Real Slate Roof

October 2, 2008
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The slate roof could be a discussion all unto itself. Maybe it will be sometime. We have family living in the Slate Valley of up-up-upstate New York/ Vermont, and my daughter and I are enamored of the slate roofs there. Well, the minute this dollhouse came into our lives my daughter was determined to have a real slate roof for it, just like the houses up in New York and Vermont.

I did a lot of online research. That's how I first found the Greenleaf forums, if I recall—hoping for a source to purchase mini slate from. A few folks had discussed slate here, and apparently there are many very fine ways to dye shingles to imitate slate. Purchasing the real thing is inordinately expensive. Darn.

This would not do for the little owner!

Long story short: Every visit we took up to the relatives, we collected the tiniest flakes of slate we could from the side of the road. Anyplace we could find where the rock had been cut away and flaked.

One Dremel tool, at least fifteen diamond blades, and many, many dusty hours of splitting, shaping, and thinning later, and we had an intimate knowledge of the Slate Valley region, a lot of experience with which colors are workable and which are awful to work with, and about 1,500 tiny, handmade, 1/2" x 1" slate roof shingles for the main house and the two additions.

It's the envy of the mini neighborhood, but unless you're as crazy as we are, I can't really recommend it.