This house, is, I think, the first I bought myself. When I moved to Darwin, I started frequenting the second hand shops here, and found this in one. I like it. It's pretty rough and ready - no stairs, and the little partition is flimsy, and just balances on the wooden support; the 'door' cut in this partition is really only big enough for the dog. But it's bright and cheery, and I like the beige vinyl flooring with the brown wildflower design.
It didn't really have furniture with it when I bought it - the shop assistant told me that she had collected all the dolls house furniture that was donated into a bag to sell with the house. I used some of it in the house for a while, but then refurnished it with furniture I bought on ebay. This furniture is made of natural varnished & red painted wood, and looks great in the house. Most pieces are not marked - one or two have a paper label saying 'foreign'. I bought some pieces in their original boxes, but even those don't give a maker's name or country! However, recently I've seen identical furniture listed on UK ebay by Marion Osborne and other sellers, and described as Tofa furniture, made in the former Czechoslovakia in the 60s and 70s.
The dolls are modern and German, and suit the house very well, I think. Again, their box doesn't name the maker! just the distributor, Dr. Rolf Ottmüller of Hamburg. I bought these dolls in 2003, at the Brighton Toy and Model Museum where my uncle is a volunteer, and where some of my grandmother's dolls houses are on display. The bathroom is soft plastic, marked Made in England.
This is another house I'm going to make bedding and cushions for!
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You have a great and interesting collection there. The photos are lovely too. I hope you can fit all these houses in your house! :-)
ReplyDeleteYour houses reminded me of Rumer Godden's lovely stories about doll's houses and their inhabitants.See here if you don't already know them:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.rumergodden.com/childrens.html
Yes indeed, I read and loved Rumer Godden's books, especially The Dolls House and Miss Happiness and Miss Flower, which my grandmother sent me (of course!) My favourite Godden was The Kitchen Madonna, I think - glorious illustrations, and I think, looking back, that I related very much to the boy's attempts to make something as beautiful as he imagined it.
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