Color Me Holly Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 I have pictures of the dollhouse I found at a thrift store today in my webshots link. Does anyone recognize it? It has tab and slot construction, but is thicker than 1/8". The rooms are tiny so I think it may be a 1/2" scale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LPCullen Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 I don't recognize it at all, nor can I pin a maker. Sometimes when I look at a house I won't know what it is, but I can tell the maker--like some houses are definitely Dura-craft, Greenleaf, etc. Although it has a tab and slot construction, in looking at it I lean towards thinking it is not from a kit. However, the rails on the staircase (from what I can see of them--a side shot would be helpful) are reminiscent of the rails on my Tennyson, which also had Whitney as well as Greenleaf as a maker. Additionally--and this is weird, I just don't recognize the wood either. Again, all of the houses that I have built, each maker seems to have a certain wood, and this wood just doesn't remind me of a kit, and also the roof makes me think that it is not a kit. Having said all that, how cute! What a neat find! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wonderwizzy Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 Not sure about a maker, but the scale will be according to the heights of the doors, windows, ceilings and stairs. Is it wood or board or foamcore? My neighbor has a couple of 1970's kit houses that were made of 1/4-1/2 inch foamcore. Another thought - it could be a commercial printed board (lithograph type) toy dollhouse that has been painted over. Whatever it is, it's a very cute find Wizzy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hydroped Posted June 11, 2005 Share Posted June 11, 2005 Those are some small rooms but I don't think it's small enough to be 1/2" scale. Remember at 1/2" scale the people for that house would be about 3" tall or a bit less. And though there isn't much in the photo to compare size to I'd bet it's either a 1" scale or possibly a 3/4" scale <?> Wish I recognized the house but I don't. Aren't thrift shops great though? But you forgot to tell us how much you paid for it As you might have guessed I'm a thrift store junkie Looks like you got a great find! -David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed_Cal Posted June 11, 2005 Share Posted June 11, 2005 Enjoy restoring it to its past glory. The door hinges are jewelery box type hinges too big and coarse fot that house. THe windows might need to be replaced with new acrylic and have the mullions and muntins put on with thin striping tape from both sides If it was a full size house I would call it a Handyman special Ed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Color Me Holly Posted June 11, 2005 Author Share Posted June 11, 2005 Thanks for the replies. The house is 15 3/4 "W x 23 1/2" H x 8" D. The first and second floor are both 8 Inch high. I didn't measure the attic. The front door is 6 3/4" H by 2 5/8" W. The Windows are 3 3/4" H x 2" W. It is plywood that is 3/16" thick. Most of the trim is this thick also. The window trim is 1/16" thick. All of the window trim looks die cut. It has silkscreen windows. It looks like it had a porch covering at one point. It is possibably missing the foundations. I didn't see anything indicating there was a foundation. The door knob is a thumbtack. lol I don't know why they put the hinges in because the door is glued shut. I paid $2 for it. Linda there is a pictue with the stairs below. If you need a better one let me know. Have a good day everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LPCullen Posted June 11, 2005 Share Posted June 11, 2005 It has the feel of a die cut kit doesn't it? After looking at your picture, I am wrong on the stair rails--they don't look like the ones in the Tennyson. I thought in looking at the pix that it had a porch at one point, and the lack of a base was confusing too, which is why I lean towards thinking this is homemade. Or, it could be one that someone "traced" some pieces for and cut them out. Anybody else recognize this house? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wonderwizzy Posted June 11, 2005 Share Posted June 11, 2005 $2??? I think you got yourself a deal Most of our local thriftstores have priced themselves out of the 2nd hand market. Wizzy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hydroped Posted June 12, 2005 Share Posted June 12, 2005 Wow 2$! Great Buy! I know you'll have a lot of fun restoring it. Somehow I always get an extra bit of satisfaction from taking something that someone else has discarded and turning it into something beautiful. It sounds like 1" scale to me with the 8" ceilings. I wish I could tell you what house it is but then again "mystery house" has such a ring to it! I have a mystery house of my own that I'm still hoping to restore one day - right now the front of it is in Northern Calif being worked on by a friend of mine so we'll see what style it is when I get it back heheh Enjoy you're wonderful mystery house and promise to show us photos of what you do to it! -David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nameless1 Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 From the measurements, that's a 1" scale house, and the stairway is definitely die-cut style. Both the stair design and the ceiling height suggest that this was one of the lower-cost houses in a brand -- similar to the Arthur's current role. (The "better" houses in Greenleaf's current line have risers on the stairs and more generous room sizes.) The same house is being sold on eBay with the blatantly implausible claim that it dates from the 1920s or 1930s. Everything about the construction points to mid-1970s to early 1980s. At that remove, brand is very difficult to call. Artply, Whitney, and Radmark all interlock with Greenleaf in some way I've never grasped. But there were also brands that only showed up in certain stores -- the Country Manor that someone's doing is a hard-to-find brand. So the brand name could be one that rarely is mentioned because it only was sold at one regional chain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minis On The Edge Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 Thank you for the pictures of it with the porch!! I had that kit and just sold it on ebay about 4 months ago. It is made by Arrow but I don't remember the name of it. It pops up on ebay a lot (Which is where I originally got it myself). That was a GREAT price for sure!! I don't like the Arrow houses because they are not Deep enough. But they have very nice designs!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nameless1 Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 (adds Arrow to list of Lost Brands... ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikki Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 Wow! I gotta start looking at some thirift stores to see if they have any dollhouses.. that is awesome! Speaking of Lost Brands, what are some of the Lost Brands? Time to learn a little wooden Dollhouse history! n Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nameless1 Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 Lost brands... let's see what I can summon up here... Artply is somehow related to Greenleaf, as are Whitney and Radmark. The houses that you'll see offered under some variety of these brands are the Bobbi, the Allison (sometimes called the Whitney), the Tiffani (aka "Santa's Cottage"), and the Tennyson. There is also a GG Products that I would swear is Greenleaf, based on the packaging and design of the one house I found on eBay. (I'm not posting eBay links because I'm not sure if you have an account, which is needed to look at ended auctions.) Beachwood did a cottage called the Victoria, but I don't know what else. Dura-Craft has just become a "lost brand" due to bankruptcy. There are also some older Dura-Craft models floating around that haven't been in production lately, most notably the Sweetheart Cottage, which is positively 1:18, not 1:12. (It's the first kit my mother built, and she has Calico Critters furniture in it.) There's a Country Manor house that turns up occasionally, but I can't find the brand info for it (and if I call my mother to ask her to look at the box for hers, I'll never get off the phone). It might even be Arrow, as they did some larger houses (I have seen the brand before, after all -- with a three-story house with a tower). I just bought a 1:18 "guest cottage" from 1976 branded as Perkins Mfg and featuring construction that just slots together (no tabs, thicker wood). American Craft Products did a lot of non-tab-and-slot houses in the 1980s. I have a half-scale San Francisco Queen Anne, a half-scale farmhouse, and a 1:12 SF row house, all (alas!) unassembled at the moment. That's my brain dump for the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikki Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 Duracraft! Really, I thought I saw their houses on popular sites like miniatures.com and dollhouselane.com.. Thank you so much for the summary.. I am making a note of these.. and I DO have an ebay account, so off I go to check it out!!! n Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hydroped Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 Calamari, Wow that's a lot of info. I had no idea DuraCraft went under - what a shocker! It's also good to know that the Artply Tiffani is also called Santa's Cottage - I picked up one of those at an estate sale a few weeks ago. That leads to another question though and I don't know if I should post it here or ask in a new line.. how do you know if a house is 1:12 or 1:18 scale.. I guess the cielings would be shorter and 1:12 furniture wouldn't fit very well. -David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fov Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 Skil-Craft is another brand. They once offered the same modern Highland house that Artply did. I don't know whose it was first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nameless1 Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 Skil-Craft! That's the maker of the infamous Country Manor! Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou. I love facts and wasn't coming up with the ones I wanted. how do you know if a house is 1:12 or 1:18 scale.. I guess the cielings would be shorter and 1:12 furniture wouldn't fit very well. It's often just a judgement call. A 1:12 house should have ceilings of at least 8" on every inhabited floor and doorways at least 6.5" high. But there is still some "it depends" space here. If the house is meant to be a Victorian mansion, the main-floor ceilings should be at least 10" high to be 1:12. In perfect 1:18, the house would have ceilings in the 6" to 7.5" range and doorways of about 4-7/8", with a room depth of over 6". Where the fudge factor usually comes is with cottages that have ceiling heights around 7.5". You have to kind of gauge what sort of house it's supposed to be and how much furniture you want to squeeze in, to decide on the best scale for furnishing it. What's driving me crazy here is that I know I've seen one of the smaller Corona Concepts cottages (Buttercup, Aster, or Orchid) done in 1950s Renwal 1:18 furniture, and I cannot find the site, no matter what I try. I would tend to treat a Coventry Cottage as 1:18 due to the shallowness of the rooms and the shortness of the attic floor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hydroped Posted June 18, 2005 Share Posted June 18, 2005 Calamari, Thank you for the great info!! I hope you don't mind if I copy your note to word pad so I can find it for future refference or I will never remember those numbers! You'd think it would be easy but I have no memory for anything with numbers it. You are a wonderful resource!!! Thank you again! -David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LPCullen Posted June 18, 2005 Share Posted June 18, 2005 Ditto Calamari! Thank you for all the wonderful information, and I was wondering about the scale differences myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikki Posted June 18, 2005 Share Posted June 18, 2005 What a great board! Thanks all! n Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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