes.


Mark Turpin www.markturpin.com

Peter Tucker www.roomboxes.com

Tom O'Dea www.virginiadollhouses.com

Gidon Bing Australian sculpture www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/yourgallery/artist_profile//81041. Scroll to the bottom of his gallery to see the dollhouses, you can email him through this site.

Henry Colbert He doesn’t have a website, and last I heard he has a 2 year plus wait list.


Step 3: When you get a dollhouse, PLEASE share your photos. Start a blog or add pictures to the Modern Miniatures Flickr group. We just can't get enough!

Step 4: After you buy the perfect house, inevitably something better will turn up shortly after. It's easy to end up covering every flat surface of your house with this hobby/obsession. With enough money and space, we could all be so lucky to end up with a basement like Mary's Dollhouse Nook.

Thanks to everyone who has checked out my blog after the mention in The New York Times, and thanks to all of my readers who have inspired me to keep blogging.

Coming soon, where to buy modern miniatures...

Melissa Johnson's split level dollhouse

Melissa sent me these great pics of a split level custom dollhouse she renovated that she found on Craigslist for $25 in DC.

She was told it was bought for a young couples child from a neighbor and they didn't have any other information on it. It shares some similarities with Lundby and Brio (maybe inspired by those) but it is just slightly smaller than 1/12 scale. If anyone has seen another one of these or might now any information on the builder, we'd love to know more.
A great idea that Melissa has done, is to always ask and document on the bottom of her dollhouses any information, her name and date when she finished her restoration. I will definitely be doing this for my houses as well.

The living room cork floor is made out of inch squares that Melissa hand cut. I think it looks great, but wow, that's a lot of work! The bed and desk are custom pieces she made as well as the kitchen cabinets, all slightly smaller than 1/12th scale also. Melissa has other dollhouses she has restored that I hope to blog on later.
Thanks so much for sharing Melissa, I look forward to seeing more of your work.


(all images from Melissa Johnson)

Many thanks to The Shopping Sherpa, Rebecca and Florine for your great dollhouse sleuthing. Below are photos and details from their comments.

Update 1
The Shopping Sherpa commented that Melissa's house looked like a Triang DH2 or DHK3 from 1962, check out the similarities on her flickr site, the windows and carport seem to be the only difference www.flickr.com/photos/49333775@N00/2898271160/. From the catalogue:
"MODEL HOME" DOLLS' HOUSE
DH2 - Contemporary House as illustrated, with five electrical lights and switchboard. 42" long, 12" deep, 19" high.
DHK3 - Complete kit of parts to build above house, except electric fittings available as separate set. Main parts already cut and grooved, requires only simple hand tools, paint and glue to complete.

Update 2
Rebecca sent these links to the Barton Model Home, available from about 1956 to 1976. They were sold mostly as kits, to make up at home, although some were sold made up.

(images from Rebecca are on dollshousespastandpresent.webs.com and same site here and here)

Update 3
Florine added another idea... McCall's Do-It-Yourself dollhouse pattern, copyright 1955. She found this pattern on eBay and added scans to her flick site at http://www.flickr.com/photos/fnbettge/sets/72157623827135110/. From the pattern:
A SPLIT-LEVEL Dollhouse like this will make any little girl starry-eyed on Christmas morning. The pattern includes decoration and finishing ideas and complete directions for making house from plywood. 51" long, 11 1/2" deep, 18 1/2" high.



Update 4
OMG. I had a bit of deja vu when Melissa first sent me these pictures, but seeing Florine's pattern triggered where I'd seen this before. Modern MC blogged about this ¾ inch scale “Betsy McCall Dollhouse No. 150W” back in September 2007. Visit her post for more pictures minimodern.blogspot.com/2007/09/some-modern-dollhouse-plans.html.

Just a simple box

This reminded me of The Condo from Mary's Dollhouse nook. If you want to save a lot of money on a house, these simple boxes do the trick.

This was made be a group of design students at Göteborg Universitet in Sweden.

"This is a comment to the childrens doll houses and dolls of today. More and more people live in apartments. Nuclear families isn’t the norm anymore. This has led to new family constellations. These doll apartment houses are made for a modern age. Gothenburg city museum, exhibition 2008 Group work: Annie Jönsson, Maria De Frumerie, Henrik Franklin, Rasmus Lindell, Danielah Bright"

(image from www.hdk.gu.se/sv/student/danielah-bright)

Clearview House on sale

Clearview House by MIAIM Miniature Design & Architecture is how I envisioned customizing the Antrim Modern Kit I bought. I love the balconies, all of the windows and the front door. They dropped the price to around $650 US + shipping from UK.

Clearview has a stunning, unique layout with features including modern windows, balconies and roof terrace. I love the designer glass paneled double doors entrance. Its a 1 bedroom 1 bath town house. Comprising of open plan stairs, 2 glass fronted balconies, 1 single and 2 double sliding doors and full length windows throughout that allow a "Clearview" through the house at almost any angle. The roof terrace has access from the top floor seen here as the bed room.

Dimensions: The base of Clearview is 80cms (31 1/2") wide. The House is 77cms (Appx 30 1/4") wide, 79.5cms (Appx 31") high and 46cms (Appx18") deep.

MIAIM is a new small company with one designer, one technical manager and one manufacturer. Focused on designs after 1900, they intend to design from 1920’s Art Deco through every decade and into the future. I really like their idea of bringing "dolls houses back in fashion ... by simply making them more fashionable". I hope the can continue to bring more modern, contemporary designs to market.

(All images from MIAIM Miniature Design & Architecture www.miaim.co.uk)

Mountfield

I love the design of this new Dolls House Emporium 1930's house, Mountfield. It has four opening panels to access the seven rooms. But I particularly love the large openings between the living room, dining room and kitchen.

(All images from Dolls House Emporium)

Oak Hurst Gardens

If I ever move to the suburbs, I'll get this modern suburban home from DHE Oak Hurst Gardens. I love the additional wing with the sliding French doors on the converted garage.

(All images from Dolls House Emporium)

Amber House

Dolls House Emporium introduced the new Amber House. Although I'm not a huge fan of the style of the house, the concept wins me over. The "ready to play" house is fully painted and internally wallpapered so all you have to do is screw it together and you're done. For $226, I wish all dollhouse kits could be so easy.

DHE offers several houses with this Quickstyle fully painted and externally decorated approach, which makes the build process sooo much easier, if you can afford it.

(All images from Dolls House Emporium)