Antique Handmade Dollhouse

Hi Friends! Fall is in the air around here which makes me very excited! Although, if you can believe it, I have yet to decorate for it or get a single pumpkin. I guess, I am just taking things really slow this year and trying not to stress myself out too much.

Today, I have something really fun and exciting to show you. Hazel, Owen and I went to our first ever dollhouse show right here in Fairport. It was hosted by a local dollhouse shop and had vendors with a variety of miniatures and dollhouses for sale. We were so excited and were happy to find sellers with items as low as a quarter! The kids definitely snapped up some cute miniature goodies, as did I (which I will share soon).

But the really exciting part was the door prizes and raffle prize they were giving away. We were the lucky winners of the first door prize which was a Santa figure for our dollhouse (I’m sure you will see him here come Christmastime). We also entered into the raffle prize, which was a fully furnished antique dollhouse donated by the original owner. They told us as we entered that the woman’s father had made it for her in the 1930’s. It was in need of some repair, but it was so charming and you could immediately see all of the love and care that went into this beautiful dollhouse.

We put our five tickets in for the raffle, but didn’t think much of it after that. We had our fun at the show and then headed home with our new miniature finds. Then, later that afternoon, I got a phone call from a number I didn’t recognize. It was the owner of the dollhouse store calling to tell me that we had won the raffle prize! The kids and I were so excited we immediately hopped into our van and drove over to pick it up. All they kept saying on the way there and back was “I can’t believe we won!”

This dollhouse is different from any that I have ever had, in that it is on a platform and has a front and back to the house. The backside slides out to reveal the rooms of which there are six. The downstairs has a living room/dining room, entry hall and kitchen. The upstairs has a master bedroom, bathroom, sitting area around the stair opening and girl’s room.
We couldn’t wait to get it home, unpack the old boxes filled with furniture and accessories and get it all set up. I tried my best to do it as I thought it was meant to be set up, and added just a few extra pieces from our own collection that fit with the period and style of the house.

This is a view of the backside put on the house. I love the little bench seats and window boxes! So much love went into every detail of this house from the hand stitched bedding and curtains, to the black metal stair railing. At the show, when we went to pick it up, the owner of the shop said to me, “It just needs someone to love it.” We definitely will. And already do so much.
As much as I love modern dollhouse furnishings, I plan on keeping the original charm and period of this home. I want to refresh it, but maintain the overall feel that it has. I will share more detailed pictures room by room in upcoming blog posts, so stay tuned if you want to see more!

Till next time…