Designing Your Dreams

[AllThingsMini]

If you could design and build the 'ultimate' dollhouse of your dreams (and had the room to display it), what would it be? What features would it have that would make it 'special'? How big would it be? Would you have to learn new skills in order to make it what you envision it to be? What, if anything, inspired your dream?

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For me, it would have to be the one other project in the works...a castle/manor house of sorts. It is only in the design stage right now (filling up yet another binder full of drawings, ideas, plans, etc.) and I've got plenty of time to perfect it because I won't be able to actually build it until we have a house w/ a workshop (or garage) because it's going to be my biggest house to date....and probably my last because of it's anticipated size and detail.

It's going to be two stories (with attic floor) in a "U" shape (in three detachable sections) or what I like to call the Main House with East and West Wings...surrounding a courtyard with a real fountain, circular driveway and landscaped grounds. It will have a HUGE foyer with an elaborate staircase leading off in two directions. Just about every room will be massive and yes, it's even going to have an underground basement. Some of the rooms I'm planning on so far are a conservatory, ballroom, library, livingroom, concert hall (for the daughter who's a music prodigy), chapel (with a secret entrance to the family catacombs...I know, I can't get away from this B) ), servants quarters, pantry room, kitchen, diningroom, wine cellar, laundry, kids playroom, guest rooms, bathrooms, master bedroom suite, bedrooms for family members....and others I haven't thought of yet. I anticipate upwards of 25 rooms in total. As far as how I'll display it, I anticipate it taking 3 banquet tables placed in the same "U" shape with another table in the center to support the courtyard.

So far, I'm working the first floor to have 14" ceilings (to accommodate the decorative columns and resin trimwork I want to make...a "new" skill I'll have to learn) and the 2nd floor will have 12" ceilings. The attic floor will probably have 10" ceilings. The basement...maybe 8".

I anticipate this house will be my 'last' creation of this magnitude I'll ever do because of the sheer size and the detail it will require. As far as my inspiration for this piece, it came from a couple of places. The Buttercup contest being run here reminded me of part of it. I got my inspiration from Colleen Moore's Fairy Castle, my current Gothic Villa, and Judith's Georgian Mansion. I want to combine the "feel" of each piece into one gigantic estate.

Sorry for such a long post, but when I get talking about a project that I'm designing...especially one of this magnitude...I get sooooo excited and can't control myself!

[Anne]

Hello Marie,

My ultimate dollhouse would be a big manor like the one in the movie "Casper" (I know ... I've already mentioned it! ). I also would love to create a miniature "Titanic" with all the beautiful rooms. I've seen pics of a miniature Titanic stairway in 1:12 two years ago... can't remember the internet adress... but it looked great! But a Titanic in 1:12 would be definitely too huge... B)

Yesterday I designed a dollhouse with 18 rooms also including a conservatory and an attic. And I'm thinking of a basement too. It will have 2 stories plus an attic room (so kind of a 3rd floor), a tower, 3 balconies, a grocery and (how funny) a huge foyer with a staircase leading off in two directions. I'm thinking of a swimming pool and a small garden.

I'm inspired by 2 beautiful victorian manors near my house in Lower Austria, by my granparents' house, by my house , by "Art Nouveau" houses in Vienna and Prague and by films such as "Casper", "The Addams' Family" and "Panic Room", etc.

I hope one day I can build my dream dollhouse.

[shutterbugkc]

Wow! Your dream sounds a lot like mine. I invision an Irish castle possibly in an "L" or "U" shape around a beautiful courtyard. They courtyard would have fantastic knot gardens. The sides of the castle facing the courtyard would be finished exteriors and the outside would be open. Every wall would be stone. There would be turrets, spiral staircases, and grand dinning rooms and everything decorated with period furniture. The only electricity needed would be for glowing embers in the fireplaces. Hmmmmm........if only. B)

[AllThingsMini]

Don't forget torches on the walls to light the way down long, dark corridors. I believe Grandads Playroom makes electrical ones that look realistic. Or did I see them somewhere else? Maybe SP Miniatures.

Another factor that has contributed to my inspiration is Hogwarts Castle in Harry Potter. I can't get enough of watching those movies to just look at the architecture and how it's decorated. Ahhhhhh......

[Anne]

Have you seen "The Secret Garden"? I love the manor in this beautiful movie!!!!!

[AllThingsMini]

No, I haven't. I should see if I can find it!

[LPCullen]

I invision an Irish castle possibly in an "L" or "U" shape around a beautiful courtyard. They courtyard would have fantastic knot gardens. The sides of the castle facing the courtyard would be finished exteriors and the outside would be open. Every wall would be stone. There would be turrets, spiral staircases, and grand dinning rooms and everything decorated with period furniture. The only electricity needed would be for glowing embers in the fireplaces. Hmmmmm........if only. B)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's what I want too!

[mariaskid]

I would love to build a medieval castle... not as grand as the ones mentioned by you all, but set in the 1300's... starting with a large hall with private rooms built in a large tower at one end for the lord and his lady. At the other end there would have to be a tower for the men at arms, and storerooms. Above the hall there would be ladies quarters and a set of rooms for the bachelors.. There would have to be quarters for various knights and clerics... perhaps a couple of nuns... a bit like Chaucers Canterbury Tales. Of course most of the servants just bedded down in corners of the hall or any warm place they could find, or if they were lucky they would have a straw mattress in a corner. And there would have to be a huge kitchen with Cooks and Varlets slaving over a huge open fire and boys turning roast meats on spits. Then there might be a dungeon and even a secret stairway so that the Lord can leave discreetly. The toilets in those days (guarderobes) were basically a cupboard with the only plumbing a sort of shoot that opened above the moat... ugh... but not difficult to recreate... except that I might need a moat.. Gosh it gets complicated, and of course I would need a Minstrels Gallery.. I can see there will have to be a lot more planning - but isn't it nice to have a dream and sometimes the planning stage is the best part

Mariaskid

[AllThingsMini]

The planning and design stage is always my favorite part!

[hydroped]

Marie,

You ask the hard questions! ;) Oy if I had unlimited space and could design anything I wanted - Definitely it would be a Castle - complete with tall tower and dungeon, grand ball room, banquet hall, a plethora of bedrooms, servants quarters, turrets and balconies and a grand formal garden court yard! Add on the kitchen and stables and armory and every Castle has to have it's own chapep too. Oy can I dream big or what - But yep - if I had unlimited room (and funds) that's what I'd be planning.

The skills I'd need to learn -that's a harder question. Probably more familliarity with paperclay - Oh I nearly forgot Marquetry and lapidary skills ! Yes I'd want real inlaid wood and marble floors! What a dreamer I am! But hey you don't pay tax on dreams right?

-David

[LisaN]

I believe my dream home would be an American castle, in the style of Biltmore, or one of the plantations in the southern region. After the civil war, and reconstruction, the rags to riches millionaires back then outdid themselves by building 'castles' based on french and english architecture.........and the examples still standing are simply gorgeous. Yes, it would have to have a ballroom, conservatory, smoking room, billard room, drawing rooms, a salon, a grand dining room. bedrooms, and even bathrooms. And elaborate gardens, too........and a winding staircase with appropriate gothic gargoyles and statues! And the possiblities of furnishing a home in miniature! It would of course, need columns on the front, and a stables.................almost like the mansion Scarlett builds in Atlanta with the beautiful staircase she falls down(that staircase is a copy of the Jefferson Hotel here in Richmond, VA) very gothic, Victorian, and extremely LARGE! ;) My taste is slightly what I call gaudy Victorian manse..........

Good luck on the gothic villa Marie! I especially love the music room for the daughter who is a music protegee. One of the books/movies that has inspired my 'dream' house was The Age of Innocence, by Edith Wharton......the book was great, but the movie was even better!

[Ed_Cal]

How about a scale model of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave in DC including the never seen family quarters and Oval Office

Ed

[molmrath]

I don't really have any big new house plans right now, but I would like to build a large landscaped yard for my Captain's house, and built a basement for it. I want to build kind of a rocky beach scene, complete with a little inlet for my husband's 1:12 scale sailboat. Someday I'd love to have a large area where I can display all of my dollhouses together, and make yards for them and everything. I guess my mini dream isn't really for a house, it's to have a whole neighborhood.

[wonderwizzy]

oh gosh - I've thought this one over time and again. Having lost a big collection, I've been in a unique position of supposedly knowing exactly what I'd like from the very beginning of the new collection...which is (in theory) one big, perfect house. But in reality I've ended up with lots of little projects second time around too, lol - perhaps this is just getting my feet wet again?

I like antique dollhouses a lot, so I'd want to build a large antiquey-style house with enough rooms to keep me busy forever. My pre-tornado Albatross House had 44 rooms, I don't think I'd want that many again (it was a LOT of trim to miter!) I'd like something that had open/glass sides and a fixed front... I recently bought a house on ebay with a plexi side door and I think it's the best of both worlds - no turning the house around to get into the open back, no display problems or boxy feel associated with a hinged front. Oh, and I'd put it on caster wheels too, with drawers at the bottom for storage (there's nothing like shoulder surgery to make you get practical even in your dreams!)

For a while I thought my new collection would be one comprehensive work - a village on a hill that you could walk all the way around and see different shops and cottages. I still really like the idea, but think it's better suited to public display.

I've really enjoyed reading everyone's ideas of what they'd like - I agree that the dreaming/researching/planning stage is the most delicious fun It's reassuring to know that I'm not the only person who can get totally carried away with planning the Perfect House *vbg*

Thanks for the dream time!

Wizzy ;)

[judithfa]

For me, it would have to be the one other project in the works...a castle/manor house of sorts.

Oh my gosh, Marie -- that is wonderful! You have such great creativity and you are so darned organized ;) Sounds like you will be buying a house soon so you can display all these terrific houses of yours.

The house I would build is the one I am building, my Georgian (the big "G" or La Extravaganza as it is sometomes known). I might even finish it someday.

:lol:

[AllThingsMini]

How many rooms does the "Big G" have now, Judith?

[judithfa]

hmmm ... the big "G" seems to have 30 rooms :o I don't know how that happened! B)

[Nameless1]

30 rooms??? Thirty roo--

wow.

That is going to be the Winchester Mystery House of dollhouses... just keep on building...

(that's a compli--comple--... that's praise)

30 rooms. :o

[AllThingsMini]

That is going to be the Winchester Mystery House of dollhouses... just keep on building...

[Anne]

Hi Judith,

30 rooms, that's amazing! Where can you display such a biiiiig house? ( ...and I'm worried about building an 18-room-house..... :o ) I've seen the pics of your big "G" and it looks so wonderful! Great work!

[Ann Van]

B) I'm so into roomboxes and vignettes that I don't have a "dream dollhouse" but the idea of a Winchester House is really tempting! You could really let your imagination run wild there, There was a book I read some time ago about a house that wandered in time, every time the door opened it was a new era--the house basically stayed the same, though. :o I have one house to build in 1/24 scale--I did roomboxes based on an Edwardian manor, a kitchen, laundry room, winter garden/ conservatory, gents' radio/smoking room, bedroom. nursery--and I would like to put them all together with a drawing room, hall, bathroom, dining room--they're just stacked now.

[LisaN]

B) Thirty rooms--thirty--??? And I was worried about a house with thirteen or fourteen! :o

Everyone's ideas are so great! And you're right, the most delicious part is dreaming what it would look like, who would live in it, etc.

Has anyone ever seen that walt disney movie, The Little Princess? and the house where Sara is taken to Miss Minchin's School for Ladies. THAT is a gothic wonder! The floors and staircases, and the kitchen were wonderful! That would be a neat house to do, the possibilities are endless. The book was written by Frances Hodgeson Burnett. Might have got the middle name wrong. Same lady who wrote the secret garden, another favorite. Hallmark made a great movie about that one too!

[nikki]

Oh yes! About the big "G" Judith! I have been going over your shots, and taking all kinds of notes. I must say I LOVE the foyer! I love your wallpaper choices, and flooring, it is truly inspiring! For your whole house, what furniture is that that you are using?

n

[judithfa]

Hi Nikki

Sorry, things have been very hectic here and I am just catching up with the forum

My furniture is brand name "Eclectic" , that is, I buy what I like. I have an upper $ limit, but no lower $ limit :lol: I also hunt for sales.

Some of the furniture is Bespaq (because I am a Chippendale nut), but I also have Town Square, other Aztec, Handley House, Concord, some artisan "one-of-a-kind", some "no-names", and any ugly ducklings that I can turn into swans.

I am glad you enjoyed the dollhouse; I have to admit, I love it, too.

B)

[AllThingsMini]

I have to admit, I love it, too.

And this is exactly why the Big G takes my breath away. It's very obvious that you've had a love affair with this house. I really do hope that you try to get it published. People everywhere need to see it when it's done.