Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Some more that got away ...

I have just received a dolls house I bought on Australian ebay last year; it has been sitting, packed, at my sister's place since we picked it up in October, but for one reason and another, has only just made the long journey to Darwin. I'll post about it soon, but in the meantime, here are some that I would love to have in my collection.


I bid on this little Triang house today, and was outbid by $1! It's in HO (1:87) scale, and made for Triang model railways. It looks rather like the Triang 'Daisy' bungalow of 1969-71, I think - and would take up so little space!



This lovely 1920s homemade house was listed on Australian ebay in Sydney last week. The seller said that it was built by a returned soldier from WW1 during the 1920s, and was presented to a child at Easter 1930, with the date painted underneath.

From the outside, it looks like many Tudor-style houses made during that period.


It opens at the back with four small doors, and the roof also takes off:


Inside is what makes this house really special, parquetry flooring and wooden detailing done with superb workmanship.



It came with furniture, some of which might have been original. It looks very interesting - I would love to have been able to examine it!


Sadly, I was outbid on this one by one bid, in the final seconds of the auction. I hope it has gone to an appreciative home!

This house is one I didn't bid on, but would have if I'd been able to afford the freight. It is also a homemade Australian house, this time from South Australia. From the outside, it doesn't look like much:


and the inside is not very exciting architecturally either:


What I really loved was the original 1970s wallpaper and carpet!

The carpet in the bedrooms looks exactly like the carpet in my mother's living room!



Isn't the wallpaper and carpet in the living-room groovy?


And so are the wallpapers in the bathroom and kitchen. The flooring here reminds me of my mum's place too!



And I don't recognise the furniture - perhaps it's also handmade?

While I'm posting photos that other people took, of houses I don't own, here's another house that attracted my attention, which I would love to see. It was listed in Queensland as pick-up only - I often ask the seller if they would pack a house for pickup by a courier, but in this case I think I was actually being sensible about how much space I have in the house I live in, and decided not to enquire.


This is not typical architecture for Queensland, where many houses are built on stilts for safety from floodwaters, and most have verandahs and louvre windows to give relief from the tropical heat.



It looks homemade to me, perhaps in the 1930s? And look at the detail - the wonderful wooden flooring, and all the built-in furniture inside - and crazy paving and a compass outside!



Sometimes I wish I had an unlimited budget* and unlimited space, but (1) that's not the case! and (2) I suspect that could get a bit boring. So it's good to have a virtual collection, as well as a real one!


* Did you know that Barbra Streisand collects dolls' houses? I discovered this by searching Google images for Silber and Fleming!

11 comments:

  1. posting photos that other people took, of houses you don't own is great for a virtual collection :) es ist schon großartig was für tolle selbstgemachte puppenhäuser es gibt!

    und du hast recht - manchmal wünsche ich mir auch mehr platz und einen lottogewinn, aber wenn man alles haben kann dann kann man sich bestimmt nicht mehr so über die kleinen sachen freuen.

    *nicola

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  2. I love virtual collections! That is why I like looking at flickr's antique dollhouse set.
    There is a site called Carmel Dollhouse where they had a Barbara Striesand house for salel.I think it was for $22,000.00. I'm not getting that one are you? :))))! xoxo C

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  3. Hi Rebecca. I also love virtual dollhouse. I download pictures of the ones I like or want to copy - or hope to own one day.

    The floor in the 1970's dollhouse is the same as the chimney in my 1960-'s A-Frame. See: http://susanshouses.blogspot.com/2009/12/welcome-to-862-ocean-view-drive.html

    And, I am pretty sure we had that flooring in our kitchen in the late 60s.

    Susan

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  4. thanks for showing us all the highly interesting offers on farfaraway-ebays, it is like a guided tour through a museum, each house you picked I found significant, too...

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  5. hi rebecca, great blog, very good idea, to have a virtual dolls house collection. no need for extra space, no dusting and the happiest one of all is hubby, because there is no cost!!! :-)

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  6. I hate bidding on Ebay because you really don't know what the other will bid. It is not like a real auction where you can always decide to go higher than the previous bid if you really want it.
    I love the woodwork in that second house, but then I love wood. Sometimes I too wish I had a bigger budget... I just saw a gorgeous antique French wooden shop front wich is for sale for $5500.- I don't have that kind of money, but oh, how I would love to buy that!!

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  7. You do know about Auction Sniper, don't you? I suspect your last minute outbids were the result of someone having a sniper account...

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  8. So many lovely houses! Too bad you missed the first one with just one dollar, I liked the chimney! To me it has been the other way around, I have sometimes won something, being just one pence over!
    Like you I love the parquetry in the second house and I really like the wallpaper in the bathroom of the third house. It's colours and patterns would fit nicely with my diningroom curtains and breakfast tableware :-)

    And thanks for telling about Barbra Streisand, I must google her! :-)

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  9. So nice to know that I'm not the only one with a virtual collection of little houses! We always remember the one that just barely got away.Lovely houses, everyone.

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  10. Thank you for all your comments! I would not want to be without my real dolls houses (you don't get 3D or the smell of a vintage house through photos!), but realistically can't fit or afford all the ones I like - ebay is a great source of photos, as well as actual pieces!

    @ Josje, you are quite right about live bidding - you always have time to decide whether to put in one more bid. I think I saw that French shop front too - lovely, but I don't have that kind of money either! So is that in your virtual collection now? ;-)

    @ Anna Maria, yes, I know about sniping, though I don't know how to do it. It doesn't bother me really - sometimes it means that I win the item at a price that has just jumped a lot in the last seconds, if I have put in a high enough bid - or I lose it, like this one. I know it's a possibility, and if I can afford a higher maximum bid, and really want the house, then I can always put in a higher maximum before the last minutes of the auction. Sometimes I've seen a couple of snipers outshooting each other!!

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  11. @ Nicola, as you know I love homemade houses as they're all so individual - and there are some superb ones made by very skilled woodworkers :-) I wouldn't mind a small lotto win, myself - but I'd have to buy tickets to win ;-)

    Hi Susan, I had another look at your house, and yes, that chimney is very similar, isn't it? I've got a photo I could scan of the flooring on the back verandah extension at my Mum's place - also very similar - and very useful for dolls house makers :-)

    @ Pubdoll - yes, sometimes I'm the one who wins with just one bid :-) But sadly, not in these cases. I like the chimney on that Triang Minic house too - I'll look out for more of them.
    I like that green and blue wallpaper too! There's almost enough to copy the pattern and print it out (on a dolls house scale, not a real life scale) ;-)

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