Shore Side Farm House: House Construction in Miniature, Doll Houses Handmade Originals Continued... Part 2

Finished dollhouse, with removable porch, porch detail on the right

Same doll house, two generations, on the left as originally gifted in 1992, on the right during completion in 2013

This is a second posting, Part 2, continuing the subject of finishing three doll houses started in 1992. Part 1 was posted previously. Creating the townhouse block of doll houses required much concentration and time for design and construction. We went with a townhouse block of houses because we have three daughters. A doll house takes up a lot of space in a play zone...but we wanted to avoid arguments later in life as to who owned what. Three were required.

back view and sides of rowhouse doll houses

Finding the time to do this was a problem. As parents we wanted to meet our children's dreams, but as employees and homeowners we struggled to get it all done. Now, 21 years later, daughter three asked for her doll house from our attic, and we have taken on finishing the doll houses to the glory and detail we had intended. We hoped to design them to realistic proportions and detailing that reflects the authentic architectural styles. These photos document our efforts and progress in achieveing those goals.

Farm style dollhouse with the front panel open for play...
inside are boxes containing all the accoutrements of the house:
furniture, doll figures, household miniatures and even pets are in the boxes.

The Farm House style dollhouse, seen above, was the biggest challenge. Daughter two, the owner of this house, wanted a porch on the front of the house....but the front elevation of the doll house is a front panel that opens like a door on a piano hinge. The photo on the right shows the door in open position, you can see that the entire front of the house opens away for use. In design terms, if the door moves, the porch has to move. This design problem is a real challenge, it is difficult to create a porch to stay firmly in place through the bumps and hits of child play. That aspect of the design took a lot of consideration as to how it could work and remain secure. In the end I came up with a porch that is attached with a traditional French cleat, so it can lift off and be stored inside the house when necessary,yet remains firm when in place.